Neuqua V. tops WWS, shares DVC title
McCarthy delivers 1-0 win, Wildcats tie Naperville N. for crown
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Neuqua Valley has quietly put together the best defense in the DuPage Valley Conference this season and junior center back Erin McCarthy is a big reason why.
The 6-foot-1 McCarthy, who also plays on the Wildcats basketball team, stepped up and became the linchpin of the backline after three-year starter Kailey Serna was lost to injury.
Neuqua’s defense has given up just eight goals, five of which came in the first three games of the season. The Wildcats, ranked fifth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, finished the regular season with four-consecutive shutouts, including Thursday’s 1-0 DVC win over no. 12 Wheaton Warrenville South.
Who scored the only goal of the game? Yep, McCarthy, who found the back of the net for the second time this season with her second game-winner.
It came on a header off a corner kick from defender Shannon Tagler and gave the Wildcats (11-5-0, 7-1-0) their second-consecutive DuPage Valley title, this time shared with Naperville North.
McCarthy’s goal came with 8:50 remaining in the first half. Tagler sent her serve from the left side to a spot just outside the 6 and McCarthy powered the header under the crossbar.
“It was definitely perfectly placed, and we practice it over and over,” McCarthy said. “I was just glad that I was there in the right spot, and we actually put it in.”
McCarthy’s athletic frame gives the Wildcats a big advantage at both ends of the field. Her teammates always look for her in the box on set pieces.
“Yeah, typically I am the target,” McCarthy said. “That’s why I’m glad I finally put one away again for the team.”
McCarthy’s first goal came in overtime during a 2-1 win over Metea Valley in the Naperville Invitational quarterfinals. But this one, coming in Neuqua’s final home game was a bit more special.
“It’s crazy,” McCarthy said. “It kind of feels like it didn’t even happen.
“It’s kind of surreal. I’m just glad that we could put it all out there and play as a team and get the outcome that we needed.”
The Wildcats got that outcome in familiar fashion. The backline of McCarthy, Tagler, Paige Munar and Kayla Monis, with help off the bench from Megan Olah, was stingy throughout even in the face of a determined Wheaton Warrenville South attack in the second half.
Senior goalkeeper Yanel Ortiz made four of her five saves after intermission to preserve Neuqua Valley’s ninth shutout.
“We’re just solid in the back,” Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau said. “Paige does well.
“Megan is doing fine. She stepped in in the second half when Kayla got a little tired and did well.
“And Erin is really underrated. Not many center backs this year have been better than her. She is good right-footed and left-footed, she can win balls in the air.
“She’s got long strides so she is deceivingly fast.”
Neuqua’s defense is deceivingly good. It may bend at times, as it did in conceding four corner kicks in the second half, but rarely does it give up quality chances.
The Tigers (12-7-0, 4-3-0) had only one truly dangerous opportunity, and Ortiz stymied that when she quickly came out to kick away Paige Miller’s short breakaway attempt with 33:00 to go.
“I think the key to it is communication and just the fact that everyone has been playing together for a while now,” Ortiz said. “So everybody knows how each other plays.”
The Tigers, who have lost three-straight one-goal games to ranked opponents, played well again, especially in the second half.
“I think it was a difference in two halves,” Moreau said. “I thought we had the better of the play in the first half, and they had the better of the play in the second half.
“But I’m not quite sure that, besides the one where Paige went in against Yanel 1-on-1, they had anything of quality.”
Maybe not quality scoring chances, but the overall level of play was sound. The Tigers have been a second half team of late.
“We definitely talked during halftime, and we take each other’s advice,” Wheaton Warrenville South midfielder Allie Anderson said. “We refocus and get our heads back in it and start to fight again.
“Once we start going straight from the second half whistle, then the other team is taken aback, and we’ll get momentum.”
But the Wildcats were up for that challenge, especially considering what was at stake.
“Moreau told us they were really going to come out strong in the second half, and I think we were just prepared,” Ortiz said. “(Winning conference) means a lot because the girls put a lot of effort into practices and games.
“Sometimes we don’t get the results we want, but for this game I think we came out 100 percent.”
Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari didn’t disagree.
“The girls are definitely disheartened about the outcome,” Callipari said. “It’s not the outcome we needed and maybe perhaps (were) deserving of.
