Falcons can't connect in first-round Pepsi defeat to Huskies

 

 

By Dave Owen

The 20 mile per hour gusts Saturday were winds of change for Hersey.

The Huskies reversed a recent weakness by scoring twice off of first half corner kicks, then rode their strong defense the rest of the way for a 2-0 win over Wheaton North (2-2-1) in the first round of the Pepsi Showdown in Schaumburg.

“I was telling the girls that I don’t think we finished on two set pieces all of last season, and in this game we scored on two,” said Hersey coach Brad Abel, whose team plays at Plainfield North on Tuesday.

Lauren Gierman was the catalyst on both Huskies’ goals, taking the corner kicks that led to scores by Renee Poulos and Casey Weyhrich within a three-minute span late in the first half.

“I felt like our team did a great job in the box, winning all the balls out of the air,” Gierman said. “We finished today, which is great.”

Hersey (4-2-1) also had the benefit of playing the first half with the wind at its backs, and took full advantage.

Wheaton North goalkeeper Jessica Kiely was tested often and the senior made six saves in the first 20 minutes, including a nice diving stop of a speedy 25-yard shot by Poulos.

The Falcons (2-2-1) also endured four corner kicks in that span, with Lyndi Armstrong and Lauren Szumski making nice plays to break up two of those restarts.

But the fifth corner kick would finally break down the Falcons’ strong defensive wall.

In the 28th minute, Wheaton North’s initial clearing of the crease off Gierman’s kick was fielded by junior second-year varsity player Poulos, who launched a 20-yard blast just inside the left post for her first career varsity goal.

“She’s getting substantial minutes so far early in the season and doing a heck of a job for us,” Abel said. “That was a great finish for her.”

“It’s just good to get out there and play well for my team, because I feel like I had to step up this year,” Poulos said. “Today I kind of proved myself a little bit.

“The defender for Wheaton North headed it out, and I was wide open at the top of the box. I just hit the corner (of the net). I think it deflected off someone, but it worked.”

The Huskies worked more corner kick magic in the 31st minute. Gierman lofted a high ball into a crowd at the left of the crease, where Weyhrich redirected a header into the net for a 2-0 lead.

“There were a lot of players near post (on the corner kicks),” Abel said, “and when we push players near the post the ball’s going in a little deeper. And it just found one of our girls’ heads.”

Wheaton North coach Tim McEvilly was pleased with the overall play of his defense.

“Neither of those goals came off defensive breakdowns, they came off of restarts,” McEvilly said. “Even in those first 40 minutes when they had the better of the possession because of the wind, we did a good job of restricting any really dangerous opportunities for them other than those restarts.

“I think Emily Barry and Linnae Giuliano are doing a good job in the back keeping things organized.”

Each corner kick goal had its own painful resolution from the Falcons’ standpoint.

“On the first one we did a great job clearing the ball, we stepped to the ball and it bounced out,” McEvilly said. “A girl just made a nice finish against good defense.

“On the second one I think we should have owned the ball. It’s up in the air drifting around a little bit, and that makes it difficult for the keeper and our backs. It just found its way into the back of the net. We almost had a couple of those same things in our second half. We just didn’t get that little bounce or little push.”

While producing their own great scoring chances, the Falcons found the wind advantage in the second half a fickle friend.

Wheaton North had nine shots go either over or wide of the net (six in the first 14 minutes).

“We put too many off of the mark,” McEvilly said. “We made the keeper make a few saves, but not enough. We were fighting to put that ball in – it wasn’t a lack of effort. But the execution wasn’t there and that makes a difference.”

Hersey’s defense also came up big whenever needed. Goalkeeper Morgan Harris made a nice catch near the goal line of a Szumski corner kick 17 minutes into the second half, then wrapped up the day with a reaching catch of a neatly-placed Szumski 22-yard high shot with two minutes to play.

Sara Magnuson made a strong defensive play in the 26th minute of the half, clearing the ball from near the goal line on a dangerous Giuliano throw-in. Minutes later, Magnuson blocked a corner kick away from trouble.

“Our goal was to win the first ball out of the air, or at least follow the second ball and clear that one out,” Magnuson said of Hersey’s second half defensive stand.

“And we also didn’t want to concede any corner kicks because we knew that set plays would be a big advantage for them.”

Gierman, Anne Korff, Megan Brant and Kayla Knauss were among the other stalwarts at defender spots in Hersey’s third shutout in a row.

“With the wind being such a huge factor, we tried to drop back as much as we could,” Gierman said. “Knowing the ball would move to the right of the field, you try to move in certain positions and get your head on it.”

“I think our back line in particular is really starting to come together,” Abel said. “They know that’s been kind of our bread and butter in the past. Lauren Gierman is obviously a game changer – she’s able to control the pace of the game so well. And I thought Kaitlyn Smetana up top did a really nice job putting pressure on their back line.”

Smetana even defied the wind in the second half to produce a shot from right of the net that required a diving save by Kiely with 15 minutes left.

Looking ahead, Wheaton North is hoping for more consistency.

“We’ve got to learn how to play for 80 minutes,” said McEvilly. “There are still moments in the game when we’re not as intense as we need to be, and Hersey I think is one of the toughest teams in the state as far as bringing energy. Every tackle is a life and death situation, and we don’t recognize the importance of that sometimes.”

Saturday’s win left Hersey feeling even more energized.

“We had a rough start to our season (0-2-1 record at one point),” Magnuson said, “so this boosts our confidence a little bit. And Wheaton North was a good team, so it’s a nice win.”

“Conditions weren’t the best for both sides,” Abel said, “especially going into the wind. But we’ll take it against a real good program like Wheaton North. Tim always has his team ready to go, so it was a good result for us. It’s coming together, slowly but surely.”