Red Devils top Waubonsie Valley
By Matt Le Cren

The 24-team Naperville Invitational is regarded as the most competitive tournament in Illinois, so you’ve got to be pretty darned good just to advance to the quarterfinals.

Consider Hinsdale Central pretty darned good.

Despite having to play two matches on Saturday, the Red Devils edged favored Waubonsie Valley 3-2 on penalty kicks at Naperville North to win their three-team group and qualify for Thursday’s quarterfinals. Earlier in the day, they beat Fremd 1-0, avenging a loss to the Vikings at last year’s tournament.

“This time last year in our second game we were playing Fremd and lost in penalties, so I’m happy for the girls with the way they fought back but stayed in our style,” Hinsdale Central coach Michael Smith said. “I think that’s a tribute to this idea that they’re buying in, working together, camaraderie.

“This is the first time in years [the Red Devils have advanced]. We’ve struggled the last few years because Waubonsie and Fremd, they are quality programs, and with Steve [Keller] with Fremd and Julie [Bergstrom] with Waubonsie Valley, they are well-coached teams. It’s good for us now to get that opportunity to advance and show our quality in the next round.”

Ironically, the shootout was rather anticlimactic because the Red Devils had already clinched the group by not losing in regulation or overtime. Both teams were aware of that situation, so maybe that was why the two sides combined to make only three of 10 attempts, with Hinsdale Central winning the session 2-1.

Lily Chetosky and Caitlin Smith scored in the shootout for the Red Devils, while Paige Filipek was the only Waubonsie shooter to convert.

Both goalies – Riley Glenn for Hinsdale Central and Emma Rigby for Waubonsie Valley – each made one save. The Warriors missed two shots and had another hit the post, while the Red Devils hit a crossbar and missed one wide.

While the shootout had no bearing on the tournament, winning it did add a little icing to Hinsdale Central’s accomplishment.

“It does make it better for us that we beat Waubonsie fair and square to advance to the next round,” Hinsdale Central senior Casey May said. “Last year in this exact tournament we lost to them 1-0 and it was in the back of our minds. We knew that we had to come out and play really hard in order to win because they’re a really strong team.”

Indeed, the Warriors (8-3-1) were arguably the stronger team throughout most of this match, outshooting the Red Devils 21-7, including 12-2 in the first half.

Waubonsie Valley appeared ready to cruise to victory when it seized a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals by Filipek, a freshman forward who continues to improve rapidly.

Filipek opened the scoring at the 32:43 mark when she launched a 17-yard shot which the diving Glenn got both hands on but couldn’t stop from trickling inside the right post. Sophomore Morgan Kemerling assisted on the play.

After near-misses from Kristen Brots and Jenna Romano, Filipek connected on a 15-yard shot to make it 2-0 with 7:19 to go in the opening period.

But the Red Devils refused to wilt and got on the board just three minutes later on a goal by senior striker Jenn Jarmy.

Senior Darby Moran triggered the goal with a corner kick that was headed forward by Jarmy. That attempt was blocked by the defense but Jarmy got it back, was rebuffed in her move to her right by a defender, cut back to her left and then took a step forward before ripping a 10-yarder inside the left post.

The second half was played largely in the midfield, with each side limited to three shots. But May tied the game with a beautiful strike on the run with 8:36 remaining. May’s left-footed cracker from 26 yards out went just over the fingertips of the leaping Rigby and barely under the crossbar.

Smith was thrilled with the manner in which both goals were scored.

“The first one, Jenn Jarmy got a first touch that didn’t go where she wanted and she didn’t stop,” Smith said. “She went with it and tucked it away and that [showed] composure.

“Casey May just decided, ‘I’m going to take you on 1v1,’ and took a chance. It’s the little things – a little extra effort on the first one and then on the second one a decision of, ‘hey, I’m going to score.’”

It was the fifth goal of the season for May, who will play defense for Miami (Ohio) next season.

“At halftime Coach told me that I needed to relax and play with confidence and as soon as I saw the open net, once I beat that girl I just relaxed and took a shot on frame,” May said. “It was a chance well-taken, I guess.”

May has a history of scoring important goals dating back to last year’s playoffs, when the Red Devils beat three higher-seeded teams to reach the sectional finals.

“Casey is going to go to Miami of Ohio and she’s going to be an outside back,” Smith said. “But what I said [to her] is, ‘right now, you’re getting a taste of the offensive third and playing at a high level, so that range of perspective is going to help you.’ And selfishly, it’s going to help us.”

Confidence can be a hard thing to acquire but once a team gets a taste of success, it can snowball, as it apparently has for the Red Devils.

“Definitely last year our run in the playoffs gave us a lot of motivation for this season,” May said. “We’re definitely working hard and taking it game-by-game. A win like this in a tournament like this definitely boosts our confidence, so we’re really happy about that.”

Of course, coaching has played a role as well. Smith installed a new style of play when he took over the program last year and his troops are now acclimated to the change. So they listened when Smith changed the game plan at halftime.

“We made some tactical adjustments at halftime that the girls implemented and they implemented them well,” Smith said. “We limited the amount of space that Waubonsie had in the middle of the field.

“In the first half they were just playing the ball around us like we weren’t even there, whereas in the second half we were a little bit more disciplined and organized. There was more communication between the girls of, ‘hey, lets’ do this, let’s do that.’ And that’s how you build a successful team.”

Of course, the Red Devils aren’t the only ones who can do that.

The Warriors were aware they needed to beat Hinsdale in the run of play in order to advance and they put on the pressure at the end of regulation and in overtime.

“[Bergstrom] told us before the game how we need to go out there and fight because we needed to win during regulation,” Waubonsie Valley junior forward Kristen Dodson said.  “So we knew.”

Dodson had a solid chance to win the game late in regulation when she ran onto a long ball on the right wing. She dribbled into the right side of the box as the defense came over to cut her off, but her shot from 12 yards out hit the side of the net with 40 seconds left.

“I saw it going through and I ran to it but unfortunately I hit it wide and that was one of our last chances,” Dodson said. “But I thought we played very well in overtime as well as in regulation.”

The Warriors did have the better of the play in both of the 10-minute overtime periods and squeezed off six shots to the Red Devils’ two. But Glenn stopped four shots in the second overtime to save the day, much as Rigby and defender Rachele Armand kept the Warriors’ hopes alive by combining to stop a breakaway shot from Jarmy in the first overtime.

The loss was the second in as many days for the Warriors, who lost 1-0 to Fremd on Friday night. It is the first time the Warriors have lost consecutive games in two years, but it is not indicative of any inherent weakness and Dodson isn’t worried about it.

“They just had some good shots and unfortunately we couldn’t stop them,” Dodson said. “I think we broke down once or twice, but overall we held them very well. The whole defense played fantastic today.

“We’ve been playing well, I feel like, for the whole season so far and it’s only going to get better from here, hopefully. It’s tough to lose but we’ll just continue to work on everything we have to.”