Tigers can't connect in DVC setback to Redhawks

 

 

By Dave Owen

Facing a double dose of crosstown rival Naperville North this week, Naperville Central had another major obstacle to clear Tuesday.

Needing a win to stay tied with the Huskies for the DuPage Valley Conference lead entering Thursday’s showdown between the two squads, the Redhawks used a goal by Autumn Muckenhirn in the fifth minute of play to win a 1-0 defensive battle over visiting Wheaton-Warrenville South.

“We talked about how the earlier you can score, the easier it becomes,” Redhawks’ coach Ed Watson said. “Sitting at zeros for a long time, any kind of mistakes gets magnified. So it gave us a little bit of a cushion in case a mistake did happen.”

The only relative mistake by either defense came when Muckenhirn sent a cross from Veronica Ellis just under the crossbar for a quick 1-0 Redhawk lead.

“It was a great ball from Sabrina (Cisneros) to ‘V’ (Ellis) to me, and all I had to do was finish,” Muckenhirn said. “We won the ball in the air a lot more today, which was good. And we possessed the ball more this game.”

“Autumn’s goal was a good goal because a lot of strikers will overpower that ball, and either go right into the goalkeeper or sail it over the top,” Watson said. “She did the best of both worlds and found a way to get it over (the keeper) and tuck it underneath. That was pretty.”

It looked even better with the defensive battle that followed between the Redhawks (13-3-3, 5-0) and the Tigers (8-5-1, 3-2).

Three days after being injured early in the Redhawks’ 3-0 Naperville Invitational title game loss to Naperville North, goalkeeper Abby Hershik returned to the lineup with a shutout performance.

And while the defensive wall of Amanda Alberts, Meredith Tunney, Kayla Rowan, Ellie Fricke and Cisneros played a big part most of the night, Hershik came up big with 18:30 left in the first half to keep her team ahead.

On a perfectly-placed high shot from WW South freshman Erin Madigan from right of the net, Hershik made a great leaping tip at the crossbar to deny the would-be goal (with teammate Amanda Murphy then clearing the rebound).

“I knew it was going to be a high ball, so I had to stay on my line and make sure the ball didn’t get behind me,” Hershik said. “It was right next to the crossbar so it was really hard to tell in the air whether or not it was going to go out. You can’t assume it’s going out and then ‘oh, whoops.’ So you have to follow it and you can’t lose either way. If you make the save, great, if it goes out, fine.”

Hershik felt fine after an injury-shortened Saturday.

“At 31 seconds into the game I got taken out (on a save),” Hershik said. “I was cleated just above the shin guard, but I’m back from it.

“There was definitely lots of icing and lots of making sure it’s OK, and keeping it away from contact when I’m not playing so it can heal as fast as possible.”

Hershik’s only other big saves came from long distances: a nice scoop of a low 40-yard liner by Natalie Jensen 1:55 before halftime, and a catch of a high 35-yard shot by Alex Immekus with 45 seconds left in the match.

Otherwise, the defensive stalemate on both sides was predominantly a block party for defenders.

Sarah Burns’ block of a 22-yard direct kick by Ellis 8:40 before halftime was just part of a night long trend dominated by one Tiger defender.

“Kelly Langlas was just a terror,” WW South coach Guy Callipari said. “I stopped counting how many blocked shots she had when I didn’t have any more fingers. Not letting shots get to the keeper, then stepping in and getting us out. And she’s one out of the back who can get us into transition comfortably, finding the right mark and making the right decision and the timing of it all. She’s just a great leader.”

The senior has anchored a young defensive corps that played above their years Tuesday. Freshman Allie Harvey had a great block and clear late in the first half, and an interception of a Redhawks’ attack off a corner kick with 11:30 to play.

Sophomores Nikki Molino, Rachel Conrady and Tori Adomschick, junior Immekus and senior Jensen also stood tall defensively against a quick and persistent Naperville Central attack.

“We just had to keep our heads up and fight back,” Langlas said of the defensive stand after the quick deficit. “We were only down by one, so we felt the game was still in the balance.

“It’s just about talking and staying organized in the back,” Langlas added. “We also get a lot of help from the midfield numbers back.”

A.J. Jakuszewski, Zoe Ekonomou, Dana Miller and Burns aided the defense from midfield spots, with sophomore Jakuszewski also triggering some offensive chances.

“A.J. works tremendously through the midfield,” Callipari said. “She’s got quite the engine, and we tend to go through her a lot this year.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t get her higher up as we’d like – we were playing too much in our defensive third. But you see how she can threaten against one or two defensive people.”

Naperville Central had most of the threats, upping the offensive push in the second half. With 22:20 left, WW South goalkeeper Abbey Fuster made a nice save on Muckenhirn’s low 12-yard laser, then smothered a potential rebound attempt.

Three minutes later, Ellis grazed the crossbar with a 20-yard line drive in on right wing. Keeper Olivia Linebarger (who subbed in midway through each half) later stopped a 30-yard rocket by Ellis with 10:30 to go.

“I thought we had probably better pressure in the second half than the first half,” Watson said. “But we lacked that ability to finish.

“V had a nice shot that skimmed the top of the bar, and we had a ball loose and Kathleen (Conforti) got there a little bit late (on a shot Langlas blocked over the net with 5:40 left). But at least we started to put the ball at their goalkeeper in the second half."

WW South's strong defense was a mixed blessing for Callipari.

“It’s a great defensive effort because we unfortunately put ourselves in that environment most of the evening,” he said. “You have to give credit to Naperville Central and their ability and confidence on the ball, which allows them to take risks and get numbers forward. I thought we did a good job when they looked for that final pass - we were able to clean up most of it through the course of the evening.

“Our issues were in transition,” Callipari added, “winning the ball finally and then giving it away early. We were too much on the defensive end tonight, but we did have some quality opportunities in the first half, then we had some pressure in a couple situations here in the second half.”

The Redhawks matched their opponents’ penchant for shot blocks when needed. Alberts made a key upper body block of a Molino shot with 29:30 left , and Grace Orndorff, Fricke and Rowan had consecutive nice header clears or blocks on a sustained WW South threat just outside the box 15 minutes into the second half.

“I thought their kids did a real nice job of applying pressure on us,” Watson said. “But our defenders did what they needed to do.

“We’re a team where nobody stands out,” Watson added. “Everybody just does their job and plays hard. Every time we get a shutout you have to credit our back four. Our two center mids Grace (Orndorff) and Alison (Kincaide) did a really nice job for us as well, and I thought V (Ellis) had a really good game today. She’s been really solid through the back and the middle, and if she can find a way to get us some goals then we become a much more dynamic team.”

The Redhawks’ relentless schedule continues Thursday when they host Naperville North, followed Friday by a rematch of last year’s regional final loss to Lockport.

“It’s good for us because of the high quality teams we’re playing,” Muckenhirn said. “We like playing a high-intensity game, so the more intense the better. That’s going to help us progress through the season if we hope to continue.

“We have more big games coming up this week, so it was good to get the win coming back from our last game (Saturday).”

As for Wheaton South, the young squad’s close battle with the Redhawks brings its own upside.

“Like coach said after the game, even though we lost we still improved on some aspects of the game,” Langlas said. “We’re still working to just get better at some of the little things.”

“We wanted to be competitive throughout the game and I think we were,” Callipari said, “and we wanted our young kids to get seasoned by playing at a quicker pace in a more aggressive type environment. So you can only learn from that.”