Wildcats beat Hawks to improve to 1-1 in own invite

 

 

By Anthony Zilis

West Chicago coach Cesar Gomez always believed in his freshmen and sophomores, even if they weren't quite yet confident in their abilities at the beginning of the season.

On Friday, his confidence was rewarded.

Two goals in a 3-1 win over Bartlett were scored by freshmen and the other was scored by a sophomore, and the Wildcats beat a young Bartlett team in their own tournament.

“For us coaches right now, the future is so bright,” Gomez said. “The younger kids are doing well because they are starting to believe that we trust in them. We know what they can do, but they don't believe what we know about them.”

Bartlett's lone goal was also scored by a freshman, Kaitlin Brohan, which isn't surprising considering the Hawks started eight of them.

Coach Heather Thomas was happy the way her team played despite the loss.

“It was a total difference from the way it was going the last couple of games,” Thomas said. “We played with a lot of intensity tonight and a lot of confidence. Especially after that goal, they came out with more.”

Only five minutes passed before freshman Alexa Vega curled a corner kick straight into the goal.

West Chicago (9-8-3) controlled possession for most of the half, but Bartlett (8-12) did make a few forays in to the attacking third, and Mariah Martinez took a volley from the top of the box in the 15th minute that was saved.

Three minutes later, the Wildcats added to their lead when Maddie Aguilar collected a throw-in pass from Stephanie Mata and tipped it just past the Bartlett goalkeeper.

The two goals were valuable for a team that has struggled at times to put a consistent 90 minutes together.

“We just wanted to score early and get the win early so we could calm down at the end,” senior forward Andie Lazzerini said.

Mata would again challenge the Bartlett goalkeeper late in the half, but her shot was saved by Amanda Lozada.

Bartlett again threatened to score late in the half when Josie Dombrowski collected a cross from Megan Coffinbarger in the 33rd minute, but her shot was blocked by a West Chicago defender.

West Chicago forward Katie Becker had two chances early in the second half on crosses from Vega and Kayla Kirkwood, but one was saved by Lozada and the other went just over the bar.

Mata scored the third of the game when her lob from 30 yards out skipped off the ground and into the back of the net.

In the 54th minute, Brohan scored the lone Bartlett goal of the game when she fired a shot from 28 yards out that curled into the back of the net.

Bartlett had been blanked in its last six matches and hadn't scored a goal since a 3-2 loss to South Elgin on April 11.

The Hawks controlled more possession throughout the rest of the game, but West Chicago was able to hold out for its second straight win.

“We kind of got a little frantic when they got that one, but we were still up by two,” Lazzerini said. “This was a good win for us, we've won two in a row now, so it's a good boost for our confidence.

Bartlett has lost eight straight, but Thomas has seen a team with just one junior, who plays goalkeeper, improve steadily throughout the season.

“They've made some serious improvements since the beginning of the season, and that's fun, as a coach, to see,” Thomas said.

“Even despite our little streak of losses and no scoring, it's fun to see their improvements and their strengths shine through as the season progresses.”

While West Chicago has a few senior leaders, it also has plenty of youth.

Lazzerini knows that without the freshmen playing well, this team doesn't have much hope of winning late in the season. Fortunately, that doesn't look like it will be the case.

“We're a young team, we have a lot of freshmen on our team, and they've definitely stepped up to the plate, they definitely have proven themselves on varsity,” Lazzerini said. “They can compete with any senior that I know.”