Wolves warm up by beating Glenbard South for first victory
By Dave Owen
As temperatures neared their coldest levels of the game, Oswego East’s offense caught fire Monday at Glenbard South.
Leading just 2-1 midway through the second half in single-digit wind chill conditions, the Wolves struck for three goals in just over four minutes to put a 5-1 win on ice.
“I think with the cold air we wanted to feel warm, and it kind of gave us more excitement to actually get the game moving,” Oswego East senior forward Anida Phetchanpheng said. “We were moving too slow in the beginning.”
Phetchanpheng was the quickest player on the field all night, but reached another speed during the decisive four-minute burst.
On a great individual effort with 19:31 left to play, she dribbled past two defenders and sent a sliding shot inside the right post for a 3-1 lead.
Her cross with 18:14 to go set up Brittany Brewer’s athletic goal that made it 4-1, then Phetchanpheng pounded home a Megan Ross corner kick at the 15:26 mark for more insurance.
“Anida up top – we could put her in any position and she would stand out,” Oswego East coach Lauren Anderson said. “She is just an excellent soccer player all around.”
Brewer made her own sharp individual play to finish her goal, heading the ball forward to herself to create just enough open space to fire a low shot into the net.
“In the first half we had a lot of opportunities that we missed out on,” Anderson said. “Luckily in the second half we were able to capitalize on our opportunities.”
The second half charge actually began with 32:30 left in the game, when senior midfielder Megan Moran nicely lined a 25-yard one-timer just under the crossbar to put the Wolves (1-1) ahead to stay at 2-1.
But as much as the offense and the weather stole the show, goalkeeper Bridget Moran made her own major impact.
With her team up just one goal with 23:30 to play, Moran made a great leaping one-handed deflection at the crossbar to deny Glenbard South’s Michaela Miglio of what appeared to be a sure tying goal.
“I tipped it up, then spun around and grabbed it so it wouldn’t go in the goal,” Moran said.
The great athletic play was even better considering the numbing weather conditions.
“You’re just standing there the whole time (as goalkeeper), feeling the wind hitting you,” Moran said. “You’re not a field player so you can’t run somewhere. It gets really cold. I still can’t feel my face.”
The bitter cold was only part of the reason for that problem.
With 21:50 left, Moran beat a charging Glenbard South player to a loose ball in the box, but the ensuing collision knocked her out of the game with a bloody nose that remained bandaged after the game.
“When I came out for the ball, I had grabbed it and the girl kept coming,” Moran said. “And when we collided, her knee hit me in the nose.”
After Moran literally took the Raiders’ best shots, senior Alysen Newton ably stepped in at goalkeeper for the rest of the night.
Oswego East also received strong defensive plays by Jodie Makara (blocked shot with 12:55 left), Brenna Risch and Victoria Pecci down the stretch to repel Glenbard South threats.
Wolves’ midfielders Miranda Lambert, Kasey Bruns, Moran and Ross were also key contributors.
“I think Miranda Lambert in the middle is playing excellent this season,” Anderson said. “She has great control, vision and knowledge of the game, and she’s got more confidence this year as a sophomore to attack.
"And Jodie Makara in the back at outside defense has been showing a lot of hard work and is doing well herself.”
Coming off a 6-1 loss to defending state semifinalist Downers Grove South on Saturday, the Wolves defied playing into the wind in the first half Monday with a strong start against defending Metro Suburban Conference champion Glenbard South.
Phetchanpheng was narrowly denied a goal just six minutes into the match on a diving save at the right post by Glenbard South goalkeeper Dana Jourdan.
Then in the 15th minute of play, freshman substitute Camryn Lee entered the game anything but cold off the bench.
Off a Ross throw-in and cross from Phetchanpheng, Lee lofted a perfectly placed 20-yard shot into the upper left corner of the net to put the Wolves up 1-0.
A goal by Glenbard South’s Sadie Moore tied the game 11:45 before halftime, but the Wolves would take charge from there.
“In the game Saturday against Downers South we came up short,” Anderson said, “so it’s nice to bounce back and show some positive things during this game.”
Phetchanpheng hardly considered the opening loss to the powerful Mustangs an indicator of the Wolves’ potential.
“The first game we actually played pretty well,” she said. “Downers Grove is just a better team than us. This was a good first win, really good for us.”
And having survived all forms of adversity in her first win, Moran is ready for many more comfortable victories down the road.
“We just had more momentum (in the second half), and we wanted the win,” Moran said. “I feel this was a good start, and we’ll just pick it up from here.”
