Wildcats play well, posses, but fall to WW South
By Darryl Mellema

It took a while for Wheaton Warrenville South and West Chicago to get fully under way on Monday night – thanks to a lightning delay just over 5 minutes into the match.

But from the restart, it took mere minutes for the host Wildcats to take the lead through goalscoring sensation Andie Lazzerini.

But the Tigers found a goalscoring star too in sophomore A.J. Jakuszewski, who scored her first goals of the season and helped the visitors rally for a 2-1 DuPage Valley Conference victory.

“I’m kind of glad, Jakuszewski said. “I hadn’t scored all year, so I was happy that I got to do it in a DVC game when they needed me.”

West Chicago (5-6-2, 0-4) had the majority of possession in the first half and created the bulk of chances. But the goal came quickly – from a Kayla Kirkwood lead pass that came to Lazzerini on the right side of the penalty area. Lazzerini took her shot quickly, scoring into the left side netting.

As is often the case, Lazzerini found herself under constant pressure from Wheaton Warrenville South’s defenders.

“It’s not a secret who she is – they know who she is and they key on her,” West Chicago coach Cesar Gomez said.

In the opening 20 minutes, Wheaton Warrenville South (4-3-1, 2-0) was limited to a Natalie Jensen long range effort that was saved.

But given a free kick on the right wing halfway into the West Chicago defensive half, the Tigers conjured an equalizer when Jensen sent the ball into the penalty area and Jakuszewski scored from close range.

“I’m just glad I could step up and help our team and get through a time because my other teammates have done that in other DVC games,” Jakuszewski said. “Now it was my time to show that I can help the team and pull us through this.”

As in the first half, West Chicago began the second half in dominant form. Lazzerini had a shot saved and send a second shot over the crossbar in the opening 10 minutes.

But then came Jakuszewski’s key moment – in the 21st minute of the second half, when she took the ball, slowed a bit, then accelerated past two Wildcats defenders. That move send the sophomore clear with only the keeper to beat, and Jakuszewski did that, shooting low and to the left.

“For club, I’m a defender, so it kind of helps me when I’m a forward now, to kind of know when they’re going to step or when they’re not sure when to – and how to take advantage of that,” Jakuszewski said.

Although she plays defender in club soccer and will probably play in defense in college, Jakuszewski looks like a natural forward for the Tigers.

“She has too much ability and she’s so aggressive offensively,”  Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari said. “She exudes confidence for us in the final third. Even as a central or holding mid, she would always be one of the top shot takers. It only made sense to get her upfield.”

West Chicago still had a chance to force overtime with 4 minutes to play when a Kate Becker free kick was blocked and Stephanie Mata hit the rebound just wide.

Wheaton Warrenville South’s Dana Miller, out with a sprained ankle since the team’s loss to Naperville North on April 4, played forward for roughly 10 minutes in the middle of the second half.

“She hasn’t even trained with us,” Callipari said. “This was her first action. She wants to play and you can see her heart is there. But she’s not ready to go into a tackle, so you put her at risk. We wanted to get her some minutes and to get her up high on the field so she could see things coming. She got some running in tonight, which we wanted to see from her.”

Miller still contributed to the victory. On Jakuszewski’s second goal, Miller was wide to the left and West Chicago’ defense had to respect her presence. Jakuszewski still had to beat two players in order to score, but Miller’s run and positioning was also crucial.

“Dana makes A.J. better,” Callipari said. “Now defenders have to concentrate on both of them. The defender was held knowing that Dana was lurking. That set them off-balance and then A.J. took advantage of it.”

As a team, Wheaton Warrenville South is incredibly young. One of the freshmen playing considerable minutes is central defender Allie Harvey, whose positioning and tackling abilities were tested frequently by West Chicago – and Harvey came through each time.

“She’s going to play comfortable no matter what kind of pressure is on her,” Callipari said. “Even though I’m going crazy inside, she is not. She refuses to play any other way than out of the back, not in a panic and she tries to play balls through. For her, it’s just a matter of realizing that sometimes it’s OK to relieve the pressure and to play out. She’s learning, but she’s going to be a good one. She’s smart. Kelly (Langlas) is working with her and they’re forming a formidable pair that’s allowed us to move Nat (Jensen) into the midfield to bring us some experience there.”

Wheaton Warrenvillle South still has key matches to play – starting with this weekend’s Naperville Invitational. Key DVC matches also await the Tigers.

“We need to decide who we are and to go with that,” Callipari said. “We need to try not be who we’re not. Early on, we’ve been trying to play a certain way that we’re not really capable of playing. Now it’s a matter of putting people in roles where they can impact the game, one way or another.”

West Chicago is deeper into its season but has played many of its strongest matches. Still, the Wildcats visit Wheaton Academy on Friday, face Batavia on Saturday and have a further seven matches after that point to close the campaign.

“I think our biggest thing is that we need to start believing in ourselves,” Gomez said. “When you do that, you go borderline cocky, and we don’t have that. Other teams have that ‘it’s only West Chicago and we’re going to go and get it.’ That’s the mentality that they have. It’s not that they played better than us, but they scored.”

Recent performances have been favorable for the Wildcats, even if the results have eluded them. West Chicago only lost 1-0 to Wheaton North and 2-1 to defending Class 3A champion Naperville North and then tied Hinsdale Central. Despite those efforts, the team is 0-4-1 in its last five matches.

“It’s disheartening to us to play well and then you don’t come out with the result,” Gomez said. “We outpossessed them and on the scoreboard, still, we lost. We want to keep encouraging the kids that we are doing the right thing, and we are. It’s tough energizing them to keep coming back to try again.”

Gomez said he likes the approach his players have had in each match – not just in the recent run of misfortune – but all season.

“This was our third tough opponent in a row – Hinsdale Central, Naperville North and then this, and we played them,” Gomez said. “We played hard and we’re just not getting the results that we wanted. I think it’s more mental than anything than that. They hear ‘Wheaton Warrenville’ and they go ‘ugh.’”

On a team with seven freshmen on its roster, West Chicago’s seniors are also performing well. In addition to Lazzerini, Becker is another solid senior on the squad.

“(Becker’s) playing well,” Gomez said.