Cougars connect in overtime to rally past rival Wildcats

 

 

By Curt Herron

After suffering their biggest loss of the year a few days earlier to one Plainfield school, the last thing that Dave Brown wanted to see was his team trailing another district rival.

But that's just what happened to Plainfield South when it hosted Plainfield Central in the original District 202 rivalry on Thursday.

Worse yet for the Cougars, they spotted the Wildcats a 2-0 first-half advantage, which was significant since that's how many goals they'd scored in their last three outings.

But South showed great resiliency by getting one score back before the break and collecting the equalizer not long after the intermission.

After the sides remained even through regulation play, the Cougars finally ended the suspense late in the initial overtime to claim a 3-2 Southwest Prairie Conference win in Joliet.

Lexus Rose scored the first and last goals for South (5-2, 3-2) while Kelsey Pruett collected the other score and assisted on the winner.

Paige Fuller recorded both of the scores for Central (4-10-1, 2-3), which was hoping to post consecutive wins for the second time this season.

The result was a welcome relief for Brown, who saw his team fall 8-0 to Plainfield North on Monday in its first action following a 16-day layoff.

"We talked after the North game about taking what we could in terms of learning from that game," Brown said. "That included communication, positioning and working for each other. I think it was a good chance for some of our girls to see what good soccer looks like and hopefully it benefited us.

"I thought that during the first 25 minutes, we probably played the best soccer that we have played all year. we were moving the ball from side to side and slipping our forwards through when we had chances and then all of a sudden we were down a goal against the run of play and then we were down by two goals.

"We found a goal before halftime the kind of swung the momentum our way. Lexus went with the far-post shot and found the net for us, which was huge going into the break and it was nice getting the equalizer so we didn't have to scrap at the end. I thought things evened itself out and we each had chances.

"In the overtime we talked about relaxing, not making any mistakes in the back and making them earn anything that they'd get. Honestly, when the game-winning goal was scored, I was turned and talking to the bench, telling them that's what a good run looks like and lo and behold, the good run resulted in a goal."

The final play of the match was indeed picturesque, at least as far as the hosts were concerned. It featured a great stop, but didn't end there.

As the 90th minute began, Alexis Mele sent in an attempt which forced keeper Tiffany Lenza to dive for in order to keep it from finding the net.

Pruett rounded up the rebound, however, and directed a pass to Rose, who connected for close range to finally bring a halt to the suspense.

"It's a really big deal to beat Central," Rose said. "I couldn't have scored my goals without all of my teammates working so hard. I got an opportunity and made the most of it in order to try to help our team get a win. Also, I wanted to prove that I can hang with the big dogs.

"We pushed ourselves and worked on what we messed up in our last game in communication, teamwork and motivating each other. While we weren't playing, we worked on trying to keep ourselves in shape but also on team bonding since that's important."

That goal ended a frustrating afternoon for the Wildcats, who were hoping to build off of Tuesday's 6-0 SPC victory over Romeoville.

It marked the fifth time in their last six matches that coach Ken Schoen's squad had allowed three or more goals against an opponent.

"Even though we gave this game away, I'm definitely more encouraged since we're getting better," Schoen said. "Defensively we had some problems at the beginning but figured it out and offensively we finally started possessing the ball. I've been telling the girls that if we possess the ball, we defend less.

"Beside not getting as tired, when you have the ball, you can score. We controlled possession and had more opportunities but we got stopped by the crossbar and by a post. We were playing well and working with each other but you worry as a coach when you control the game and you're not putting goals away.

"When you're giving them stuff and let them stay in the game, all it takes is a seven-second segment that can turn things around and they got the transition and we could have stopped the ball in the back or in the goal. But the bounces didn't go our way and we gave them an open shot from 10 yards out."

The turning point in the match came in the 39th minute with the Wildcats holding a 2-0 lead and working toward taking that edge to the break.

But those hopes faded when Rose got fouled just outside of the box and promptly sent in a free kick that found the opposite side of the net.

Shortly after Central's McKenna Young was denied early in the final half, Pruett put a shot into an open net in the 50th minute to tie things.

South looked for another score over the next 20 minutes as Rose was thwarted and later sent a corner to Rachel Boros, whose try was cleared.

Central nearly moved back in front for good in the 71st minute when Jen Ziegler directed a shot toward the net but it bounced off the post.

Both sides had chances in the last 90 seconds of regulation as Fuller sent a liner to Tabby Ortiz and Lenza stopped a Kailyn Haski effort.

The hosts had early chances but Alex Truhlar shots were thwarted. A bit later, a Ziegler header was stopped and a liner hit the crossbar.

After Lenza came out of the net to deflect a 1 v 1 by Abby Banks, Fuller was turned away on an attempt on the opposite side of the field.

Not long after Central's Lisa Schroeder saw her long effort hauled in, the Wildcats moved ahead in the 29th minute on a liner from Fuller.

The Wildcat sophomore was back at it in the 35th minute when she sent in another shot that found the net to give her team a 2-0 advantage.

Both squads return to action with Saturday matches. The Cougars take part in the Rosary Invite while the Wildcats play host to Bartlett.