West Aurora sophomore
ruins Plainfield South opener
Stephens' hat trick overshadows debut of Cougars coach
By Chris Walker
PLAINFIELD – West Aurora sophomore Katharine Stephens admitted that she sometimes was watching what was happening around her last year, rather than making things happen.
No one could blame her though. The 5-foot-9 redhead was only a freshman and suddenly on the field with older student-athletes, many of whom were already driving, some who'd already confirmed their college plans.
During West Aurora's 3-0 victory in a Friday matinee at Plainfield South, Stephens made things happen.
Stephens supplied all of the scoring, putting the Blackhawks up 1-0 with a goal in the ninth minute and adding some insurance with a pair of second-half goals.
“This year I think I’m a lot stronger. I’ve been playing against bigger players and girls who are 17 and 18 (years old),” she said. “I was watching a lot of what was going on last year, but having that one year has really helped me now.”
West Aurora (1-1), which lost its opener to Wheaton Academy on Wednesday, took advantage of a Plainfield South (0-1) team that was playing for the first time. And Plainfield South coach Lauren DeWolf was making her debut. Jitters were apparent early on from the hosts.
“I think we knew there would be the first-game jitters, but now I think we’ve gotten them out of the way,” DeWolf said. “Now we’ve got to get ready for Naperville North on Monday. That’s a great team and that will be a true test for us to see where we’re going to be this year. We need to forget this and move on.”
Stephens won’t forget March 20, 2015, anytime soon, and she shouldn’t. Kids never forget their first goal, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who has stepped on the pitch, recorded a hat trick and then forgotten about doing so. Stephens has now done something that she’ll remember for a long, long time.
“It’s exciting and it feels good,” she said. “Hopefully we can win again next week and keep improving. I’ve been playing soccer since I was 5 years old, so I’ve been playing a long time, from park district to club, and it’s good to be on varsity. I learned a lot last year, and all the girls are really nice. This was a lot of fun (on Friday), and I’m glad to be back this year.”
Stephens, a most deserving recipient of Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match, gave the Blackhawks some breathing room with 26:38 left in the second half. She was able to sneak past a pair of defenders, and when keeper Samantha Hlavac came out, she was able to outrun her to get off a shot.
“I just kept going and shot it, and it bounced off a whole bunch of people,” she said. “Luckily it went in, and that was big. It’s always big getting that second goal.”
She completed the hat trick with 11:48 remaining.
“Her first touch is a lot better than it was a year ago,” West Aurora coach Laura Wagley said. “She’s now getting it around the defender. Before she would go out. Now she’s touching it and controlling early and she’s able to finish better.”
Plainfield South created its fair share of scoring chances, but just couldn’t convert. Some of that had to with the wind and grass conditions. Some of it was the fact that it was the first game of the season. And, some of it was because West Aurora defenders Jocelyn Ferrer, Carli Hix and Sofia Papoutsis played extremely well in protecting keeper Bailey Ziman.
“They pushed a lot of girls forward, which we’re not used to seeing,” Wagley said. “We readjusted to it quickly, though, and that’s a credit to the girls to sticking to it and trusting that it was going to work.”
It was just the second game of West Aurora freshmen Riley O’Brien and Sofia Papoutsis’s young careers. So far, so good for the Blackhawks’ Class of 2018.
“They played together for Team Chicago so they know each other really well,” Wagley said. “Riley replaced her sister Sam up top, and Sophia replaced my four-year sweeper. So there has been no real drop-offs at those two positions, which is huge for our program.”
Plainfield South may look like it was beaten handily, but the Cougars were competitive. Angela Corcoran, Shelby Bishop, Michele Govern and Mirandi Nirchi created some of the team’s best scoring opportunities, and there were times where they controlled the pace of play.
“I think we did a nice job of running and attacking, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out,” Plainfield South senior defender Peyton Marmoll said. “I thought we were the better team and we created some opportunities to score, but they didn’t go our way.”
It’s just one game though.
“They broke us down a bit and we had some confusion in the back, but it happens,” DeWolf said. “When you haven’t been outside and you have the wind in your face, you have to adjust. This is the climate we’ll deal with the next couple of weeks, so we’ll need to learn how to adapt quickly.”
Marmoll believes they will.
“Being our first game, we’re still trying to figure out how to work together,” she said. “We’ve got a really close team. For being together for only two or three weeks, we feel positive and think we’re going to do really well.”
Starting lineups
West Aurora
GK: Bailey Ziman
D: Jocelyn Ferrer
D: Carli Hix
D: Sofia Papoutsis
MF: Yulissa Espino
MF: Jessica Ortiz
MF: Karina Rios
MF: Mariyah Zeitz
F: Vanessa Garcia
F: Riley O’Brien
F: Katharine Stephens
Plainfield South
GK: Samantha Hlavac
D: Kaylee DeVivo
D: Peytone Marmoll
D: Madison Ourada
MF: Alexandra Burns
MF: Ciara Coneset
MF: Angela Corcoran
MF: Miranda Nirchi
MF: Lexus Rose
F: Shelby Bishop
F: Michele Govern
MVP of the Match: Katharine Stephens, West Aurora
Officials: Jose Gonzalez, Tony Martinez
ruins Plainfield South opener
Stephens' hat trick overshadows debut of Cougars coach
By Chris Walker
PLAINFIELD – West Aurora sophomore Katharine Stephens admitted that she sometimes was watching what was happening around her last year, rather than making things happen.
