Huskies can't overcome 3-0 deficit, edged by rival Friars
By Bill Hupp
Down 3-0 about midway through the second half to its village rivals, Oak Park and River Forest appeared to be on the ropes.
But the Huskies fought back and were it not for some poor luck, might have salvaged a draw against Fenwick.
Instead, OPRF fell to the Friars for the third straight season, this time at Oak Park Stadium by a 3-2 score.
The two schools sit less than a mile apart from each other and the physical nature of the game had a certain intensity.
There were 14 fouls in the game and the visitors were shown three yellow cards.
“It’s always tough when you go down 3-0,” OPRF Coach Ignacio Ponce said. “I think our girls over-thought the game at the beginning, we were very nervous.
“We were possessing, but you could tell that Fenwick came to play, beating us to the ball and physically beating us all around.”
Though OPRF had more possession and opportunities early, the Friars used two quick jabs midway through the first half to stun the Huskies.
Fenwick (7-0-1) opened the scoring with 15:44 to play in the first half when senior midfielder Bridget Hillmans sent a beautiful cross to the top of the box that Cali Pyzdrowski, who hit it first time into the upper 90 of the goal.
The pair padded their team’s lead a few minutes later when Pyzdrowski sent a dangerous free kick from the 35 yard line that forced OPRF’s goalie Elise Delligrazie to come off her line.
A host of black and white jerseys converged, and as if from a rugby scrum, Hillsman emerged behind the pack of players to usher the ball into the net.
OPRF (6-2) was attacking the East goal in the first half, which meant that Fenwick goalie Jesse Cwik was staring directly into the sun.
The Huskies had their opportunities, but kept shooting high. Meredith Blatner found the ball at her feet after Lauren Wilkes collided with Cwik and dislodged the ball, but Blatner couldn’t keep her shot down.
Another golden opportunity was missed late in the first half when Cwik blocked Erin Schrobilgen’s shot point-blank range with her face.
The hosts went down 3-0 early in the second half when Sydney Johnson joined the attack from her fullback position, found the ball at her feet in the box and calmly lofted it into the top right corner.
OPRF made some tactical adjustments, eventually found its footing and spent the rest of the game on the attack.
Ponce switched his formations from a 4-5-1 to a 4-4-2 to a 3-5-2 during the second half to help maintain the offensive pressure.
The switch helped as a Teresa Trinka header off of Alicia Gerin's corner kick with 22:34 remaining found the back of the net.
Putting junior forward Ruby Gonzalez up top at left striker had an immediate impact. With 16:47 left, she sped into the box, cut the ball inside to her right foot as her defender flew by and ripped a shot that beat Cwik but slammed off the left post.
Gonzalez was at it again just minutes later, blazing down the left wing, cutting it back inside on her right foot and trying to chip Cwik, whose height helped her reach up and make the save.
The Huskies finally broke through with 2:48 left when a beautiful corner from Gonzalez that found the head of Wilkes, who thundered it past Cwik to give the Huskies life.
They forced another corner and kept the pressure up, but Fenwick was equal to the task to remain unbeaten.
“We had opportunities to capitalize, but the post denied us twice today,” Ponce said. “I have great respect for Coach (Robert) Watson and his team, and hopefully we meet them again in the future.”
