Notebook: Wheaton Warrenville South
By Dave Owen
The 2022 season for Wheaton Warrenville South may have closed in the sectional semifinals, but the door to a very bright future for the program appears to be wide open.
A huge freshman class of eight players were on varsity from Day 1 of the season. And from start to finish, their impact was felt.
Freshmen Ashlyn Adams (two goals) and Ella Byrnes (goal and an assist) had multi-point games in the Tigers’ first win of the season, 5-1 over Burlington Central.
Adams’ final huge offensive game would also come at a big time -- her hat-trick led the way in a 4-2 regional final win against host Geneva.
But despite those bookend quality performances and many more in between, there was no avoiding the typical challenges of freshman year
“I'm not going to lie, I was a little intimidated,” Adams said. “I'm a freshman: you don't know what to expect.
“At first, I was a little nervous, but the seniors and the upperclassmen all made me feel comfortable. And once you get comfortable and in a rhythm you can't really stop. That's what I tried to do and the team tried to do.”
Freshman Lily Petrie was also a consistent starter all year, and other newcomers played major minutes off the bench.
The Tigers held a 3-4-1 record and were 0-2-0 in conference on April 19. They proceeded to go 10-0-1 in the next 11 games, sweeping the final five DuKane Conference games. The tie came against eventual sectional champion Glenbard West in a postseason tune-up May 14.
“So thankful,” Adams said of the Tigers’ strong finish. “The beginning of the season was a little dicey. We have a lot of younger girls, so it took a little while for us to acclimate to this level and to playing big games against these older girls.
“Finally, once we got in a rhythm we did really well. I’m really proud of these girls.”
Senior moments
As the new group of freshmen made a splash, it was perhaps fitting that it was senior Mia Taullahu’s nice 10-yard strike that netted the Tigers only goal in the 4-1 sectional semifinal loss to St. Charles North.
Taullahu and Elie Farrell were once the star freshmen in the Class of 2022, the lone two newcomers on varsity from start-to-finish in the successful 14-win 2019 season.
“With this program,” Taullahu said, “it’s been four years on varsity, and I've known all these girls and love all of them. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world. If I had a choice to do it all over again, I would 1,000 times.”
Taullahu will play at Dominican University in River Forest this fall.
“It’s not going to be the same without these girls,” Taullahu said. “I've been playing with Mal (defender Mallory Cadigan) since third grade and Elie since freshman year.”
Putting it all together
Coach Guy Callipari was almost poetic summing up how the incoming freshmen meshed with the upperclassmen to produce amazing results.
“The gap between a 14- and 17-year-old, there's not much in common besides the game,” Callipari said. “One’s ability they bring to the table still leaves a huge disconnect.
“They (the seniors) did a tremendous job of building a bridge to bring them (the freshmen) into this fray, and not in a token but a very significant way.
“The nucleus of this group has eight freshman who can play. They were not physically capable of mounting continued pressure, but they learned some valuable lessons along the way. And our seniors were not only willing to get that door open, but also help them with the bumps and bruises along the way as well.
“Every season is a different team, different personality and different flavor. These girls all bought into the culture, and even those that hadn't played (high school soccer) before but had been in the building like Kate Grunland, Carrie (Harvey) and Meghan (Economos) … they were just stellar. They really fortified our consistency in what we could become.”
Goalkeeper Caroline Spayth, Olivia Vassios, Cadagin, Taullahu, Economos (sidelined by injury late in the season), Farrell, Lauren Cassin and Eva Aimonette were the seniors on the 2022 Tigers varsity.
Taullahu added a senior’s take on how things came together around midseason for the team.
“There were a lot of freshmen and people from different grades,” she said, “and we all started connecting off the field more. That led to connections on the field, and led to us playing better together and wanting it more and more and more and pushing each other to be the best we could be.”
The future
Suffice to say, the Tigers should have a nice foundation in place to build more future success.
“I feel like most of us freshmen learned a lot this year,” Adams said. “We just need to continue to hustle and work hard on the field, and the next few years we'll have a really good chance to go far again. I'm hopeful for that.”
Hopes for a very special future are soaring everywhere.
“The legacy, as I told the seniors,” Callipari said, “you won't see it now, but you will two or three years from now. And it's going to be special. And it started here.”
And what a start it was.
“It's been a fun year,” Callipari said. “I’ve had better seasons (in wins), but this has been a really fun journey along the way. They could have given up, and they didn't. That's all you can ask.”