No one could blame her though. The 5-foot-9 redhead was only a freshman and suddenly on the field with older student-athletes, many of whom were already driving, some who'd already confirmed their college plans.
During West Aurora's 3-0 victory in a Friday matinee at Plainfield South, Stephens made things happen.
Stephens supplied all of the scoring, putting the Blackhawks up 1-0 with a goal in the ninth minute and adding some insurance with a pair of second-half goals.
“This year I think I’m a lot stronger. I’ve been playing against bigger players and girls who are 17 and 18 (years old),” she said. “I was watching a lot of what was going on last year, but having that one year has really helped me now.”
West Aurora (1-1), which lost its opener to Wheaton Academy on Wednesday, took advantage of a Plainfield South (0-1) team that was playing for the first time. And Plainfield South coach Lauren DeWolf was making her debut. Jitters were apparent early on from the hosts.
“I think we knew there would be the first-game jitters, but now I think we’ve gotten them out of the way,” DeWolf said. “Now we’ve got to get ready for Naperville North on Monday. That’s a great team and that will be a true test for us to see where we’re going to be this year. We need to forget this and move on.”
Stephens won’t forget March 20, 2015, anytime soon, and she shouldn’t. Kids never forget their first goal, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who has stepped on the pitch, recorded a hat trick and then forgotten about doing so. Stephens has now done something that she’ll remember for a long, long time.
“It’s exciting and it feels good,” she said. “Hopefully we can win again next week and keep improving. I’ve been playing soccer since I was 5 years old, so I’ve been playing a long time, from park district to club, and it’s good to be on varsity. I learned a lot last year, and all the girls are really nice. This was a lot of fun (on Friday), and I’m glad to be back this year.”
Stephens, a most deserving recipient of Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match, gave the Blackhawks some breathing room with 26:38 left in the second half. She was able to sneak past a pair of defenders, and when keeper Samantha Hlavac came out, she was able to outrun her to get off a shot.
“I just kept going and shot it, and it bounced off a whole bunch of people,” she said. “Luckily it went in, and that was big. It’s always big getting that second goal.”
She completed the hat trick with 11:48 remaining.
“Her first touch is a lot better than it was a year ago,” West Aurora coach Laura Wagley said. “She’s now getting it around the defender. Before she would go out. Now she’s touching it and controlling early and she’s able to finish better.”
Plainfield South created its fair share of scoring chances, but just couldn’t convert. Some of that had to with the wind and grass conditions. Some of it was the fact that it was the first game of the season. And, some of it was because West Aurora defenders Jocelyn Ferrer, Carli Hix and Sofia Papoutsis played extremely well in protecting keeper Bailey Ziman.
“They pushed a lot of girls forward, which we’re not used to seeing,” Wagley said. “We readjusted to it quickly, though, and that’s a credit to the girls to sticking to it and trusting that it was going to work.”
It was just the second game of West Aurora freshmen Riley O’Brien and Sofia Papoutsis’s young careers. So far, so good for the Blackhawks’ Class of 2018.
“They played together for Team Chicago so they know each other really well,” Wagley said. “Riley replaced her sister Sam up top, and Sophia replaced my four-year sweeper. So there has been no real drop-offs at those two positions, which is huge for our program.”
Plainfield South may look like it was beaten handily, but the Cougars were competitive. Angela Corcoran, Shelby Bishop, Michele Govern and Mirandi Nirchi created some of the team’s best scoring opportunities, and there were times where they controlled the pace of play.
“I think we did a nice job of running and attacking, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out,” Plainfield South senior defender Peyton Marmoll said. “I thought we were the better team and we created some opportunities to score, but they didn’t go our way.”
It’s just one game though.
“They broke us down a bit and we had some confusion in the back, but it happens,” DeWolf said. “When you haven’t been outside and you have the wind in your face, you have to adjust. This is the climate we’ll deal with the next couple of weeks, so we’ll need to learn how to adapt quickly.”
Marmoll believes they will.
“Being our first game, we’re still trying to figure out how to work together,” she said. “We’ve got a really close team. For being together for only two or three weeks, we feel positive and think we’re going to do really well.”
Starting lineups
West Aurora
GK: Bailey Ziman
D: Jocelyn Ferrer
D: Carli Hix
D: Sofia Papoutsis
MF: Yulissa Espino
MF: Jessica Ortiz
MF: Karina Rios
MF: Mariyah Zeitz
F: Vanessa Garcia
F: Riley O’Brien
F: Katharine Stephens
Plainfield South
GK: Samantha Hlavac
D: Kaylee DeVivo
D: Peytone Marmoll
D: Madison Ourada
MF: Alexandra Burns
MF: Ciara Coneset
MF: Angela Corcoran
MF: Miranda Nirchi
MF: Lexus Rose
F: Shelby Bishop
F: Michele Govern
MVP of the Match: Katharine Stephens, West Aurora
Officials: Jose Gonzalez, Tony Martinez