Tigers take the Cup in 2-1 win over Wheaton North
By Gary Larsen


Even a wily veteran coach like Guy Callipari doesn’t always have the answer.

After Wheaton Warrenville South sophomore A.J. Jakuszewski took off on a diagonal drive across the field and then fired the shot that beat crosstown rival Wheaton North with only five minutes left to play, Callipari was beside himself.

“It’s a good thing she wasn’t listening to me because I screamed at her twice to play it back against the grain to our forward that made a nice run,” Callipari said. “When she scored, I just went back to the bench and sat down. What do I know?”

The Tigers’ 2-1 win over the Falcons guaranteed them another season of possession of the Wheaton Cup, the hardware the two teams annually play for. South has either won or shared the Cup in each of the last four seasons, as Wheaton Academy and St. Francis have also intermittently been involved in Cup play.

“They gave it their best shot and we gave it our best shot,” South senior defender Kelly Langlas said. “I think we’re finally starting to put things together and starting to peak so now hopefully we can make a run.”

A playoff atmosphere and just about a full eighty minutes of intensity had players from both sides happy with the effort.

“For the most part, yeah,” Wheaton North senior mid Lauren Szumski said. “You have to give it to them. They’re a fantastic team, very physical, and it was a fantastic game. We left it all on the field and it was just unfortunate that we couldn’t come out on top.”

The action began early when North keeper Jessica Kiely charged off her line and made a sliding stop on South’s Dana Miller, just six minutes into play. Kiely made a head-level save on a long, strong boot from South’s Alia Devick at nine minutes.

A serve from deep on the right side had Kiely elevating to tip a ball past the crossbar to the far side, with Szumski running it down and sending it upfield on a counter at 14 minutes.

At 22 minutes, a Szumski shot from 20 yards popped up to South keeper Abby Fuster, who went up to snare it near the post. North’s Lyndi Armstrong tracked back strong to dispossess a Tiger and send the ball back into the attack, before Kiely saved a long Jakuszewski shot at the post at 26 minutes, and North’s Lexi Pelafas forced a similar save from Fuster soon thereafter.

Back-and-forth and physical, the game’s tone had been set.

“I don’t know if it would be possible for my team to play with more focused intensity than they did,” North coach Tim McEvilly said. “If you ramp it up any more, you’re out of control. My kids were in control, they tackled every ball like it was the last tackle of the game, but it was all clean, hard, strong stuff.”

The ice broke at 31 minutes when Jakuszewski faked her way around a defender on the left side just past midfield and sent a pass ahead, with Miller pressuring the Falcons’ backline. “I passed it low and the (defender) chipped it up to Dana, which worked even better,” Jakuszewski said.

Miller got behind the defense, chested the chipped deflection to her feet and went far post from the left side to give South a 1-0 halftime lead.

Miller missed nine games through the heart of the season due to injury, but the chemistry that she and Jakuszewski have on the field was evident throughout.

“There’s definitely an understanding when the two of them are on the field together,” Callipari said. “When you have the freshmen up top, they work so hard but they’re reacting to everything, whereas Dana and A.J. are creating and understanding and setting things up for each other. They have an understanding of how the defense is playing, and where they are, so there’s more chemistry there.”

Fuster saved a hard shot from Szumski at 50 minutes and North tied the game at 58 minutes after Gracie Klatt sent a ball up the left side to Monica Tyler, who took it to the endline and served a perfect ball to the far post.  

Szumski was there to bury it.

“I owe both of them a lot for that ball,” Szumski said. “At the end of the day, that’s just what that little extra step can get you and to be honest, that (cross) couldn’t have been any better. ”

Miller left the game due to cramping and Pelafas left after flying up the right side with South defender Tori Adomschick on her hip. Pelafas sent a shot wide, fell to the turf, and had to leave the game.

Both Miller and Pelafas returned to the game down the stretch, and when two of the best players on the field come back to play in a game that has no conference or post-season ramifications, you know you’re watching a heated crosstown rivalry.