“But we gave away 11 or 12 corner kicks. That means they are applying pressure, and maybe we’re just a little bit slow given the grass, which is a little uncomfortable for us.
“(The girls) got closed down. We gave away way too many dead balls, but overall give credit to Neuqua Valley. They are deserving of some share in the wealth, and we’ve got to find our way moving forward with Wheaton North (visiting on Saturday) and the regional next.”
Indeed, the Tigers have much to look forward to. They sit just behind top-seeded and top-ranked St. Charles North at the Class 3A Geneva Sectional and thus are heavily favored to win next week’s Lake Park Regional. If Wheaton Warrenville South got the to the sectional final against the undefeated North Stars they would definitely pose a threat. Besides two teams that tied St. Charles North in regulation, Barrington and Divine Savior Holy Angels (Wis.), Wheaton Warrenville South was the only team this season to come within a goal of the North Stars -- a 2-1 loss in the Pepsi Army Bracket final April 22.
“I think we’re definitely learning from these losses,” Anderson said. “We’re playing a lot of top 10 teams at the end of our season, so going into playoffs with this schedule, I think it’s really preparing us and will get us ready to go far.”
Neuqua Valley, which is seeded third at the Plainfield North Sectional, is similarly seasoned and hopeful. They have beaten no. 2-seed Metea Valley twice and lost 1-0 to top-seeded Naperville North.
“(My confidence) is pretty high, because the defending of the whole team has been really good in all the games,” Ortiz said. “We just need to keep that up in order to go far in the playoffs.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Abbie Brennan
D Claire Kiple
D Molly Fank
D Sam Buol
D Maria Dohse
M Evelyn Demsher
M Allie Anderson
M Audrey Siebert
M Jennifer Aalbue
F Paige Miller
F Morgan Schwerin
Neuqua Valley
GK Yanel Ortiz
D Shannon Tagler
D Paige Munar
D Erin McCarthy
D Kayla Monis
M Alyssa Bombacino
M Katelyn Nardulli
M Danielle Hopkins
F Julia Rushing
F Sydney Rushing
F Alison Dovalovsky
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Erin McCarthy, jr., D, Neuqua Valley.
Scoring summary
1st Half
Neuqua Valley – Erin McCarthy (Shannon Tagler) 8:50
McCarthy delivers 1-0 win, Wildcats tie Naperville N. for crown
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Neuqua Valley has quietly put together the best defense in the DuPage Valley Conference this season and junior center back Erin McCarthy is a big reason why.
The 6-foot-1 McCarthy, who also plays on the Wildcats basketball team, stepped up and became the linchpin of the backline after three-year starter Kailey Serna was lost to injury.
Neuqua’s defense has given up just eight goals, five of which came in the first three games of the season. The Wildcats, ranked fifth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, finished the regular season with four-consecutive shutouts, including Thursday’s 1-0 DVC win over no. 12 Wheaton Warrenville South.
Who scored the only goal of the game? Yep, McCarthy, who found the back of the net for the second time this season with her second game-winner.
It came on a header off a corner kick from defender Shannon Tagler and gave the Wildcats (11-5-0, 7-1-0) their second-consecutive DuPage Valley title, this time shared with Naperville North.
McCarthy’s goal came with 8:50 remaining in the first half. Tagler sent her serve from the left side to a spot just outside the 6 and McCarthy powered the header under the crossbar.
“It was definitely perfectly placed, and we practice it over and over,” McCarthy said. “I was just glad that I was there in the right spot, and we actually put it in.”
McCarthy’s athletic frame gives the Wildcats a big advantage at both ends of the field. Her teammates always look for her in the box on set pieces.
“Yeah, typically I am the target,” McCarthy said. “That’s why I’m glad I finally put one away again for the team.”
McCarthy’s first goal came in overtime during a 2-1 win over Metea Valley in the Naperville Invitational quarterfinals. But this one, coming in Neuqua’s final home game was a bit more special.
“It’s crazy,” McCarthy said. “It kind of feels like it didn’t even happen.
“It’s kind of surreal. I’m just glad that we could put it all out there and play as a team and get the outcome that we needed.”
The Wildcats got that outcome in familiar fashion. The backline of McCarthy, Tagler, Paige Munar and Kayla Monis, with help off the bench from Megan Olah, was stingy throughout even in the face of a determined Wheaton Warrenville South attack in the second half.
