Oswego E. faces unknown on a roll
By Chris Walker
No doubt about it, Oswego East is hot.
The Wolves (7-3-2) have turned their fortunes around with six-straight wins after a tough start.
Though they went 1-3-2 to open the season, the quality of the competition likely toughened them up for their current success. In their opening three-game gauntlet, Oswego East fell to preseason no. 1 (and current no. 2) Naperville North 2-0 in its season opener and lost 2-1 to Waubonsie Valley before tying current Upstate Eight Conference River Division leader Elgin 2-2.
Now the Wolves travel into uncharted waters as they head to Joliet West for a Southwest Prairie Conference matchup at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. The have momentum on their side and a 29-8 scoring edge over their foes during the streak.
“I think we are in a good place,” Wolves coach Steve Szymanski said. “Our offense is really going and that wasn’t something we ever worried about with the guys we had coming back. On defense, we still have some work to do. We’re giving up too many goals and the deeper you want to go in a playoff run you can’t do that.”
Oswego East comes off a 4-3 win over Plainfield South. While that was a solid win, and an entertaining game, it was also one where they surrendered three goals.
“We didn’t play that great,” Szymanski said. “But we got the win.”
Recent shutout wins in dominating fashion over East Aurora (3-0) and St. Francis (4-0) have the Wolves heading to Joliet with a lot of confidence and curiousity.
“We don’t know too much about Joliet West,” Szymanski said. “Some programs you’re more familiar with. With them we don’t know much about them since it’s only the second time we’re playing them. It’s one of those things where you see what they’re doing and then making the adjustments accordingly.”
Joliet West (5-3-3) has been up and down this fall and is trying to bounce back from a tough 1-0 loss to Romeoville on Tuesday. The Tigers have been stingy when it comes to allowing goals, That could present some problems for Oswego East’s high-powered offense.
“Hopefully it’s one of those games where it’s our best going against their best and the top-performing team prevails,” said Joliet West coach Patrick Korthauer. “Our strong qualities this season have been defense, and we’ll need that in this game. Our possession has been good, but that final touch still is still something we need to find.”
The lack of history between the two teams gives the game an air of mystery.
“I think that’s what tricky these first couple years because we used to know who was a constantly good team,” Korthauer said. “Like Sandburg, we always knew they were above average. Some teams are good one year and down the other or a flash in the pan.
"(Oswego East) seems to good pretty consistently so we know it should be a good game.”
By Chris Walker
No doubt about it, Oswego East is hot.
The Wolves (7-3-2) have turned their fortunes around with six-straight wins after a tough start.
Though they went 1-3-2 to open the season, the quality of the competition likely toughened them up for their current success. In their opening three-game gauntlet, Oswego East fell to preseason no. 1 (and current no. 2) Naperville North 2-0 in its season opener and lost 2-1 to Waubonsie Valley before tying current Upstate Eight Conference River Division leader Elgin 2-2.
Now the Wolves travel into uncharted waters as they head to Joliet West for a Southwest Prairie Conference matchup at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. The have momentum on their side and a 29-8 scoring edge over their foes during the streak.
“I think we are in a good place,” Wolves coach Steve Szymanski said. “Our offense is really going and that wasn’t something we ever worried about with the guys we had coming back. On defense, we still have some work to do. We’re giving up too many goals and the deeper you want to go in a playoff run you can’t do that.”
Oswego East comes off a 4-3 win over Plainfield South. While that was a solid win, and an entertaining game, it was also one where they surrendered three goals.
“We didn’t play that great,” Szymanski said. “But we got the win.”
Recent shutout wins in dominating fashion over East Aurora (3-0) and St. Francis (4-0) have the Wolves heading to Joliet with a lot of confidence and curiousity.
“We don’t know too much about Joliet West,” Szymanski said. “Some programs you’re more familiar with. With them we don’t know much about them since it’s only the second time we’re playing them. It’s one of those things where you see what they’re doing and then making the adjustments accordingly.”
Joliet West (5-3-3) has been up and down this fall and is trying to bounce back from a tough 1-0 loss to Romeoville on Tuesday. The Tigers have been stingy when it comes to allowing goals, That could present some problems for Oswego East’s high-powered offense.
“Hopefully it’s one of those games where it’s our best going against their best and the top-performing team prevails,” said Joliet West coach Patrick Korthauer. “Our strong qualities this season have been defense, and we’ll need that in this game. Our possession has been good, but that final touch still is still something we need to find.”
The lack of history between the two teams gives the game an air of mystery.
“I think that’s what tricky these first couple years because we used to know who was a constantly good team,” Korthauer said. “Like Sandburg, we always knew they were above average. Some teams are good one year and down the other or a flash in the pan.
"(Oswego East) seems to good pretty consistently so we know it should be a good game.”