LaPetina goal lifts Tigers past Falcons in Wheaton clash

By Matt Le Cren
Photos courtesy of Diana Fowee

Outshooting a team doesn't necessarily mean beating it.

That was the case Monday night when Wheaton Warrenville South visited crosstown rival Wheaton North for the teams' annual grudge match.

The host Falcons had a 12-9 edge in shots and played an arguably better game, but it was the banged-up Tigers who prevailed 1-0 thanks to senior midfielder Nicole LaPetina's goal with 12:10 remaining in the first half.

The decisive play began with senior Mary Heaton making a cross from deep in the left corner. LaPetina unleashed a shot from just outside the right side of the penalty area and had it blocked.

But the ball came right back to her and she buried a 20-yard shot inside the left post for her fourth goal of the season.

"We have a meeting before every game and Coach [Guy Callipari] said that our key was going to be to find the outside mids because we knew they play three in the middle," LaPetina said.

"So Jill [Langlas] and I just knew that if there was a cross we'd have to get in and luckily Mary had a great cross and I was able to finish it."

Callipari, whose team is dealing with serious injury issues, said plays like that are exactly what he expects.

"That's the kind of leadership we need from our seniors and she provided that tonight in what is perhaps one of the bigger games as seniors they'll play," Callipari said. "That's a good one to win."

As well as a tough one. The Tigers (8-1-1, 2-0-1 DVC) lost defensive stalwart Laine Jackson, who was taken to the hospital with a knee injury.

Forward Liz Ciesielski left the game in the first half after being hit in the back of the head but returned with 15:00 left in the second half when another forward, Kara Bimschlager, was shaken up.

This all comes as South copes with the loss of speedy sophomore forward Lexi Peterson, who suffered a broken nose on April 10.

Despite a severely restricted offense, the Tigers have managed enough of an attack to go 3-0-1 without Peterson, who is hoping to begin practicing with a mask on Wednesday, though her return to the lineup is still weeks away.

"It's taking a while for us but I think we're finally coming back together," LaPetina said.

"I think now that we've played without her and we had to readjust, when she comes back we'll be much better than when she was here in the beginning of the season."

"We're hopeful," Callipari said. "We're running out of bodies. We have not had a healthy side since Day 1, but we sit at 8-1-1 and I guess we can be fortunate with that."

For that the Tigers can thank their defense, which came up huge again against the Falcons.

North (8-4, 3-1) had a golden opportunity to tie the game just 20 seconds after LaPetina's goal when freshman Madie Fagan fired from point-blank range, only to have her shot rejected by Noelle Ekonomou.

Ekonomou, Jackson, Erica Filarski and Bridget Shrigley held down the fort in front of goalie Kelsey Graham, who made six saves, four of which came in the final 20 minutes.

"I was just looking to get the ball out as best I can," Ekonomou said. "It was getting really hectic towards the end, so we were just trying to get the ball up and out, especially in the last five minutes.

"It's definitely been hard these last few games, but Lexi's recovering and our defense has been working to get a lot better and to stay more focused and to stay in control back there. I think we're doing a nice job even with Lexi out."

Despite that, the Falcons gave the Tigers all they could handle, especially in the midfield where they have a height advantage.

"I thought North played a tremendous game this evening, well-organized and though they don't pose too much in the final third, they're very aggressive and they maintain a lot of opportunities," Callipari said.

"They can maintain momentum because if you play the ball in the air they're going to win most of those challenges. Our game plan was to keep it on the ground and move quickly and not let them organize, but we didn't stay with the game plan.

"We played through the middle too much where their numbers were and we had to find the outside people and get it behind the defense and we didn't do a very good job of doing that."

But the Falcons could not capitalize because they couldn't string passes together with enough regularity. They would make one good touch but the Tigers often denied the second touch.

"These games are always tight, but we dominated play physically tonight for 80 minutes," Wheaton North coach Tim McEvilly said.

"But we did not put that second or third pass together. We got behind their defenders individually a lot, but that pass to the open man on the far post or to the top of the box, those passes were off. The runs were just a little bit off.

"They defended well in the central part of the field after they got beat. They recovered well and did not give us opportunities to find that final pass to just slot one home."

Even so, the Falcons nearly tied the game with 21:00 left in the second half when Kate Wiegman sent a 35-yard free kick into the box to Paige Fowler, who volleyed the ball just over the crossbar.

"It just wasn't going our way," North midfielder Erin Karner said. "We had some really strong shots. They just weren't going in."

That was frustrating for Karner and her teammates, whose four losses have all been by 1-0 margins.

"I think overall we outplayed South," Karner said. "We had a lot of good pressure up front and we had a lot of really close calls.

"Defensively we were really strong and in the midfield all three of us did a really good job holding them and not letting them get by us very often at all. It was a really strong effort and hopefully we'll see them again."

Certainly McEvilly would like another crack at the Tigers.

"We're really disappointed we lost," he said. "We expect to win these games. We know we're as good as Wheaton South. We're as good as anybody in the area. Hopefully we can turn things around in the Naperville Invitational."

The Falcons only have to look at the Tigers to see how to handle adversity.

"You try to find a way, and it doesn't have to be pretty and is not in abundance, but it's effective," Callipari said of South's offensive adjustments.

"We move a step forward and that's what we want to try to continue to do. And that's what we've done. We've played 18 or 19 players every game and we need to."

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