Cougars come up empty against Wolves in regular season finale

By Eddie Burns

Oswego East was simply more opportunistic than Plainfield South and it is the reason why the Wolves will enter the postseason with momentum while the Cougars are left searching for answers.

The Wolves ensured that the Southwest Prairie Conference would finish in a three-way tie for second place when they scored a 2-0 win against the Cougars on Friday afternoon in Oswego.

East (9-5-2, 5-2) received a first half goal from junior Katie Ross and a second half goal from Victoria Pecci while goalie Theresa Grandenitti held the opposition without a goal for the fifth time in six matches.

"I was hoping we were going to play like the team that we know that we are and not the one that was here against (Plainfield East) and we stepped up our game," Wolves coach Lauren Anderson said.

South (15-6-2, 5-2) had the better of play early on, but East was patient and scored on its first real threat when the Ross sisters connected.

Younger sister Megan Ross sent a lovely cross to Katie Ross, who flipped the ball past South goalie Taylor Schwebke in the 11th minute.

"It was really nice to capitalize on that first real threat," Anderson said. "Katie Ross has really stepped up and taken her game to a new level here at the end of the season."

Anderson said the Wolves took more time than usual to wake up.

"We knew we had to because Plainfield South is a good team and we had to play strong to win," Anderson said.

"At first, we were playing a little slow – at a much slower pace, but the players quickly realized that Plainfield South wasn't going to give us time and we had to pick up the pace and we adjusted and started playing a higher level."

Each team had its fair share of additional scoring chances as the match moved toward intermission, but neither could find the back of the net.

The Cougars had a number of quality chances to pull even, but shots from Sarah Johnson, Brittany McDaniel and Alex Truhlar all either went wide or were directly at Grandenitti.

"(Grandenitti) was on line the whole time, but we have to finish," South coach Kevin Allen said. "When you are five yards away you have to be able to put the ball in the net.

"I told the girls at halftime that their goalie wasn't coming off her line, but we put shots right at her."

Grandenitti finished with 10 saves.

"She stopped the ones she needed to and that is what we needed her to do," Anderson said.

"That is a tough position for someone who is not used to playing and she's handled it with class. She didn't panic and did a great job of making saves that needed to be made."

The second half saw a number of instances when the Cougars wasted prime scoring opportunities.

"We've scored a bunch of goals this year, but it is frustrating not being able to finish," Allen said. "If we get one of those to go in, it might be a much different story."

The Wolves received some breathing room when Pecci scored in the 66th minute.

Anderson's squad has won six straight games headed into its Class 3A regional semifinal contest at Naperville North against the Huskies.

"We are in a good spot right now," Anderson said. "We're coming in and we're going to be the underdog and that is what we like. It is a good spot to be at."

Allen was disappointed that his squad did not step up and meet the challenge with a chance to finish alone in second place in the Southwest Prairie Conference.

"It is frustrating because we had a lot on the line and we've never been in this situation before," Allen said. "We just folded under the pressure. The girls let it get to them.

"I tried relaxing them before the game and told them, 'This is the same game we've been playing all year long,' but they wanted to add extra pressure to it and we folded."

The Cougars also suffered some significant losses to personnel. Senior defender Maddy Haski was lost to a serious left leg injury.

And fellow seniors Kaitlyn Kraz and Lindsey Zagar might not be able to go when the postseason begins on Tuesday against Wheaton Warrenville South.

"We're going to need girls who haven't played a lot to step up," Allen said. “Our big-time goal scorers have to step up. We're going to have a battle on Tuesday. If we let this soak in for three or four days, then our season's over.

"We tried telling the girls after the game that this loss will sting right now, but we have to get past it and put it behind us and get ready for next week."

The Cougars and Tigers meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Bolingbrook.

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