Rams can't overcome early goal in DVC setback to Tigers

 

 

By Curt Herron

Wheaton Warrenville South and Glenbard East were supposed to meet up on Thursday but bad weather stopped things before they even started.

As a result, their DuPage Valley match not only was rescheduled to the following day but also was moved to the other squad's home field.

But while the Tigers lost their senior night in the shuffle, they wound up capturing a hard-fought and satisfying victory over the Rams.

WW South scored in the tenth minute and made that goal stand as it recorded its fifth shutout of the season in a 1-0 triumph in Lombard.

Caroline Holmes connected following a pass from A.J. Jakuszewski to provide the match-winner for the Tigers, who moved into third place in the DVC standings.

That proved to be enough support for keeper Abbey Fuster and her defense of Kelly Langlas, Allie Harvey, Tori Adomschick, Alex Immekus and Nikki Molino.

"That quick goal certainly helped out," Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. "I thought it was a good buildup and a great run by Caroline hitting that gait while they were flat so they couldn't recover on her. Then she made the perfect shot because their goalie stood tall all day long because she has great hands but we thought we could test her down low and that's where she put it and she was rewarded for her effort.

"A.J. worked really hard in the corner to free herself and then made a nice shot to start things. We finally put her back into the middle of the midfield because we thought that she was better at going forward than with her back to the play. She was able to get us out of our defensive third and through the middle third in transition with possession, so I thought that was a good play on our part to accentuate her skill set.

"I thought that we did a great job in the back with Tori at left back, our leader centrally Kelly and beside her the freshman, Allie. And then we had Alex start and Nikki came back from the midfield position to kind of secure things a bit. Overall they did a nice job of really not letting Glenbard East have a good, uncontested look. They had some opportunities, but it was under pressure and Abbey was able to clean things up."

The Tigers (9-5-1, 4-2) have now won four of their last five with the lone loss in that stretch being a 1-0 setback to Naperville Central.

They hope to close the regular season on a good note, starting today against Wheaton Academy and followed by dates with Wheaton North and Hinsdale Central.

While the veteran Tiger boss liked the way his squad performed in the rescheduled match, his counterpart was also pretty pleased with his side's effort.

But Glenbard East coach Kent Overbey said that the Rams came out of the gates a bit flat and that proved to be a costly mistake against WW South.

"We were ready to go for yesterday's game and delayed it as long as we could," Overbey said. "I thought that we came out flat in the first 10 minutes and that we let them do whatever they wanted and they scored, but from there it was pretty even. Wheaton South is a very good team and Guy has them very well organized in the back and when you spot them a goal in the first few minutes, they're not going to give up any easily.

"We hit the post and we had some other opportunities, but that's the way the ball bounces. In our first 10 games of the season we finished more of our chances that we missed to day but that's the way the game goes. Unfortunately we're not as efficient right now as we have been in the past.

"One thing that we were really working with was our defense since we were moving people around. I thought that Corie Ewoldt played very well for us in the center of the back. She's usually an outside back but we have a center back who is out so she stepped into the center.

"Megan Mrazek played great defensively in the center of the park winning 50/50 balls and then distributing to Alex Ruffer, Jess DeJong and Brittany Paganucci. They've got a bunch of weapons but I thought that our defense did a good job of stepping to them so they couldn't run at them to give Veronica Fairbairn a little help in goal."

After recording four straight shutouts, the Rams (9-4-4, 0-3-3) settled for draws against West Chicago and Wheaton North prior to Friday's match.

Although the Rams have definitely held their own in the DVC, all of the close calls come as little consolation to the squad and their coach.

"We've got three ties and played Naperville Central and Wheaton South tough so we're right there," Overbey said. "But I think that our entire team is a little tired of the moral victories. We're ready to cross the line and get over the hump. But we have to finish games off and play 80 minutes and we didn't play 80 minutes today."

Following Holmes' score that put proved to be the only tally, both teams had some good opportunities following the opening half's midpoint.

Natalie Jensen sent a corner kick and then a liner to Veronica Fairbairn before East's keeper shut down an attempt from Rachel Conrady.

A few minutes later, Anna Fank, Dana Miller and Jakuszewski were all thwarted before the Rams closed out the initial half with some threats.

Maria Berrum sent in a long try to Abbey Fuster, who then stopped a Taylor Hallcox effort that followed a corner kick by Alex Ruffer.

"I felt that us getting a goal pretty early was a really good benefit and gave us good motivation," Holmes said. "We really wanted to win and get to third place in the DVC.

"It was definitely frustrating not being able to play yesterday, but we used that as motivation and gave us a chance to better think over what we had to do against them.

"We've really come a long ways and I'm really proud of this team and everything that we've undergone. We're extremely close and call ourselves a family since we do everything together."

The hosts threatened first in the final half as Brittany Paganucci got past defenders and fired off a short attempt that hit the crossbar.

A short while after Jessica Whipple was denied by Fuster, Fairbairn returned the favor on attempts by Sarah Burns and Miller.

The Tigers nearly made it 2-0 in the 63rd minute when Jensen sent in a corner kick and Langlas had a short try which was cleared by defenders.

Not long after that, Fairbairn punched a free kick by Jakuszewski over the net and then stopped efforts by Adomschick and Jensen after that.

The Rams, who return to action today with a match at Lyons Township, kept looking for the equalizer but were frustrated by the Tiger defense.

"We definitely came back after our start and I liked how at the end that we didn't give up, and even with 10 seconds left we were still pushing really hard," East's Megan Mrazek said.

"I've played with a lot of these girls when we were younger and we talk outside of school, so there's more than just a bond on the field, which is big.

"I like how close we all are and how everyone tries. You never see anyone on the field who gives up, we're all doing it for for each other and I like that a lot."

Not long ago, it was reasonable that the Rams would accept close calls like this match and some of their other recent nice efforts in DVC play.

But near misses are no longer in fashion in the program and a roster that features nine freshmen or sophomores is determined to achieve more.

"I think we've improved and we're still getting better and we have the mentality that we're never giving up so that has also helped build on our success," East's Corie Ewoldt said.

"We don't hang our heads since we know that if we put in the effort that we can succeed and score a goal. I like how well we all communicate and how we never give up.

"Even though we're a young team, I feel like we work well together. It also helps that there's a lot of young people since we kind of can help each other and support each other."