Wildcats have a bad day against rival Tigers in SPC play

 

 

By Curt Herron

One squad was definitely on its game on Wednesday while the other didn't perform like it has been of late.

As a result, the usual competitive nature of the Plainfield North-Plainfield Central rivalry was lacking.

The Tigers moved in front in the fifth minutes and built a 4-0 halftime advantage over the host Wildcats.

North collected four more goals after that to claim an 8-0 victory in a Southwest Prairie Conference match.

Seven different players scored goals to help the Tigers improve to 6-0 on the season and 2-0 in SPC play.

It was also the fifth straight shutout for coach Jane Crowe's team, which allowed two goals in its opener.

And in a bonus to the win over a District 202 rival, the Tigers collected their program's 100th victory.

Kaela Leskovar, Heather Handwork, Ashley Handwork and Shayna Dheel all scored first half goals for North.

Brooke Polonus, Ashley Handwork, Sara Stevens and Erin Chynoweth connected after the break for the Tigers.

Nikki Auble, Tate Barney, Chynoweth, Leskovar and Stevens had assists while Erin Wren and Emma Veselsky combined for the shutout.

"It helps that we have a lot of very unselfish players who are willing to make the pass to find the next open person," Crowe said. "We don't have people who are dribbling too much and putting themselves in bad positions and that's what makes them such a good team.

"But I also think that they trust each other in that if they get the ball to the next person that they'll do something with it. The thing that we're most proud of today is that we had seven different goal scorers.

"We know that teams are going to try to take away Ashley and Central had someone on her the whole time and did a good job on her. But we have other players who are going to step up. We've talked a lot about not being too predictable and that makes us tougher to defend.

"I knew coming into the year that we had a lot of talent returning and that we have such a good freshman group so I thought that we'd be very good. But I wasn't sure that we'd come together this early. Our biggest challenge is to make sure that we keep getting better."

The Wildcats (2-2-1, 1-1) had won their last two and played to a scoreless draw after losing their opener.

But their hopes of knocking off the perennial SPC champions were hurt early on and never really recovered.

"It wasn't our best game," said disappointed Wildcat coach Ken Schoen. "Honesty, I don't know what was going on with us. I think that they're a beatable team, but obviously not by us today."

North moved in front for good just over four minutes in when Leskovar fired in a loose ball for a score.

Jessica Munkvold cleared a try by Chynoweth and then Tiffany Lenza halted Heather Handwork's line drive.

Central's first good attempt came on a corner kick from Deanna DiCristina that was punched away by Wren.

Shortly after Ashley Handwork was denied following a long run, Heather Handwork scored from close range.

A few minutes later Auble sent a corner kick to Polonus, but her header was hauled in by the 'Cat keeper.

In the 34th minute, Chynoweth found Ashley Handwork, who made it 3-0 after putting in a short attempt.

Not long after that, Leskovar made a nice cross that went to Dheel, who collected North's fourth goal.

"We connect very well as a team and that's why we've been able to score a lot of goals," Heather Handwork said. "A lot of people get opportunities and score goals and that's good for the team. Our team is like a puzzle and everyone comes together and makes an impact.

"We're a really close team, kind of like a family, and we've had a lot of chemistry from the beginning of the season and that's helped us. Our team is really fast and even though we're not big, we do well technically and find people and we're very good at doing that."

Because of how our teams have done in the past I thought that we might be good again.

The final half started well for the Tigers as Polonus made a header off an Auble corner 47 seconds in.

New keeper Veselsky punched away a try by Lisa Schroeder and then stopped Munkvold's long free kick.

North went up 6-0 after Ashley Handwork was ruled to have been fouled in the box and hit the penalty.

The time was cut in half in the 59th minute when Barney found Stevens, who connected from close range.

Central kept seeking a score as Paige Fuller sent in a free kick and Erin Mehelich's try was stopped.

In the final minutes of play, Stevens send a pass to Chynoweth, who scored her first goal as a Tiger.

"It was definitely nice to get this win because it came against one of our biggest conference rivals," Chynoweth said. "And it was nice to finally get a goal since I didn't score any in my freshman year.

"What's been great so far is that we've been doing a lot of passing and working together. It hasn't just been individual plays but instead a lot of teamwork. We have a lot of talent but we all get along."

Both squads play road matches today. North is at Hinsdale Central while Central travels to Batavia.

On Saturday, the teams take part in the Pepsi Showdown, with opening-round matches in Schaumburg.

The Wildcats meet Glenbrook North while the Tigers face Warren with both contests at Olympic Park.