Sheesley goal sends Mustangs past Neuqua
By Matt Le Cren

 

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From the very beginning, it was clear that Metea Valley was no ordinary expansion team.

Stocked with talented, though young, club players, the first-year program compiled a respectable 12-10-1 record and won a playoff game in 2011 despite having no seniors.

A seven-game winning streak to start this season, which included the first tournament championship in school history, served notice that the Mustangs were quickly ascending the ranks of the area’s elite teams.

But the question remained, at least in the minds of some. Does Metea have what it takes to beat, and not merely compete with, the best teams around?

The answer, everyone found out Wednesday night, was yes.

In a watershed moment for the school, the Mustangs rocked the soccer world by stunning nationally ranked Neuqua Valley 4-3 in Upstate Eight Valley action in Aurora. They did it by rallying from a one-goal deficit an amazing three times, including twice in the second half.

Junior McKenzie Sheesley tallied the historic game-winner, knocking in a Kristina Tomaras corner kick from four yards out with 7:30 left in the match.

“Oh my gosh, it feels amazing that [my goal is] the reason we beat Neuqua,” Sheesley said. “I started out on the outside because that’s my spot – to go wide in case it goes over – and it went right in and I whipped right into the space and got it in.”

After that it was a matter of holding off a fierce effort by Neuqua Valley to score the equalizer. The Wildcats (5-2-1, 1-1) had plenty of chances in the wide-open contest, but couldn’t find a fourth finish.

Gianna Dal Pozzo hit the underside of the crossbar with a 12-yard shot with 4:30 remaining and Katie Ciesiulka put the rebound well over the pipe from 15 yards out. Metea Valley goalie Megan Geldernick, who finished with five saves, preserved the victory by stopping short shots from Zoey Goralski with 3:15 to go and Talise Romain at the 2:22 mark.

Goralski, who had another fine game with a goal and an assist, had the final chance for the visitors but her shot on the run sailed high with 1:47 to go.

“We’ve got to finish some of those shots,” Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau said. “We need to get on the end of some of those crosses. We’ve got to finish some of the chances we have and you can’t give up four goals.”

At the outset, it appeared the Wildcats would win this one, but every time they surged ahead Metea (9-1, 2-1) answered.

Dal Pozzo opened the scoring on a penalty kick at the 23:48 mark of the first half, only to see the Mustangs tie it three minutes later when Tomaras, who had a goal and three assists, fed freshman Elena Sidwell with a perfect cross in transition from the right wing. Sidwell fired a confident 18-yard shot into the lower left corner of the Neuqua net for her first career goal.

“Really the biggest thing was scoring that first goal,” Metea Valley coach Pat Feulner said. “It was a great set-up and a great finish. And I really think that was what showed [the Mustangs] that if we attack them, we put people on their heels, we can come at them.

“We’ve been telling them that we’re a good attacking team, that we have good attacking players. That’s what we have to do; we have to go at people. As long as we keep going at people we’ll have success.”

The Mustangs had dropped a 1-0 decision Saturday to another District 204 rival, Waubonsie Valley. Neuqua then beat Waubonsie 1-0 on Tuesday, so the odds seemed stacked against the Mustangs in what figured to be a low-scoring contest.

Tomaras knew better.

“We had to bounce back from Waubonsie,” Tomaras said. “They’re obviously one of our toughest competitors. We had a game against Lake Park yesterday [a 6-0 win] and we kind of used that like we had to come out and do good in that game to be prepared for this game today.”

Even so, Neuqua still had the upper hand after taking a 2-1 lead when Ciesiulka scored off a pass from Goralski with 12:37 to go in the opening period.

“Neuqua beat us last year so one of our goals as a team was to get revenge on the teams that got us last year, so at halftime we weren’t down at all,” Tomaras said. “We were really confident in ourselves and we knew that we had to get it in as soon as we could and pressure them and get past their defense.”

The Mustangs wasted little time in doing that, tying the game 2-2 when junior Jenna Kentgen headed home a Tomaras corner kick 90 seconds after intermission. It was merely a continuation of the energy the hosts had been demonstrating from the start.

“I was really pumped up,” Tomaras said. “We were all just so excited. Before the game we had a team talk and we got here early and we made sure that we focused.

“We knew that this was a big game and we just had to come out and give it our all. We all wanted to come off the field with no regrets.”

So when Goralski, who hit the right post with a shot with 17:00 remaining, gave Neuqua a 3-2 lead by scoring on a 15-yard shot with 11:47 to play, the Mustangs didn’t crumble in the face of the Wildcats’ relentless runs through their defense.

No, they did the opposite. Just 26 seconds after Goralski’s goal, Kentgen made a determined run into the Neuqua penalty area against three defenders and got off a shot that struck a Wildcat player on the arm. Tomaras buried the ensuing penalty kick to square the match 3-3.

Four minutes later, Sheesley tallied what proved to be the game-winner, and just like that, perceptions of Metea Valley changed.

“It changes, definitely,” Sheesley said. “I think Neuqua is a very big, top team and if we can beat Neuqua we can beat anyone.”

The victory resonates especially with players like Tomaras, who is part of the school’s first senior class.

“Our team was really confident in ourselves, but people doubt us because Neuqua and Waubonsie have always been up top there,” Tomaras said. “It’s just been our goal as a new program to show everyone that we can compete with them.

“It’s really important for us to prove ourselves to everyone and hopefully this will wake everyone up and [they’ll] be like, Wow, they can actually compete with the top teams in our conference.”

The significance of the win was not lost on Feulner.

“In the history of the program, it’s one that has kind of eluded us,” he said. “We’ve played some good games, we’ve played a tough schedule with some tough teams but it hasn’t seemed like we’ve been able to get that big win against a big team, and they did it tonight.”

Hard work was one reason for the Mustangs’ win. Perseverance was another, as senior defender Hannah Thayer, despite having practiced only once this season, played heavy minutes in the back in place of sophomore starter Rachel Stoffregen, who suffered a knee injury against Waubonsie.

Midfielders Sheesley, Sidwell and Holly Krol also played key roles in making sure the Wildcats couldn’t dominate the action.

“I thought they played well,” Moreau said. “They defended in the midfield very well and they tackled decently.”

But it was mental toughness that enabled the Mustangs to do what they had never done before.

“Having a positive attitude really helps,” Tomaras noted. “If you want it more, you’ll win it.”