Blackhawks blank Tomcats, control destiny for Invite title

 

 

By Curt Herron

A flip throw can be a great weapon when it's executed well and Sam O'Brien was doing just that on Saturday.

But it certainly helped that teammates Daniela Bueno and Reilly Kulakowski also did their jobs by finishing.

Those combinations spelled good results for West Aurora in its match with rival East Aurora on a windy afternoon.

With O'Brien contributing two assists on flip throws and adding a goal of her own, the Blackhawks got three scores.

Meanwhile, West's defense managed to keep the Tomcats at bay to pick up its third shutout in its last four outings.

The end result was a 3-0 Blackhawk win which keeps alive their hopes of winning the title of their own tournament.

West (4-3-1), which beat Kaneland 1-0 on Thursday, takes top honors with a win or draw against Rosary on Wednesday.

"We knew that we had to come out and take care of business against East," Blackhawks coach Laura Wagley said. "With Kaneland tying Rosary earler, we just need to finish on Wednesday in order to win the title.

"We told our girls that East was going to come out strong for 10 or 15 minutes and we shut them down and scored a couple of quick goals against them. I didn't doubt at all that our defense could get the shutout.

"We switched our formation up in order to be more offensive and we've been a lot more this year and that's helped. Any time that my assistant coach or me try to fix something the girls are open to doing it."

The tone was established right away as O'Brien kicked off her series of flip throws with a very successful effort.

Her initial toss went in front of East's net to Bueno, who headed it in to give West a lead in the initial minute.

"We wanted to get some goals as quickly as we could so that we could shut them down as fast as possible," Bueno said. "Our passes were a little off but I thought that we adjusted pretty well to the wind.

"Sam's flip throws are a big advantage and they help us a lot. I thought that we did pretty well and started out strong. The wind was against us in the second half so we had to fight through that.

"Of course winning is awesome, but winning against our rivals puts a cherry on top of it. We've worked on our passing and I think that we really work well together and are clicking more as a team this year."

West utilized the wind at its back during the first half but East had a few shots but Jasmine Meija halted them.

The Blackhawks added to their lead in the 23rd minute when Yulissa Espino sent a corner kick toward East's net.

After the Tomcats were unable to clear the loose ball, O'Brien fired in a shot to give the hosts a 2-0 advantage.

"My flip throw really comes in handy and we're finally getting better at finishing it off," O'Brien said. "We still struggle a little with it but we're doing better with it as we go further into the season.

"I think that we could have played a little better than we did, but overall, we finished on the goals that we needed to. We struggled in the second half because of the wind but overall our defense did well.

"It feels pretty good to beat East but we came out confident and I think that helped us a lot. We all get along pretty well on this team."

Later in the half, Espino's header off of an O'Brien flip throw and a liner from Mariyah Zeitz were both denied.

West struck again in the 45th minute when O'Brien sent a flip throw to Kulakowski, who scored from close range.

"It was big for us to get a goal right at the start," Kulakowski said. "The weather was crazy and definitely a big factor in the game. The ball was just floating in the air so the wind made a big difference.

"Our goals at the start of each half definitely set the tone and made us all feel better and realize that we could win the game. It was great to be able to win, especially with all of the fans who were here.

"We have equal skill on defense and offense so that we're able to balance out the field. Usually our passing is a lot better but it was rough due to the weather. We communicate and pass the ball to feet well."

After that, it was up to the Blackhawk defense of keeping the Tomcats from connecting, which wasn't an easy task.

East took advantage of the strong wind to get off plenty of good opportunities but most were not too threatening.

Shelby Zima, Sandra Chaidez, Morelia Delgado, Karla Torres and Zeitz were kept busy in the back for the winners.

As the second half neared its midpoint, O'Brien had a shot deflected and Bueno sent another attempt a bit high.

The Tomcats had a few good threats after that but Meija made the stops and West effectively ran out the clock.