Wolves find scoring touch in win over Blackhawks

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By Darryl Mellema

Of the terms that can be used to describe Oswego East's offense, "prolific" hasn't been a truly accurate one so far this season.

Entering Monday's contest at West Aurora, the Wolves had scored just 20 goals and 16 of those came in three matches.

But the offense got ample reward for its attacking pressure on Monday with a 5-3 nonconference win over the Blackhawks.

"We're playing good soccer," Oswego East coach Lauren Anderson said. "We are just struggling to find the back of the net. That's really what it comes down to."

The Wolves (6-5-2) had, in fact, just emerged from a four-match scoreless run of matches when it defeated Lake Park.

"It was nice," Oswego East's Katie Ross said. "It feels like we're back to normal."

Ross scored twice and Lauren Hoppensteadt added three goals for the Wolves.

"I think we were connecting more," Hoppensteadt said. "I think we were all on a good even level.

"When we're all together and all want to win and play hard, we're all on the same level."

Even though the Wolves won a wild match, the opening 40 minutes were very similar to a number of the team's matches so far this season.

Oswego East dominated first half possession and created a bevy of chances yet only led 2-1 at halftime.

"The first half was more like our season so far," Anderson said. "We had wide open shots, we had wide open opportunities.

"We had great crosses, like we have the ability. But we can be right in front of goal and, this season, we're having trouble finding the back of the net."

Ross scored both those first half goals and also hit the goal post.

Hoppensteadt also hit the crossbar in an opening 20 minutes where the Wolves were far more dominant than even a 2-1 scoreline suggested.

"We were a little bit frustrated," Ross said. "We just needed to finish our opportunities.

"It helps getting some of those goals and I think this game will help us pick up our confidence and we'll start to get back into the swing of things."

And then when West Aurora's own hot-shot scorer - Jessica Saffell - found a little space to get in a shot 18 minutes before halftime, the score was suddenly 2-1 in favor of Oswego East.

There was still time left in the first half for Hoppensteadt to have a shot just tick off the upper right corner of the net and for the Wolves to carve a couple more decent scoring chances.

Those worries eased somewhat when Hoppensteadt struck twice within five minutes midway through the second half.

The first was a long-range shot that found the top shelf of the net and the other came from a free kick.

West Aurora failed to give up and closed the gap with 16 minutes to play when Saffell stole the ball, moved infield from the left wing and ripped a shot to the right portion of the net.

An obstruction call in the penalty area presented Hoppensteadt with a chance to score a penalty kick.

The senior dispatched that kick and completed what she said was her first hat trick in high school soccer.

"We were all moving," Hoppensteadt said of her team's second half performance. "We had a couple of defensive breakdowns, but that's going to happen.

"We got the ball back, stayed together as a team and that's how we really wanted to play."

Saffell ended the scoring when she curled a free kick from the left sideline into the right portion of the goal. Saffell now has 14 goals for the season.

Oswego East takes over a week off before its May 6 encounter at crosstown rival Oswego.

"We have a long time to recover and prepare," Anderson said.

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