Wildcats fall to OPRF in final Pepsi game
By Dave Owen

While Plainfield Central faced a major challenge at a key position, Oak Park-River Forest closed the Pepsi Showdown in style on Saturday.

The Huskies (8-3-1) continued to put a first round loss to Wheaton-Warrenville South in the rear view mirror, closing the tournament with a 2-1-1 record by defeating Plainfield Central 4-0.

“This tournament is kind of tough,” OPRF coach Ignacio Ponce said. “The fields are different, they’re small. It challenges us to adjust to different settings, and I think our team has been able to do so.

“Unfortunately we fell to Wheaton-Warrenville South 5-1 (in the first round), but it’s a good thing sometimes to get a little kick in the butt to wake up. I think we’re doing OK. We’re 8-3-1, and last year we had 11 wins so we’re right around the corner from that.”

As for the Wildcats (3-7-1), they were thrown off balance even before the opening kickoff.

“We were a little shorthanded in goal,” Plainfield Central coach Ken Schoen said. “Our goalie (Tiffany Lenza) and her backup (McKenna Young) are out with injuries, so we ended up putting in Jessica Munkvold, who has never played goal before.”

Munkvold’s newest role was her latest show of versatility, as the usual defender also filled in at midfielder earlier this season.

“We put her in a tough spot (as goalkeeper), and really she did well,” Schoen said. “I don’t think these goals were on her. She looked pretty good in there, and she’s never really had a day of practice in goal.

“We never thought we’d have to go to a third string goalie. Jessica took the challenge upon herself and I thought she did a good job.”

The Wildcats had the first great scoring chance of the game. Off a Lisa Schroeder direct kick in the 3rd minute, Maddie Conroy created a great chance near the left post but sent her shot just wide.

OPRF answered two minutes later when Munkvold had to dive on a nice cross to the box from Ruby Gonzalez. The Huskies followed with two corner kicks in quick succession before finishing their chance in the 18th minute.

Off an initial pass to the right wing by Meredith Blatner, junior Kristen Laible fired a low 15-yard shot. Munkvold made a nice diving one-handed save of Laible’s attempt, but Alicia Gerin pounced on the rebound at the left post to put the Huskies up 1-0.

“At first we were kind of off – we weren’t exactly playing to our potential,” Gerin said. “Then we got into a groove and eventually started playing at our usual level. We were pressuring pretty well and just playing our game.”

The Huskies were at the top of their game offensively the rest of the half.

Six minutes after Gerin’s goal, Erin Schrobilgen broke in on right wing and launched a high 20-yard shot off a reaching Munkvold’s fingertips and into the net for a 2-0 score.

The OPRF lead ballooned to 3-0 in the 31st minute when Gerin’s 45-yard direct kick connected with Trinka, who broke free in the box to fire home a low 12-yard shot.

Then four minutes before halftime, Trinka struck again with a high 22-yard shot into the net off a Nicole Smart assist. Trinka was denied a hat trick in the final five minutes of the game when Munkvold made a nice kick save at the left post of her low 20-yard shot.

“Tess Trinka did a wonderful job – she had two goals and finished up strong,” Ponce said. “And Kristen Laible had an assist on the first goal and really created the play, which was a good attack.

“The wind (blowing across the field) was against both teams – we both struggled gaining possession,” Ponce added. “We started off a little too excited on the attack – we couldn’t get possession at our feet. But once we did control the ball and slowed the pace down, that allowed us to play the ball simple on the ground and take advantage of our opportunities.”

Schoen agreed that the Huskies’ opportunistic play was the difference in the game.

“It was just a few breakdowns in the back,” he said. “I don’t think they controlled possession on us.”
OPRF has scored four or more goals in a match four times this season.

“We have a lot of different options from every position,” Gerin said. “Everyone has a strong motivation and also a strong talent, and that’s what makes us such a good team.”

Defensively, the Huskies’ Julianne Darden took over at goalkeeper for starter Elise Delligrazie in the second half and preserved the shutout with two nice saves.

The first came on a low 18-yard attempt by Plainfield Central’s Sami Jensen six minutes into the half, then Darden dove on a Jensen cross to the net from the end line nine minutes later.

Also key to finishing off OPRF’s seventh shutout of the spring was an exceptional second half by junior defender Tessa Saraceno, who consistently cleared the ball out of danger from the top of the box.
Plainfield Central’s rejuvenated second half also included a great scoring chance by Shawna Watson, who sent a shot just wide off a Paige Fuller pass midway through the half.

“You play good competition,” Schoen said of the Pepsi Showdown. “We didn’t do as well as we had hoped, but we just want to get better for conference play. We’re coming up to the main part of our conference schedule, so hopefully we can use this to improve for conference and the state tournament.”
Jen Ziegler made several strong plays at midfield to repel would-be Oak Park attacks, and Schoen noted another steady standout for the Wildcats.

“Jessie Birchall played really well on the outside,” he said. “She’s a very composed player on the ball, and she’s only a freshman so that’s really good to see. She’s really developing.”
The Huskies hope their three-game unbeaten streak to close the Pepsi Showdown is the continuation of their own development.

“Overall we’re getting our team to work together, and we’re starting to develop and starting to peak,” Ponce said. “We don’t want to peak too much until the playoffs, but I really do think we’re coming along.”