Hilltoppers fall to Downers Grove North
By Matt Le Cren

Glenbard West and Downers Grove North played exactly as expected on Wednesday.

The visiting Hilltoppers turned in another stingy defensive effort while Downers Grove North turned it on in the second half and came away with a 2-0 victory at Carstens Field in Downers Grove.

The match, which decided fifth place in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division, was scoreless for the first 63 minutes until the Trojans found the back of the net twice in a span of 2:23.

Freshman Mary Helen Beacom and junior Mary Doro scored the goals for Downers North (8-7, 2-4), while senior goalie Christina Siddu was stellar between the pipes, coming up with five saves to record the shutout.

“That’s kind of our m.o. this whole season,” Downers Grove North coach Bob Calder said. “I told them at halftime that we’ve been a second-half team all year.

“[Assistant] coach [Brian] Gervase brought up a very good point. It’s not just that we’re playing well in the second half. We are wearing teams down in the first half, so I thought it was pretty clear on just the emotional side of the first half how we were just wearing the game along and keeping the energy high.

“We felt like we were really getting those opportunities, just waiting for them to go. All year, we just need for that first one to go and then things seem to roll.”

That’s what happened in this contest. The Trojans broke through with 16:58 remaining when freshman Arlinda Osmani launched a free kick from midfield into the middle of the Glenbard West penalty area.

Four players converged on the ball, which bounced and came loose to Beacom, who booted it in from 12 yards out. It was the fourth goal of the season for Beacom, who was elevated to the varsity midway through the season.

“I saw the ball and I usually just run after it and then thankfully the goalie dropped it and I kicked it,” Beacom said. “It went off her and we juggled a little and I kicked it in.”

The goal energized the Trojans, who redoubled their attacking efforts and struck again when Doro ripped a running 25-yard shot under the crossbar at the 14:35 mark for a 2-0 lead. Beacom, a talented athlete who is the starting setter on the varsity volleyball team, was the catalyst, springing Doro with a perfect pass from the midfield.

Doro, who just missed scoring again when she sent a 27-yard free kick over the crossbar with 7:45 to go, felt the offensive breakthrough was inevitable. It also spelled doom for the Hilltoppers (3-10-2, 1-5), who now have been shut out eight times. Of their 10 losses, seven have been by one goal and two others by two goals.

“I think it was just a combination of we had a game yesterday [a 3-0 loss to conference champion Hinsdale Central] and we’re just getting beat down,” Glenbard West junior Alyssa Cantore said. “But we did hold them for a while pretty well. I’m not really sure what happened at the end, but they just pulled through and we didn’t.”

The visitors had two chances to take the lead in the first half. One came in the opening seconds of the half and the other in the closing seconds.

Zoe Pearson got the ball off the opening kickoff and sent a long pass down the left wing to Alexandra Levin, who broke into the box and put a 15-yard shot on frame which Siddu made an easy save on with just 13 seconds gone.

The Trojans then dominated much of the rest of the opening period and only the steadfast play of
Cantore and fellow defenders Britta Frenzel and Katie Strieker, along with Paul, who made a sprawling point-blank save on Heather Muno in the sixth minute, kept the game scoreless.

The Hilltoppers almost caught a lucky break just before intermission when a long shot from Cantore bounced off a screened Siddu and caromed off Glenbard West’s Caroline Trant in front. But Siddu dove to deflect the ball wide of the right post as time expired.

Siddu, one of just four seniors on the Downers North roster, came up big three times down the stretch as Glenbard West finally mounted some sustained offense in the final 12 minutes.

Siddu deflected one shot from Levin off the crossbar, went to her knees to stop a 20-yard free kick by Cantore and then made the play of the game when she denied Cantore again with 9:40 left.

Cantore, who usually plays forward for her club team, moved up into the attack and used some fancy footwork to fight off two challenges in the left side of the Trojans’ box before dribbling free in the middle and launching a 16-yard shot that a lunging Siddu deflected into the left post.  

“Christina showed what she was made of today,” Calder said. “She had a couple great saves, couple of them off the post, deep chips that were really hard to manage.”

Cantore’s shot was one of four the Hilltoppers mustered down the stretch. She also had a 12-yarder that just missed the left post with 5:47 remaining. It was the type of muscular offensive effort the Hilltoppers lacked earlier in the season.

“I got the chance to go up front and I felt that I could create something, try to get some more energy going and try to move the offense up and pressure hard so we could get something out of it, maybe a tie or a goal at least,” Cantore said. “I think we’ve improved a lot from the beginning of the season and [are] creating more up top and starting to create more opportunities.”

The Trojans are another team that has been stepping it up lately, having won four of their last five matches. They have given up just one goal in their last four outings.

“[The key has been] communication and we’re starting to get used to each other,” Doro said. “We’re such a young team that we haven’t played a lot with each other, so now that we’re finally getting through the season, we know how we play and what works and what doesn’t.

“[This win] gives us that push and desire to excel in the playoffs.”

Downers North finishes the regular season Thursday at Hinsdale South and begins the postseason next Tuesday at the Lyons Township Regional. The Trojans, who are seeded 10th at the Hinsdale Central Sectional, will face No. 7 seed Glenbard East (10-5-4) next Tuesday and would probably take on No. 2 Lyons (12-4-2) in the regional final. Downers North upset Glenbard East in the first round of the playoffs last year and played Lyons tough during a 2-0 loss three weeks ago.

Glenbard West, the 11th seed, takes on sixth-seeded Wheaton Warrenville South (11-5-1) in the first round the York Regional on Tuesday.

“I think our mood going in is just to keep defending well and eventually some offense will come from it,” Cantore said. “I think if we keep pushing up and pushing the defense on the opposite team will finally get something out of the play. We’re going in strong and just keeping an open mind, hoping that we’ll get a good result this time.”