Plainfield Central, Oswego East
look for pick-me-up in conference match
Teams hope to put recent woes behind them
By Chris Walker
Oswego East and Plainfield Central would definitely like to forget some things about last week.
The Wolves got caught up in the "Ian Larson Show" on Saturday. The Batavia senior standout scored a hat trick as the Bulldogs breezed to a 7-1 victory.
“We’ve played two bad games against South Elgin and Batavia, but we had a great win against Waubonsie Valley, which was the first time we’d ever beaten them so that gave us a lot of confidence,” Oswego East coach Steve Szymanski said. “Having such a young team - those confidence-builders are important.”
Plainfield Central was able to leave the St. Charles East Invitational with a 1-1 tie to Belvidere on Saturday. That’s the good news. The fact that it was their most successful game during the tournament wasn’t. The consolation is that they finally scored after shutouts in their previous four games.
“We’ve struggled, but no matter who is on the field, whoever puts on the jersey is expected to play hard,” Wildcats coach Kevin Fitzgerald said. “We’re not expected to win every time, but we expect them to play hard and do what they’re told and for the most part they’ve done that.”
A lack of commitment is plaguing the Wildcats.
“We’ve faced a lot of commitment issues among the group and because of that we’ve struggled,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s been our main issue for two seasons now and honestly, until that improves, the results aren’t going to change much.”
Plainfield Central (2-8-2, 1-1-0) didn’t have to look far into Oswego East’s previous results to determine that the Wolves will present quite a challenge.
“They’ve beat Waubonsie Valley and Lake Park so you know they’re pretty good,” Fitzgerald said. “They’re going to be tough.”
Oswego East (5-7-1, 2-0-0) isn’t making excuses for its inconsistent play, but it’s apparent that injuries and youth have made it difficult to succeed regularly.
“We’re pretty banged up. We had three concussions and a fractured foot,” Szymanski said. “We’re getting healthy though. It’ll be nice to see what we can do once we get to full strength.”
Sean Phetchanpheng had split time in goal and at forward earlier this season, but because of his scoring ability the Wolves have moved him to the attack on a full-time basis. Jacob Leonard is now manning goal regularly. Leonard has received solid protection from senior James Jones, sophomore Spencer Moriarty and freshman Tristan Stewart.
“Sean’s got 11 or 12 goals now so he’s our leading scorer, and we need him there. Jake’s more of a baseball guy, but he’s gotten more comfortable,” Szymanski said.
Stopping Phetchanpheng will be vital if the Plainfield Central wants to continue their success against the Wolves.
Oswego East has never beaten Plainfield Central so Tuesday’s 4:30 p.m. game takes on added significance, especially since a victory would keep the Wolves perfect in Suburban Prairie Conference action.
“We’d like to shake that monkey off of our back of never beating them,” Szymanski said. “I don’t know much about them, but I know we’ve got to be ready to play.”
look for pick-me-up in conference match
Teams hope to put recent woes behind them
By Chris Walker
Oswego East and Plainfield Central would definitely like to forget some things about last week.
The Wolves got caught up in the "Ian Larson Show" on Saturday. The Batavia senior standout scored a hat trick as the Bulldogs breezed to a 7-1 victory.
“We’ve played two bad games against South Elgin and Batavia, but we had a great win against Waubonsie Valley, which was the first time we’d ever beaten them so that gave us a lot of confidence,” Oswego East coach Steve Szymanski said. “Having such a young team - those confidence-builders are important.”
Plainfield Central was able to leave the St. Charles East Invitational with a 1-1 tie to Belvidere on Saturday. That’s the good news. The fact that it was their most successful game during the tournament wasn’t. The consolation is that they finally scored after shutouts in their previous four games.
“We’ve struggled, but no matter who is on the field, whoever puts on the jersey is expected to play hard,” Wildcats coach Kevin Fitzgerald said. “We’re not expected to win every time, but we expect them to play hard and do what they’re told and for the most part they’ve done that.”
A lack of commitment is plaguing the Wildcats.
“We’ve faced a lot of commitment issues among the group and because of that we’ve struggled,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s been our main issue for two seasons now and honestly, until that improves, the results aren’t going to change much.”
Plainfield Central (2-8-2, 1-1-0) didn’t have to look far into Oswego East’s previous results to determine that the Wolves will present quite a challenge.
“They’ve beat Waubonsie Valley and Lake Park so you know they’re pretty good,” Fitzgerald said. “They’re going to be tough.”
Oswego East (5-7-1, 2-0-0) isn’t making excuses for its inconsistent play, but it’s apparent that injuries and youth have made it difficult to succeed regularly.
“We’re pretty banged up. We had three concussions and a fractured foot,” Szymanski said. “We’re getting healthy though. It’ll be nice to see what we can do once we get to full strength.”
Sean Phetchanpheng had split time in goal and at forward earlier this season, but because of his scoring ability the Wolves have moved him to the attack on a full-time basis. Jacob Leonard is now manning goal regularly. Leonard has received solid protection from senior James Jones, sophomore Spencer Moriarty and freshman Tristan Stewart.
“Sean’s got 11 or 12 goals now so he’s our leading scorer, and we need him there. Jake’s more of a baseball guy, but he’s gotten more comfortable,” Szymanski said.
Stopping Phetchanpheng will be vital if the Plainfield Central wants to continue their success against the Wolves.
Oswego East has never beaten Plainfield Central so Tuesday’s 4:30 p.m. game takes on added significance, especially since a victory would keep the Wolves perfect in Suburban Prairie Conference action.
“We’d like to shake that monkey off of our back of never beating them,” Szymanski said. “I don’t know much about them, but I know we’ve got to be ready to play.”