“There was a moment when I did turn around and look at the stands, and it’s nice to look in the stands at a girls’ soccer game and see them two-thirds full,” McEvilly said. “That environment is nice to see, some of the local club kids came out to see the game, the friends and family, and these kids have been playing with each other since they were five or six years old.”

With five minutes left to play, Jakuszewski put the game on her shoulders and took off on the dribble, before firing from 30 yards out. The shot skipped early and found its way inside the post.

“On the second goal I was just thinking ‘low to the right corner’,” Jakuszewski said. “When (Kiely) dove I thought she had it because she’s tall and she was a good goalie throughout this game. So I was just glad it went in.”

For Wheaton North (8-8-3, 2-4-1 in DVC play), Tuesday’s game carried promise despite the final result. The dangerous Pelafas is back in the mix and players are finally on the mend after a spate of injuries, but the Falcons also benefited in unexpected ways in dealing with those injuries over the past few weeks.

“This is the first Wheaton South game I’ve been involved in where I’ve run six or seven people off of the bench, and played them minutes,” McEvilly said. “The depth for our team has come out of the adversity we’ve faced this season. Those kids have already been facing pressure so this didn’t faze them as much as it might have.”

Chief among those Falcons on Tuesday was sophomore defender Janelle Blackwell, whose hard tackle in the box on South’s Erin Madigan late in the contest helped keep her side within one goal of equalizing.

“Janelle Blackwell has been playing four or five games up from the jayvee for us, and they had a breakaway in the box that might have made it 3-1, she made a tackle that just destroyed that chance and took a girl off of the ball,” McEvilly said. “That was impressive, and indicative of that extra effort that you need. She played eighty minutes and has been giving us speed in the back.”

Veteran North defender Linnae Giuliano has been lost for the season due to injury, but Emily Barry stood tall in back throughout the contest and with the steady and solid Kiely in net, the Falcons may be banged up but they looked ready for high-level postseason play on Tuesday.

“We’re working on it. We’re coming back slowly,” Szumski said. “You just have to deal with the cards you’re handed. I think this puts a little fire in our belly. If we can compete like that against South, we can take on any team.”

McEvilly agreed.

“I don’t know if we could have played much better,” he said. “It was going to be a tight game, decided by a goal one way or another, but we strung passes together, we didn’t chase, we were organized as a group – I wish the result would have been different but I’m really proud of the group.”

WW South (11-5-1, 5-2) will look to Jakuszewski and a healthy Miller to help carry the attack into the postseason. Jakuszewski showed that despite being a defender on her club team, she continues to be perpetually dangerous as an attacking player for the Tigers this year.

“It’s been fun,” Jakuszewski said. “All I’ve done is play defender for the past four years, so if I get my (attacking) fix in during the high school season that’s fine with me.

“I never thought I’d be a forward because I never thought I was good with my back to goal. I’m better going forward on the dribble. But it’s all working out this year, so I’m happy. Dana and I just kind of switch back and forth and work well off each other. She’s better in the air than I am so I like to make the run behind her, and she does a great job of flicking it on.”

Meanwhile, the Tigers will count on Fuster and her backline of Adomschick, Langlas, Allie Harvey, and Alex Immekus to keep things clean moving forward.

“Kelly (Langlas) holds the whole thing together, in combination with (Abby) Fuster,” Callipari said. “Kelly is the senior, she’s not afraid to step up, and she gets us in transition cleanly. She doesn’t panic and she’s clean when she attacks the ball. Allie (Harvey) is the freshman beside her, she’s tall enough to win balls and be more physical, and she’s just learning to be aware of the speed of play.

“Tory is typically pretty clean, and occasionally Nikki Molino goes back there just because she’s more technical, but we’re a little shy through the midfield so we’re playing her in the middle or outside. She’s also a very versatile player for us.”