Mustangs slow but can't stop Invite champ Neuqua Valley

 

By Matt Le Cren

Downers Grove South’s defense and midfield played about as well as can be expected against Neuqua Valley on Saturday.

The Mustangs kept the high-powered Wildcats off the scoreboard for far longer than anyone expected.

But stadium public address announcers may as well cue up the creepy music from the movie Jaws because as any defender knows, something bad is eventually going to happen to you when you’re facing Neuqua.

That’s exactly what happened to the host Mustangs, who saw the Wildcats fire home five goals in the second half.

The 5-0 victory was not indicative of how the match went for the first 50 minutes but did give Neuqua Valley the championship of the Downers Grove South Invitational.

“We just wanted to frustrate their middle and disrupt their middle, which I think we did in the first half,” Downers South coach Abby Anderson said.

“Then we just made mistakes and good teams are going to capitalize on mistakes. Any time you give them a little space to turn or a little space to thread the ball through, they’re going to do it and that’s where they got us today.”

Indeed, after the two sides combined for only seven shots in the first half, the Wildcats (3-1) broke through for four goals in an 11-minute span after intermission.

Katie Ciesiulka scored twice and Hope D’Addario added a goal and one official assist to pace Neuqua, which outshot the Mustangs 14-2 after the break.

“I think we were just really just disconnected in the first half,” Ciesiulka said. “Then we kind of put it together and we knew we needed to step up.

“Going against the wind was tough in the first half, so I think we were all a little flustered by that and our passes were a little off,” D’Addario said. “During halftime we talked about playing to feet and that made everything that much better.”

The onslaught started, as so many often do, with a restart. D’Addario’s corner kick found the head of Kelly Keckler, who nodded the ball off the crossbar.

The ball ricocheted in traffic in the crease and Shannon Donlon booted it home to give the visitors a 1-0 lead with 30:14 remaining.

D’Addario then made it 2-0 by lofting a 27-yard shot over the head of Mustangs goalie Jamie Furio at the 28:06 mark.

She followed by setting up the third Neuqua goal with a long lead pass to Ciesiulka, who maneuvered around a defender and the oncoming Furio to make it 3-0 at the 22:48 mark.

As pretty as that play was, Ciesiulka scored an even better goal three minutes later when she sent a short yet sharp header under the crossbar off a perfect cross from Kiley Czerwinski to increase the cushion to 4-0.

It was the second two-goal game of the tournament for Ciesiulka, who is playing a new position this year on the outside of the Neuqua formation.

“[It is] definitely quite an adjustment,” Ciesiulka said. “It’s a lot different than center mid. Definitely got to make a lot of runs, but it’s fun. I like being in the attack more.”

Ciesiulka’s teammates like having her in the attack as well.

“We didn’t know how Katie was going to do at outside mid but she is in very good shape and she has been making good runs,” D’Addario said.

“She can see the field because she’s played center-mid, so she knows where she has to go and when she can go and she talks so we know where to find her.”

Therein lies the problem for opposing defenses: the Wildcats are so quick that a split-second is all it can take for a scoring opportunity to arise.

“Neuqua moves really well off the ball and on the ball, so it’s really hard for defenders to keep track of all the players running in and cutting from different angles,” Downers South defender Lori Niehaus said.

“But overall I think we did a good job today. We kept up, at least in the first half.”

The second half, of course, was a different story.

“I thought we had some great runs off the ball as well,” said Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau, whose squad also got a goal from Kat Oleskowicz.

“In the first half we were missing passes by three yards. Once we put some pace on [the passes], then we found some seams in their defense. We moved the ball quickly and [that] definitely made a big difference in the second half.”

Despite giving up nine goals in three tournament games, Downers South (4-2) is playing surprisingly tough defense with a rebuilt back line.

Niehaus, a junior who was a standout left back last year, has moved into the center back spot vacated by graduated All-Stater Jess Pikul and combined with senior Lauren Tusek, who returned to the team after running track last spring, to form a solid combo.

“I’m trying [to replace Pikul],” Niehaus said. “It’s tough because I’m a smaller player, whereas obviously Pikul was big and she can get it out of the air, but it hasn’t been too bad because we have a lot of good defenders working with me and different players who can take it out of the air, the higher ones that I can’t get.

“I think we’ve been doing really good defensively. It’s been hard. We lost one defender on the outside, Catie Carr [to injury], but we have Lauren back this year, which helps and I think we’re pretty solid back there.”

The Mustangs had to use two offensive-minded players, senior Nicole Janowiak and junior Tess Grannan, at outside back on Saturday and both fared well in holding the Wildcats at bay for 50 minutes.

“I think they have adapted real well and having those two, Lauren and Lori in the back, that’s been consistent, that’s been helpful,” Anderson said. “They’re strong kids and they adapt well to whatever changes.”

The Mustangs weren’t as effectively offensively, mustering only five shots as Neuqua received a solid effort from defenders Keckler, Sophia Moreau, Lauren Ciesla and Dannah Williams.

Sophomore goalie Hannah Parrish had to make only one save in recording her second clean sheet of the season and the Mustangs’ only solid scoring opportunity came with 2:05 left when Brittany Dietz floated a 30-yard free kick off the crossbar.

Even though they were shut out for the second time in three games, the Mustangs aren’t worried. They did beat Lincoln-Way Central 5-2 on Thursday night as Janowiak scored her first career hat trick and Stephanie Zurales and freshman Autumn Rasmussen each had a goal and assist.

“I think that we didn’t come into this season thinking that we were going to win every game like we did last year,” Niehaus said. “We have a lot of new players coming up and a new coach and everything. We’re just working with what we’ve got and I think that we’re improving each game and that’s where we want to be right now."

For the Wildcats, the championship was a confidence-booster as they knocked off St. Charles North and the Mustangs, who finished second and third, respectively, in the state last year.

“I think having the benefit of being in this tournament and getting to play these tough teams in the beginning of the season really gives us some hope going forward,” D’Addario said. “We know that these are some of the best teams in the state and when you can go against them it just gives us that much more hope for later in the season.”