Red Devils grab control of the WSS with win over OPRF
By Matt Le Cren

Hinsdale Central found Oak Park and River Forest’s net to be as well-defended as the gates of Fort Knox for the first 40 minutes of Tuesday’s West Suburban Conference Silver Division match.

But the Red Devils broke through in the 41st minute and seized sole possession of the league lead with a 2-0 victory at rain-swept Dickinson Field in Hinsdale.

Senior striker Jenn Jarmy turned the tide when she bagged her eighth goal of the season just 53 seconds into the second half.

“This year our big thing is we do flat runs, so we were trying to get the ball through the defenders and our wingers would run onto it,” Jarmy said. “I felt like that was really working well for us in the second half especially.”

Jarmy’s goal came on just such a play. Senior Casey May dribbled into the left corner before crossing in front to senior Darby Moran, who touched it onward to Jarmy. Jarmy tracked the ball down and quickly fired a 10-yard shot back against the grain that rolled between OPRF goalie Elise Delligrazie and the left post.

“Basically what happened was I believe Katie had the ball, she dribbled all the way down and she passed it and I got it,” Jarmy recalled. “Then it kind of got loose for a minute there and it was either me or Darby who was going to take the shot and I just kept going with it, kind of like got my hips around it and got it to the left corner. The goalie really didn’t have much of a chance.”

Neither side had much of a chance of drawing first blood in the first half. The Red Devils (8-1-2, 3-0) controlled much of the play and forced the Huskies (9-5-1, 2-2) to constantly chase the ball.

But the visitors gave nothing away as their back wall of Margaret Blaha, Chloe Boensch, Erin McCormack and Naomi Johnson was stout and determined in front of Delligrazie. The Red Devils had only four shots in the opening period and Delligrazie came up with the save of the match on the only one that had a shot at going in, leaping to tip an open 15-yarder from Moran over the crossbar at the 8:10 mark.

“It’s a tough loss,” OPRF coach Ignacio Ponce said. “It was the better team that won tonight and (Red Devils coach Michael Smith) is doing a great job with the program and it shows on the field.

“With the score zero-zero in the first half, we were in the game and our girls played hard and didn’t give up. We had our opportunities early in the game and couldn’t find the back of the net, and at the start of the second half they came out and scored within the first ten minutes. Then we countered and almost scored off of a header that their keeper saved. But I’m proud of our team because we continue to fight until the whistle blows.  I’m hoping that once we are all healthy, we can get back on track.”

With the weather deteriorating and their lead in the Silver standings on the line, the Red Devils went into halftime in an urgent though not desperate mood, not wanting to allow the Huskies to build confidence.

“We had a lot of intensity coming out of the locker room, knowing that we had to put one in right away,” Hinsdale Central senior Madeline Engelking, who controlled the midfield along with Moran, junior Meghan Schick and senior Caitlin Smith. “We really were pressuring them up top and working on our composure. In the second half we came out and knew that we really needed to put the ball away, so we did our best with that.”

Jarmy’s goal seemed to light a spark under the Red Devils, who started tilting the field even more toward OPRF’s end.

“At halftime we were thinking we have to go first 10 [minutes] as hard as we possibly can,” Jarmy said. “We all just went at it. I kept going with it and finally got it in. It’s pretty nice. It was a big motivation factor for our team.”

The Red Devils appeared poised to break the game open and had two quality chances to do so in the 48th minute.

First, Lily Chetosky sent in a cross from the right corner to Jarmy cutting across the box from left to right. Jarmy’s one-timer would have had gone in had it been on frame but the ball sailed inches over the crossbar. Thirty seconds later, Moran’s open shot in the box was stopped by Delligrazie.

Delligrazie also came up with a big stop on Moran’s 28-yard free kick with 30:50, a line drive that was headed inside the left post before Delligrazie moved over to grab it.

Then it was Delligrazie’s counterpart’s turn to make a big play. Hinsdale Central junior Riley Glenn made a crucial reaction save to tip OPRF’s only shot of the game around the right post with 21:50 remaining.

Junior Ruby Gonzalez caused the moment of consternation by sending a free kick from the seemingly non-threatening distance of 48 yards into the top of the Hinsdale Central box, where Tess Trinka headed it forward to Meredith Blatner, whose header was headed for the lower right corner before Glenn pushed it wide.

That was to be the Huskies’ only chance at tying the match. The Red Devils resumed their dominance and finally got the insurance goal they were seeking with 8:46 to go when Engelking buried her own rebound for her second goal of the year.

The Red Devils had been experimenting with short corner kicks, which rarely result in goals. Their first three efforts went for naught, but Schick and Moran finally ran one quick enough to produce the goal.

Moran’s low cross found Engelking for a rather weak shot that hit the crossbar. Before the Huskies could react, Engelking raced in and rammed home the rebound.

The victory was huge for the Red Devils for two reasons. It means they continue to control their own destiny in the Silver race, as they are one-half game ahead of Lyons (2-0) and York (3-1), two teams they will face next week.

It also allows Hinsdale Central, whose only loss was 1-0 to Plainfield North (13-1), to make a strong argument for the No. 1 seed at the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional.

“I definitely think we have a lot of potential to go really far this year,” Engelking said. “Like last year when we won the regional championship, that was really a boost for this year and we knew that coming back having the same coach for the second year in a row, we were probably more comfortable this year than last year.”

Even so, the Red Devils’ quick start is impressive considering that they finished 9-13-2 last year even with a surprising run to the sectional final. But Jarmy, who will play college soccer at St. Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana, saw it coming.

“Honestly, at this point in the season, yeah, I expected us to be a lot better than last year at least,” Jarmy said. “The first couple games were pretty rough for us. We were just getting used to it.

“Now I think we’ve all pretty much gotten used to how everybody plays and so I think that’s really helpful. It gets us through the games and we get goals and we win.”

The senior class, which also includes starting defenders Katie Camden and Katherine Treankler and reserve defender Maddie McCormick, is leading the way.

“Our team this year definitely communicates really well on the field and we have a really good bond,” Engelking said. “I would say that we work really well on and off the field in general. That helps us to have really strong relationships out on the field. We know who we are and how to react to this situation and that situation.”