Hilltoppers post first win, 3-2 over Maine West
By Gary Larsen

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Glenbard West showed flashes of it throughout a 3-2 win over Maine West on Wednesday; players finding each other’s feet while handling the physical nature of high school soccer.

“That’s what we have to do to win,” Hilltoppers captain Maddie Nelson said.  “Obviously, it worked today. And we took advantage of some set pieces today.”

The Hilltoppers’ first win of the year came in third-round play of this year’s 14-team St. Francis Springfest Classic on Wednesday, at Olympic Park in Schaumburg.

Five games into the season, Nelson is beginning to see signs for a young team aiming to gain maturity.

“It’s getting better as practice and games come along and as we keep working I think it will only get better and better,” Nelson said. “We’ve played some great teams already and I think that will prepare us for our conference.

“We’re a good team but our scores might not show it. We can compete with the best teams, and play with them, and beating them is the next step. But we can definitely play with them.”
Glenbard West (1-4) led 2-0 at halftime thanks to a head shot goal from Alyssa Cantore, off a Zoe Pearson corner kick, and a shot from 20 yards out by Abby Ohrnstein, with the assist again coming from Pearson.

“It’s windy and Maine West is a physical team, which caused disruptions to the flow of the game,” Kusmierz said. “But we were able to score goals off of plays that we made in the first half. In the second it was just difficult to get anything going against the wind.”
Pearson and Jamie Henkel both returned to the field for the Hilltoppers after missing the season’s start.

“Zoe is only a sophomore but she gives us an extra offensive threat, as a midfielder or as a forward,” Kusmierz said. “Now we’re just waiting until she’s game-fit, and she’ll add another dimension to our offensive play. They both give us a little more maneuverability on the field.”

Maine West scored early in the Wednesday’s second half but the Hilltoppers grabbed a 3-1 lead when Cantore stepped onto an Ohrnstein corner kick and tucked it inside the near post.

“We still need to connect more and use both sides of the field,” Cantore said. “That’s been our struggle, especially against Wheaton North and Benet. We didn’t have enough offensive chances to score in those games. This game was better, but it’s hard to play in this wind.”

Strong winds affected nearly all games played during the tournament, which ran Monday through Wednesday. Metea Valley won the team title in a shootout over York.

Unbeaten and highly-touted Metea Valley has only given up two goals in seven games this year, and the Hilltoppers scored one of them in their 3-1 loss to the Mustangs in the tournament’s opening-round game.

On Monday, Kaitlin Moore’s second-half free kick flew inside the near post from distance, cutting Metea’s lead to 2-1. The Mustangs’ first goal came in the game’s opening minutes of play.

“We came out a little flat against Metea and that goal put us at a disadvantage,” Cantore said. “If they didn’t have that early goal we might have been able to keep it 1-1 and that would have been a pretty good accomplishment.”

Kusmierz’s young team had its hands full against Metea Valley but the Hilltoppers competed hard.

“Against a team like Metea we can keep the game close and hope for a set piece, and capitalize on it if it comes our way,” Kusmierz said. “We got a free kick and scored, but I think we might have given (Metea) a little too much respect. And we gave up that goal right at the beginning of the game, which made things difficult.”

Glenbard West took on Marian Central in its second game of the tournament, and after a 1-1 tie in regulation, Hilltoppers goalkeeper Anna Soane did everything she could in the ensuing shootout, though it wasn’t enough to keep Marian from a 2-1 win on PKs.

“Anna Soane did exceptionally well in the shootout against Marian Central. She stopped three penalty kicks so it was just unfortunate that we couldn’t capitalize on it,” Kusmierz said.

West hopes that its strong early-season competition will pay dividends for a junior-heavy team, as it finds its footing under captains Nelson and fellow senior Alyssa Evans.

“This is Maddie’s fourth year on the varsity so she knows what to expect in big games,” Kusmierz said. “And this is Alyssa’s third year on varsity, so they’ve both been in those tougher situations and they know how to prepare and what to expect. So we’re just looking for them to be positive and motivating as leaders for the younger players.”

“We’re definitely connecting better and getting to know each other as players and people, on and off the field,” Nelson said. “We’re learning each other’s positives and we’re working with that.”