By Dave Owen
The 2022 season for Wheaton Warrenville South may have closed in the sectional semifinals, but the door to a very bright future for the program appears to be wide open.
A huge freshman class of eight players were on varsity from Day 1 of the season. And from start to finish, their impact was felt.
Freshmen Ashlyn Adams (two goals) and Ella Byrnes (goal and an assist) had multi-point games in the Tigers’ first win of the season, 5-1 over Burlington Central.
Adams’ final huge offensive game would also come at a big time -- her hat-trick led the way in a 4-2 regional final win against host Geneva.
But despite those bookend quality performances and many more in between, there was no avoiding the typical challenges of freshman year
“I'm not going to lie, I was a little intimidated,” Adams said. “I'm a freshman: you don't know what to expect.
“At first, I was a little nervous, but the seniors and the upperclassmen all made me feel comfortable. And once you get comfortable and in a rhythm you can't really stop. That's what I tried to do and the team tried to do.”
Freshman Lily Petrie was also a consistent starter all year, and other newcomers played major minutes off the bench.
The Tigers held a 3-4-1 record and were 0-2-0 in conference on April 19. They proceeded to go 10-0-1 in the next 11 games, sweeping the final five DuKane Conference games. The tie came against eventual sectional champion Glenbard West in a postseason tune-up May 14.
“So thankful,” Adams said of the Tigers’ strong finish. “The beginning of the season was a little dicey. We have a lot of younger girls, so it took a little while for us to acclimate to this level and to playing big games against these older girls.
“Finally, once we got in a rhythm we did really well. I’m really proud of these girls.”
Senior moments
As the new group of freshmen made a splash, it was perhaps fitting that it was senior Mia Taullahu’s nice 10-yard strike that netted the Tigers only goal in the 4-1 sectional semifinal loss to St. Charles North.
Taullahu and Elie Farrell were once the star freshmen in the Class of 2022, the lone two newcomers on varsity from start-to-finish in the successful 14-win 2019 season.
“With this program,” Taullahu said, “it’s been four years on varsity, and I've known all these girls and love all of them. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world. If I had a choice to do it all over again, I would 1,000 times.”
Taullahu will play at Dominican University in River Forest this fall.
“It’s not going to be the same without these girls,” Taullahu said. “I've been playing with Mal (defender Mallory Cadigan) since third grade and Elie since freshman year.”
Putting it all together
Coach Guy Callipari was almost poetic summing up how the incoming freshmen meshed with the upperclassmen to produce amazing results.
“The gap between a 14- and 17-year-old, there's not much in common besides the game,” Callipari said. “One’s ability they bring to the table still leaves a huge disconnect.
“They (the seniors) did a tremendous job of building a bridge to bring them (the freshmen) into this fray, and not in a token but a very significant way.
“The nucleus of this group has eight freshman who can play. They were not physically capable of mounting continued pressure, but they learned some valuable lessons along the way. And our seniors were not only willing to get that door open, but also help them with the bumps and bruises along the way as well.
“Every season is a different team, different personality and different flavor. These girls all bought into the culture, and even those that hadn't played (high school soccer) before but had been in the building like Kate Grunland, Carrie (Harvey) and Meghan (Economos) … they were just stellar. They really fortified our consistency in what we could become.”
Goalkeeper Caroline Spayth, Olivia Vassios, Cadagin, Taullahu, Economos (sidelined by injury late in the season), Farrell, Lauren Cassin and Eva Aimonette were the seniors on the 2022 Tigers varsity.
Taullahu added a senior’s take on how things came together around midseason for the team.
“There were a lot of freshmen and people from different grades,” she said, “and we all started connecting off the field more. That led to connections on the field, and led to us playing better together and wanting it more and more and more and pushing each other to be the best we could be.”
The future
Suffice to say, the Tigers should have a nice foundation in place to build more future success.
“I feel like most of us freshmen learned a lot this year,” Adams said. “We just need to continue to hustle and work hard on the field, and the next few years we'll have a really good chance to go far again. I'm hopeful for that.”
Hopes for a very special future are soaring everywhere.
“The legacy, as I told the seniors,” Callipari said, “you won't see it now, but you will two or three years from now. And it's going to be special. And it started here.”
And what a start it was.
“It's been a fun year,” Callipari said. “I’ve had better seasons (in wins), but this has been a really fun journey along the way. They could have given up, and they didn't. That's all you can ask.”