Altosino scores in overtime to lift Cougars past Wheeling

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By Dan Santaromita

Dominating the run of play is important but it doesn't mean anything if you can’t put the ball in the goal.

Conant was practically camped out in Wheeling's zone in the teams' Mid Suburban League crossover match Wednesday night at Hoffman Estates, but it took almost 100 minutes for the Cougars to get on the board.

With just 2:11 left in the second period of overtime, Alyssa Altosino's strike from just outside the box found the far corner of the goal to give the Cougars a 1-0 win.

Wheeling's five-defender formation caused frustration time and time again for Conant (6-1, 5-1), which now has won three straight matches.

"They do so well getting all those numbers behind the ball," Conant coach Jason Franco said. "You know coming in that's going to happen. You're gonna have to do something special like that to break them down and luckily Alyssa did it for us.

"She hasn't really done anything like that for us this year as far as finishing, but that's what we needed. Somebody to step up and take the monkey off our backs kind of and punch one in. It was frustrating for sure."

Wheeling goalie Chloe Majkowski (15 saves) showed why she's one of the best in the area.

"Credit to the defense over there, and the goalie," Franco said. "Those crosses for most girls' games, those are dangerous and she picks them all off. She's the real deal."

As the match wore on, the pressure the Cougars were feeling was visible. Chance after chance resulted in nothing and Wheeling was gaining confidence.

"They were just staying in the back and they were marking the space," Altosino said. "We just had to try to get around them and it was frustrating to keep going to overtime."

Franco said he wanted his team to be cleaner and quicker with possession, but the Cougars struggled to find the creativity needed to get past Wheeling's defense.

The Cougars attacked with more urgency in overtime. The best chance came from a Paige Wentzel corner kick in the 93rd minute.

Wentzel's in-swinger was met by a header that Majkowski was able to dive to her right and block at the line. Then a Wildcat defender cleared it.

Just as a tie seemed to be the inevitable outcome, Altosino saved the day for Conant.

The freshman got the ball just outside the box, barely got by a defender and then unleashed an absolutely rifled shot into the net.

Majkowski had no chance and Altosino was mobbed by her teammates.

"We were all tired and just had to keep going and finally we got a chance to put one in and I just tried to keep going and got the shot," Altosino said of her golden goal.

"We're used to teams coming at us and then we counterattack them," Franco said. "They weren't going to let us do that so it took a little bit more of a skill play and Alyssa made it so credit to her."

Conant was without starters Courtney Raetzman and Brenna Fitzpatrick, but the team is now 3-0 since the two suffered injuries in their 1-0 loss to Barrington.

"We're finding our way," Franco said of his team adapting to the injuries. "I think you would have seen a little bit different game if they would have played.

"Raetzman is unbelievable and that kind of game I think she would have at least gotten one. She's good enough to make little spaces look big.

"The other younger players are figuring out a way and we're finding a way to score without them and we're hanging in there. We've definitely scored our fair share of goals."

Franco said he expects Raetzman to practice tomorrow and hopes to have her back in time for their next game, a home match against Elk Grove on Monday.

Sophomore Kelsey Foss and the rest of the Conant back line played great. They kept Wheeling's chances to a minimum and junior keeper Lindsay Fillingim only had to make three saves for the shutout.

"I think we were solid in the back. We just had a little bit of trouble on top," Foss said. "They had a phenomenal goalie. She made some great saves. We just couldn't finish, but we finally did."

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