Tigers blank Saint Viator in Naperville Invite opener

 

 

By Curt Herron

In a spring filled with some weird weather days, Friday was certainly one of the strangest.

A mid-April evening featuring varying degrees of snow also coincided with the rescheduled start of the Naperville Invite.

It was just the latest twist that teams have had to contend with in a season where cold and damp conditions have prevailed.

Faced with nearly freezing temperatures made worse by strong winds, the key to Friday would be adjusting to the conditions.

Wheaton Warrenville South did a better job of that than did Saint Viator when the pair met up at Naperville Central.

The Tigers scored a first-half goal and then managed to keep the Lions at bay as they went on to capture a 1-0 victory.

Anna Fank scored off of an assist from Zoe Ekonomou in the 22nd minute to account for the lone scoring in the match.

Abbey Fuster and Olivia Linebarger split time in the net to record the shutout, WW South's fourth of the season.

It was the second straight match that the Lions failed to score and they were blanked for the third time in six tries.

"I was looking up at the lights and watching the snow come down and it seemed surreal that we were playing in these conditions in April," Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. "I thought that the first 40 minutes was played with so much pace and there was a great speed of play and both teams were trying to make connections and not just kick and run. That made it a nice game for the elements.

"In the second half, we were a little bit more on our heels and they started taking it to us a little bit, but that happens when you try to protect a 1-0 lead. We certainly wanted to keep numbers behind the ball and sometimes you just get so much into a shell that it's hard to get back out of it. But I thought that we did a tremendous job of keeping our shape and making things predictable.

"Things are really starting to come together for us defensively and they really didn't have a good look all day. We had good pressure and good support, and that's what you need. Kelly Langlas, a senior and a captain and Allie Harvey, a freshman, played next to her as central defenders and they're coming together. And on the outside we had Alex Immekus and Tori Adomschick and they did a nice job.

"I thought that Zoe Ekonomou did a tremendous job coming in for Natalie Jensen and playing really physical in the center part and winning the ball in transition to get us going again. Each practice gets better and it's kind of learn as we go and we're taking the games as an opportunity to do that."

While the Tigers (5-3-1) found the net and the Lions (3-3) did not, Saint Viator's Mike Taylor saw a few positives.

"I thought that we controlled 60 or 70 percent of the game but we made one mistake and they put it in," Taylor said. "I thought that we gave away the ball too much, but even though we're young, at some point you have to stop making that an excuses and step up and play. We played decently in spurts and we controlled, but it was just that final pass.

"That was only our sixth game of the season so it will come by playing more and more games. At this point, I think we've actually practiced too much. When you're inexperienced and have some younger kids, your leaders need to step up and take accountability for their actions. My front runners didn't move off of the ball like they needed to tonight.

"We're a good team and I think that we're just as good as we were last year but it's just a case of playing in game situations and that will come for us. I look at the Carmel game where we lost 1-0 and we were both even and we couldn't finish our chances and we were both pretty even tonight and they finished while we didn't. It's the little things."

Both squads had early chances with the Tigers threatening on a corner from Natalie Jensen to Nikki Molino, who was denied.

After Maria Petrillo was stopped by Tiger keeper Abbey Fuster, Samantha Stanley deflected a Rachel Conrady corner kick.

The Tigers got the match's lone score a bit later after Ekonomou found Fank, who placed an attempt just inside the post.

"Scoring that goal kind of got everyone excited and pumped them up," Fank said. "Then we just held our own during the second half. We have a very good defense and didn't give them many chances tonight.

"The wind was curving the ball a little so we just tried to kick it into the corner. Some times you have to deal with the weather and just have fun and play hard. The players on this team have been so nice to the younger kids and are great soccer players."

Fank was thwarted a short time later while Erin Murphy and Michelle Trovato had chances as the first half wound down.

WW South had the best chances after the break and its defense kept the Lions from threatening new keeper Linebarger.

Ten minutes in, Jensen sent a corner to AJ Jakuszewski, whose liner hit the crossbar before Tori Adomschick's rebound was stopped.

Shortly after Fank had a shot halted by the keeper following a long run downfield, Conrady was denied on a long free kick.

"It was really hard because of the weather and we were all kind of complaining," Ekonomou said. "But from the beginning we were all just really pumped. The starting music just got us going and once we started playing, then we got into the groove of things.

"Getting the goal really helped us by getting our spirits up, especially since it started to snow harder. We knew at halftime that they could come back strong against us so we just had to keep at it. We have a lot of young players and I know that this team will be so much better in the future."