Warriors blanked by Andrew as offensive woes continue

 

 

By Matt Le Cren

With the way Wheaton Academy has been playing defense lately, you usually need a perfect shot in order to score.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, Andrew produced two such shots Monday night and that was all the host Thunderbolts needed to win 2-0 in Tinley Park.

Andrew’s Sydney Gountounas opened the scoring by blasting a 23-yard free kick into the upper right corner of the net at the 31:43 mark of the first half.

It was a sign of things to come as the Thunderbolts (12-4-1) proved to be dangerous from distance. Gountounas nearly scored again two minutes later when she hit the top of the crossbar with another 23-yard shot.

And senior Lauren Bialas was unlucky not to add to Andrew’s lead when she fired a 35-yard free kick off the underside of the crossbar with 8:35 left.

“I thought we did defend well enough,” Wheaton Academy coach Dave Underwood said. “The thing that we talk a lot about, that we want to cut down on, is set pieces and corner kicks. We don’t want to give them up.”

The Warriors (8-8-3) gave up six corner kicks and four free kicks inside of 35 yards in the first half alone, which negated an otherwise tenacious effort by defenders Meredith Matson, Alli Manske, Eaden Bond and Deb Smith that kept the Thunderbolts out of the penalty area for the most part.

“We don’t want to foul people in our back third and we gave them way too many direct kick opportunities and that one on the first goal, that’s not even savable,” Underwood said.

“It’s like a penalty kick when they’re standing right outside the box and you’ve got your defenders 10 yards off. So credit to [Gountounas]. She put it right where she needed to.”

The Warriors did improve in that area in the second half, allowing no corner kicks and just five shots, including a pair of long free kicks that were saved by freshman goalie Jamie Netzley.

But Andrew did find the back of the net during the run of play when Bialas received a pass from Marissa Levigne out on the left wing, turned and ripped a 22-yard left-footed shot over the head of Netzley and just inside the right post with 10:59 to go.

“Overall, maybe we weren’t as clean defensively as we have been in the last couple weeks, but certainly well enough to win,” Underwood said. “[It is the] same old, same old: we’re not putting the ball in the back of the net.”

Indeed, Wheaton was shut out for the second straight match and fourth time in its last six outings. The Warriors have given up only eight goals during that stretch – four of which came in one match – but have scored just three.

“We have a lot of difficulty putting the ball in the back of the net but it’s not that we can’t,” said freshman midfielder Julia Della Torre. “I guess we’re not clicking enough. We really have to work on putting the ball in the back of the net.”

Della Torre did her part, especially in the second half when the visitors mustered six of their nine shots. Her pass from the left wing found Ali Grant open on the right side of the penalty area, but Grant’s 10-yard shot missed the left post with 35:00 remaining.

Later in the half, Della Torre launched a shot in the box that was deflected by a defender but saved by Andrew goalie Kaitlyn Kosary. That shot, like much of Wheaton’s offense, came in the final 10 minutes and proved to be too little, too late.

“First half we didn’t really create much of anything,” Underwood said. “Second half we at least created some chances and had some that very honestly should have been goals and still came up empty.

“I felt like Julia Della Torre played pretty well tonight, winning the ball and pushing the pace a little bit. We moved her around some and she was able to create a few things. But that’s been our Achilles heel all season long is figuring out ways to score goals.”

Of course, one of the reasons for the drought is Wheaton’s tough schedule. Six of the Warriors’ eight losses and two of their three ties have come against Class 3A schools like Andrew and Wheaton Warrenville South, which edged the Warriors 1-0 on Saturday.

That competition will only help Wheaton to prepare for the Class 2A playoffs which begin next week.

“I would hope we’re going to be well-prepared because we’ve played a tough schedule down the stretch and I think that’s going to suit us well,” Underwood said. “We’re hanging in and we’re getting better every day.”

Della Torre agreed.

“Playing against these really big schools brings [us into contact with] a lot of good players and it really helps us to play against them because we get to see what we’re going to be up against,” Della Torre said.

“We get to play harder and full out and it really helps us to keep in that mode that we have to be going faster and stronger at all times.”

The Warriors travel to Marian Central on Tuesday before finishing the regular season Thursday against rival St. Francis in a match that will be played at Glenbard South.

Then it is on to the state tournament. Wheaton is the No. 4 seed at the Riverside-Brookfield Sectional and will open regional play against No. 13 seed Chicago Hancock at the Glenbard South Regional on May 14.

“I am really happy with how this team has come together,” Della Torre said. “[Since] the beginning of the year…we really have grown together and we’re playing really well, I feel like.”