Metea Valley aims to sweep Neuqua Valley
Mustangs won first meeting 2-1 in April
By Chris Walker
After waiting 731 days to resume its rivalry earlier this season, Neuqua Valley only had to wait 20 days to get another crack at Metea Valley, its Indian Prairie School District 204 rival, in DuPage Valley Conference play.
The Wildcats travel to Aurora on Tuesday night to take on a Mustangs team that owns bragging rights after a 2-1 victory April 29 in Naperville.
“We tied (Naperville Central) on Thursday, and we have a losing record, but we’ve been in every game,” Wildcats coach Joe Moreau said. “Of our seven losses, five are by one goal. We’re definitely competing. With seeding coming up it’ll be interesting, because no one wants to have to match up against us.”
A challenging schedule is the norm for Moreau’s squad so while Neuqua Valley (4-7-1, 2-5-1) may not boast a record that impresses, they aren’t letting that define who they are. The Wildcats opponents, a majority of whom have been ranked at some point this season, can expect a battle for a minimum of 80 minutes.
“They’re a positive group, a great group, to work with,” Moreau said. “They know they’re much better than their record shows.
“We played Barrington early (1-0 loss April 19), so that’s always a tough game and then picked up Oswego East (3-1 loss May 8), which is doing really well this year and Plainfield North (4-2 win April 24) which has a really good record.
“Then we’re doing the home and aways with Naperville North and Central and Metea (and the rest of the DVC).”
Neuqua Valley enters the game off a quality win that ended a three-game winless streak (0-2-1). The Wildcats downed Wheaton Academy 3-2 on May 15.
Metea Valley (6-5-1, 4-2-0) comes off a strong week with a pair of conference wins over DeKalb (7-0) and Waubonsie Valley (4-0) before dropping a tough nonconference game at Batavia (2-1) on Saturday.
The Mustangs are young but learning quickly. On Saturday, seven of their starters were underclassmen who are playing their first season of varsity soccer. Freshmen Zoe Kirkman and Lucy Burk, and sophomores Kaylee Bannack, Alyssa Parrilli, Riley Strcic, Tyra King and Jordan Lange are getting on the job training.
When the Mustangs traveled to Neuqua Valley in April it was King who scored the decisive goal. She pounced on a rebound after a shot from Lange was denied by Wildcats’ keeper Tara Tesmond in the 2-1 victory.
They’ll look to return to their winning ways against their rivals. Batavia denied Metea Valley a fourth-straight win after they had ended a three-game losing stretch from a ridiculously tough schedule that featured Benet, Naperville North and Naperville Central over six days.
Mustangs coach Chris Whaley said the girls are still learning about the grind of a high school season and the difficulty of getting desired results night in and night out.
“Part of (the struggle) is because of the youth and not having the opportunity to build last year,” he said. “It just takes a lot of extra effort to get them to buy into what it takes to win games consistently and especially to win big games.”
In the earlier match, Brooke Miller gave Neuqua Valley a 1-0 lead but an own-goal evened things up until King scored the game-winner late in the first half.
The Wildcats beat the Mustangs 1-0 in 2019.
Mustangs won first meeting 2-1 in April
By Chris Walker
After waiting 731 days to resume its rivalry earlier this season, Neuqua Valley only had to wait 20 days to get another crack at Metea Valley, its Indian Prairie School District 204 rival, in DuPage Valley Conference play.
The Wildcats travel to Aurora on Tuesday night to take on a Mustangs team that owns bragging rights after a 2-1 victory April 29 in Naperville.
“We tied (Naperville Central) on Thursday, and we have a losing record, but we’ve been in every game,” Wildcats coach Joe Moreau said. “Of our seven losses, five are by one goal. We’re definitely competing. With seeding coming up it’ll be interesting, because no one wants to have to match up against us.”
A challenging schedule is the norm for Moreau’s squad so while Neuqua Valley (4-7-1, 2-5-1) may not boast a record that impresses, they aren’t letting that define who they are. The Wildcats opponents, a majority of whom have been ranked at some point this season, can expect a battle for a minimum of 80 minutes.
“They’re a positive group, a great group, to work with,” Moreau said. “They know they’re much better than their record shows.
“We played Barrington early (1-0 loss April 19), so that’s always a tough game and then picked up Oswego East (3-1 loss May 8), which is doing really well this year and Plainfield North (4-2 win April 24) which has a really good record.
“Then we’re doing the home and aways with Naperville North and Central and Metea (and the rest of the DVC).”
Neuqua Valley enters the game off a quality win that ended a three-game winless streak (0-2-1). The Wildcats downed Wheaton Academy 3-2 on May 15.
Metea Valley (6-5-1, 4-2-0) comes off a strong week with a pair of conference wins over DeKalb (7-0) and Waubonsie Valley (4-0) before dropping a tough nonconference game at Batavia (2-1) on Saturday.
The Mustangs are young but learning quickly. On Saturday, seven of their starters were underclassmen who are playing their first season of varsity soccer. Freshmen Zoe Kirkman and Lucy Burk, and sophomores Kaylee Bannack, Alyssa Parrilli, Riley Strcic, Tyra King and Jordan Lange are getting on the job training.
When the Mustangs traveled to Neuqua Valley in April it was King who scored the decisive goal. She pounced on a rebound after a shot from Lange was denied by Wildcats’ keeper Tara Tesmond in the 2-1 victory.
They’ll look to return to their winning ways against their rivals. Batavia denied Metea Valley a fourth-straight win after they had ended a three-game losing stretch from a ridiculously tough schedule that featured Benet, Naperville North and Naperville Central over six days.
Mustangs coach Chris Whaley said the girls are still learning about the grind of a high school season and the difficulty of getting desired results night in and night out.
“Part of (the struggle) is because of the youth and not having the opportunity to build last year,” he said. “It just takes a lot of extra effort to get them to buy into what it takes to win games consistently and especially to win big games.”
In the earlier match, Brooke Miller gave Neuqua Valley a 1-0 lead but an own-goal evened things up until King scored the game-winner late in the first half.
The Wildcats beat the Mustangs 1-0 in 2019.