Senior goalkeeper Yanel Ortiz made four of her five saves after intermission to preserve Neuqua Valley’s ninth shutout.
“We’re just solid in the back,” Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau said. “Paige does well.
“Megan is doing fine. She stepped in in the second half when Kayla got a little tired and did well.
“And Erin is really underrated. Not many center backs this year have been better than her. She is good right-footed and left-footed, she can win balls in the air.
“She’s got long strides so she is deceivingly fast.”
Neuqua’s defense is deceivingly good. It may bend at times, as it did in conceding four corner kicks in the second half, but rarely does it give up quality chances.
The Tigers (12-7-0, 4-3-0) had only one truly dangerous opportunity, and Ortiz stymied that when she quickly came out to kick away Paige Miller’s short breakaway attempt with 33:00 to go.
“I think the key to it is communication and just the fact that everyone has been playing together for a while now,” Ortiz said. “So everybody knows how each other plays.”
The Tigers, who have lost three-straight one-goal games to ranked opponents, played well again, especially in the second half.
“I think it was a difference in two halves,” Moreau said. “I thought we had the better of the play in the first half, and they had the better of the play in the second half.
“But I’m not quite sure that, besides the one where Paige went in against Yanel 1-on-1, they had anything of quality.”
Maybe not quality scoring chances, but the overall level of play was sound. The Tigers have been a second half team of late.
“We definitely talked during halftime, and we take each other’s advice,” Wheaton Warrenville South midfielder Allie Anderson said. “We refocus and get our heads back in it and start to fight again.
“Once we start going straight from the second half whistle, then the other team is taken aback, and we’ll get momentum.”
But the Wildcats were up for that challenge, especially considering what was at stake.
“Moreau told us they were really going to come out strong in the second half, and I think we were just prepared,” Ortiz said. “(Winning conference) means a lot because the girls put a lot of effort into practices and games.
“Sometimes we don’t get the results we want, but for this game I think we came out 100 percent.”
Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari didn’t disagree.
“The girls are definitely disheartened about the outcome,” Callipari said. “It’s not the outcome we needed and maybe perhaps (were) deserving of.
“But we gave away 11 or 12 corner kicks. That means they are applying pressure, and maybe we’re just a little bit slow given the grass, which is a little uncomfortable for us.
“(The girls) got closed down. We gave away way too many dead balls, but overall give credit to Neuqua Valley. They are deserving of some share in the wealth, and we’ve got to find our way moving forward with Wheaton North (visiting on Saturday) and the regional next.”
Indeed, the Tigers have much to look forward to. They sit just behind top-seeded and top-ranked St. Charles North at the Class 3A Geneva Sectional and thus are heavily favored to win next week’s Lake Park Regional. If Wheaton Warrenville South got the to the sectional final against the undefeated North Stars they would definitely pose a threat. Besides two teams that tied St. Charles North in regulation, Barrington and Divine Savior Holy Angels (Wis.), Wheaton Warrenville South was the only team this season to come within a goal of the North Stars -- a 2-1 loss in the Pepsi Army Bracket final April 22.
“I think we’re definitely learning from these losses,” Anderson said. “We’re playing a lot of top 10 teams at the end of our season, so going into playoffs with this schedule, I think it’s really preparing us and will get us ready to go far.”
Neuqua Valley, which is seeded third at the Plainfield North Sectional, is similarly seasoned and hopeful. They have beaten no. 2-seed Metea Valley twice and lost 1-0 to top-seeded Naperville North.
“(My confidence) is pretty high, because the defending of the whole team has been really good in all the games,” Ortiz said. “We just need to keep that up in order to go far in the playoffs.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Abbie Brennan
D Claire Kiple
D Molly Fank
D Sam Buol
D Maria Dohse
M Evelyn Demsher
M Allie Anderson
M Audrey Siebert
M Jennifer Aalbue
F Paige Miller
F Morgan Schwerin
Neuqua Valley
GK Yanel Ortiz
D Shannon Tagler
D Paige Munar
D Erin McCarthy
D Kayla Monis
M Alyssa Bombacino
M Katelyn Nardulli
M Danielle Hopkins
F Julia Rushing
F Sydney Rushing
F Alison Dovalovsky
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Erin McCarthy, jr., D, Neuqua Valley.
Scoring summary
1st Half
Neuqua Valley – Erin McCarthy (Shannon Tagler) 8:50