Wilcats take the crown at South Elgin Invite
By Seth Hancock

To say the West Chicago girls’ soccer team is doing a good job of putting last year behind them might be an understatement.

The Wildcats had a rough 2012 campaign finishing 5-17-1, but just seven games into the 2013 season West Chicago is just one win away from tying last year’s total wins as the Wildcats improved to 4-2-1 overall after capturing a 2-1 victory in the South Elgin Invitational title game over the host Storm (4-1-1) on Thursday afternoon at Millennium Field in Streamwood.

“We’re really excited, and this being my senior year, I’ve never been in the championship game at this tournament before,” said Andie Lazzerini who scored the eventual game-winning goal. “It’s a good way to start the 2013 season and a good confidence builder heading into our conference schedule.”

Lazzerini scored her goal with 8:19 left to play in the game off of an assist from freshman Allison Oglanian.

Oglanian was on a breakaway and had taken a shot with South Elgin goalkeeper Jourdan Vaulkner (9 saves) heading out. That shot was destined to roll out wide to the left, but with an open net Lazzerini was able to race in and put the ball away for the 2-0 West Chicago lead.

With one of the Wildcat’s starters on vacation for spring break, Oglanian was called up from the JV squad. Despite not finding the net in the game, Oglanian was a constant threat for a breakaway with her speed.

“We have Ally, a JV player, and she’s really proven herself at this tournament,” Lazzerini said. “She had a good initial shot that was just going wide, and I was able to finish it for her.”

Lazzerini also helped in West Chicago’s first goal assisting Kayla Kirkwood’s score which came with 5:25 left to play in the opening half. Reminiscent of a 3-on-2 hockey play, Kirkwood and Lazzerini strung several passes together from about midfield and Kirkwood took the final strike from the top left corner of the goalie box and found the left corner of the net for the 1-0 lead.

“We’ve really worked on the possession game and working on passing,” Lazzerini said.

West Chicago has eight freshmen on the varsity roster including goalkeeper Gaby Navejas who had just withstood a strong South Elgin attack a few minutes prior to the game’s first goal.

With 8:00 left to play in the first half, the Storm had a minute long spurt that saw three solid scoring chances. One shot hit off the post, another went just wide to the left and Navejas made a nice diving save to stop the final scoring chance.

South Elgin did break up the shutout with 1:33 left to play when Caitlin Lange scored, but Navejas had a solid performance with 8 saves including many diving and athletic stops.

“It wasn’t just me, it was the whole defense,” Navejas said. “They did a really good job keeping them out of our zone, and if (South Elgin) did get past I was there to stop them.”

Senior Shanda Maldonado and freshmen Jessica Maldonado and Karen Ibarra started in the back, and when South Elgin had a last ditch effort to tie the game in the final minute of play freshman midfielder Stephanie Mata made a strong defensive play to stop the final Storm scoring chance in the final 10 seconds.

Navejas allowed just 2 goals in her four games in the tournament, and she feels she has been learning and playing well in her first varsity season.

“My first game, I was really nervous,” Navejas said. “But I was able to adjust to the varsity level. I think I’ve been able to adjust well and am just trying to do my best.”

South Elgin did edge West Chicago 19-17 in total shots and 3-2 in corner kicks, but the Wildcats did have the better of solid scoring chances. Kirkwood and freshman Maddie Aguilar both had solid shots on goal in the first 8 minutes of play, and Aguilar had another solid shot on goal in the first half. Lazzerini, Kirkwood and Oglanian each used their speed well to create chances throughout the game.

“They knew Lazzerini was going to be fast, but I think they were a little caught off guard by Ally,” said West Chicago coach Cesar Gomez. “South Elgin’s always well-coached, and they are athletic. We’re not as athletic, we’re more about possession.”

Lazzerini and senior forward Katie Becker were named to the all-tournament team.