Panthers capture easy victory on senior night

By Eddie Burns

Sometimes it is nice to have an easy match, and that's especially the case when you want to recognize the seniors in your program.

Oswego hasn't really had many easy ones this season prior to Tuesday, when it beat Plainfield East 8-1 in a Southwest Prairie Conference match.

The host Panthers (7-9, 2-3) scored early and often against the Bengals, who are a first-year varsity program that features many underclassmen.

Senior defender Brittany Bush scored the first goal less than a minute into the contest.

"When you score quickly it lets the opponent know that you are here to play and that you won't take them lightly," Bush said.

"We respected them and we wanted to win this game. We wanted to let them know that we weren't going to take it easy on them and we didn't."

Bush was playing forward because coach Jamie Bartkowiak started all of her seniors as Oswego celebrated senior night.

"It was a pretty good feeling to get a chance on offense to score my first goal of the season," said Bush who later added a second goal.

"We've had some tough losses and we usually come back and try our best and we really did that (against Plainfield East). We really played well."

Sophomore Trisha Carr also added two goals while Erin Apolzan, Austin Wilson, Miranda Pence and Cindi Chavez each scored single goals for the Panthers.

Sophomore goalies Laura Gallardo and Katie Wagner each played one half in goal.

Oswego has won two straight by a combined 12-1 margin after losing four of five matches.

"We were really communicating, passing and using our strengths," Bush said.

"We really talked to each other and we played our long balls over the top and having people run under it and cross it and used one-two touch passes."

Bartkowiak liked a lot of what she saw from the Panthers.

"We moved the ball well," she said. "We kept our focus well. We didn't play down to them, which is a very easy thing to do against a team like that.

"We kept playing our game to the best of our ability and that is a tough thing to do. I was happy with that."

Bartkowiak enjoyed the win, but not at the expense of Plainfield East coach Jamie Wasielewski.

"It is bittersweet because I've known Jamie for a long time and when you start a program it is always a struggle," Bartkowiak said.

"I don’t ever allow my girls to overlook a team. You can't underestimate your opponent and we didn't today and I couldn't be happier about that."

The Panthers have a big test when they host rival Oswego East on Thursday.

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