Tigers attack well on grass for 10th win of the year
By Matt Le Cren
Photos courtesy of Diana Fowee

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As a team that plays nearly all of its games on artificial turf, Wheaton Warrenville South was worried it would have trouble scoring on the slower grass fields it has played on for the past week.

Turns out those fears were unfounded.

The Tigers have won their last three matches on grass, scoring 11 goals in the process. After winning 3-1 at St. Charles East last Tuesday and 4-3 at Wheaton Academy on Saturday, WW South continued its prolific form with a 4-0 defeat of host Glenbard East in DuPage Valley Conference action on Monday in Lombard.

The victory allowed the Tigers (10-6-3, 4-2) to clinch third place in the DVC and deny the Rams (11-7-3, 1-4-1) a school-record 12th victory.

“We got out of the gate really well,” said WW South coach Guy Callipari, whose team led 3-0 at intermission after outshooting the hosts 16-2 in the first 40 minutes. “I thought we had to get it in their minds not to do too much, to simplify their game a little bit, get it down to two-touch because one of the things [the Rams] were going to be pretty good is at closing you down because they have some pretty good athleticism.

“They’ve very good defensively, they’re well-organized and they’re certainly larger than us and we didn’t want to get into confrontations on a slow pitch. So we had to move quickly, we had to play a little bit more direct than typically we like but that was because of the field. But the field also held up the ball nicely and we were able to get on the back end of it.”

The Tigers coped with the muddy, and in spots treacherous, conditions by using pinpoint passes and superior speed to beat the Rams defense, which had given up more than two goals only once before and 20 goals overall.

Senior forwards Lexi Peterson and Kate Fowee did all of the damage for WW South. Both Big Ten recruits scored twice, with Peterson adding two assists and Fowee one.

The dynamic due scored twice in a 79-second span as the visitors established their dominance in the early going.

Peterson struck first at the 32:27 mark when she knocked in a corner kick from Fowee. Glenbard East had a chance to tie shortly after, but Tigers goalie Abby Fuster saved Jessie Grumstrup’s 25-yard free kick on the right post.

Fuster’s punt to midfield soon turned into the second goal, as Peterson sprung Fowee up the middle on a breakaway for a 2-0 lead.

“I think we came out and adjusted really well,” said Peterson, a Wisconsin signee who now has 12 goals and 12 assists. “They are obviously a really good team and they came out strong, but I think we adjusted pretty well to the conditions and we just came together and put together some passes. Kate made some really great runs up top.”

Indeed, Fowee had several breakaway chances, but Glenbard East keeper Veronica Fairbairn, who was brilliant in making nine saves, deflected two of them over the crossbar. But Peterson found Fowee for another breakaway in the second half and this time Fairbairn couldn’t prevent Fowee from scoring even though she got both gloves on a missile that ended up just under the crossbar to complete the scoring with 25:23 left.

“We usually look for teams that might be [playing] flat in the back because both me and Lex can definitely both run onto a ball and when we do we’re alone,” the Purdue-bound Fowee said. “If they’re flat in the back we’ll try that a couple times. It’s not necessarily our go-to play…but if it works, it works.”

The transition game was working for the Tigers, who quickly turned back every Glenbard East attempt to get into the attacking zone and kept the pressure on the Rams.

“We’ve been working on making that transition from the back to the front and I think it’s really starting to come through,” said Fowee, who has 11 goals and four assists. “We’re finding the net, which is something we were struggling with at the beginning of the season and I think we’ve corrected that.”

Glenbard East coach Kent Overbey can attest to that.

“They looked very good and on the ball they looked sharp,” Overbey said. “For a team that doesn’t play on grass, it sure looked like they were just fine on the grass.

“It was quick plays over the top and we really haven’t been beat that way this year and they got three of them in the first half. They played great and we dug ourselves a hole.

“[The Tigers scored] two quick ones [on] two balls [where we were] not following our marks on 50-50 balls and you can’t give a good team opportunities like that. They took advantage.”

The third goal was a thing of beauty. After the Rams had cleared a corner kick, Tigers freshman Rachel Conrady tracked down the ball on the right wing and sent a long cross into the middle of the box. Peterson ran under it and hammered a 10-yard volley past Fairbairn with 2:30 to go in the first half.

“Rachel hit a perfect ball so it was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time,” Peterson said modestly. “It worked out well.”

“That’s what we’ve talked about; we’ve got to get the ball played back into the mix with intent and [Conrady] hit that one perfectly and it laid up where people kind of hesitated defensively and Lex has the timing to run under it and do that,” Callipari said.

While junior Dana Miller was dangerous and Conrady and senior Katrina Geannopolous put a few shots on frame, it was clearly Peterson and Fowee who fueled the Tigers.

“Lexi keeps you honest and when you focus in on her, then Kate can been explosive,” Callipari said. “Kate may not be the finisher that Lexi is but she works so hard and she’s starting to learn how to play off of Lex and now you’ve got two people to worry about that have that kind of speed that can get in behind you, so they’re tough to mark out collectively.”

While the Rams mounted more of an attack in the second half, producing six shots, Fuster and the Tigers’ defense were up to the task. Fuster made three saves, including a diving stop on Grumstrup, and sweeper Natalie Jensen cleared a loose ball off the goal line. Glenbard East’s last scoring chance came with 17:35 to play when Lindsey Paganucci got free at the six but Fuster was in position to catch the hard shot.

In addition to Conrady, two other freshmen stood out for WW South.

“The two backs, Nikki [Molino] and Tori [Adomshick], do a nice job,” Callipari said. “They’re nice technical players on the turf for us. They like to play and possess and get forward. They both typically play in a flat back on their club teams, so it’s not something us coaches are doing.

“Nikki has been in the midfield for the most of the season but now she’s starting to play with more confidence and now we’re going to try to get her some minutes in the back to look forward to maybe what she’s going to do for us the next three years.”

Glenbard East has at least three more chances to break the school record for wins. The Rams travel to West Aurora (12-8-1, 0-5) on Tuesday, host Lyons (12-2-4) for Senior Night on Thursday and will play Downers Grove North (4-10-2) in the first round of the playoffs.

“It would have been nice to do it at home, so we’ll see if we can get that done tomorrow,” Overbey said. “[West Aurora] can attack and as you’ve seen today, we need to take care of the ball a bit better in the back and track players better.”