Chicagoland Soccer

Tigers continue winning ways vs. Wheaton Academy

By Paul La Tour
Photos courtesy of Diana Fowee

With the Wheaton Cup trophy wrapped in one arm and holding a doughnut in her other hand, Wheaton Warrenville South goalkeeper Kelsey Graham walked off the Red Grange Stadium field.

Thanks to the strong defensive effort in front of her, the doughnut and trophy were about the only things Graham touched all day. She only needed on save in the Tigers’ 3-0 victory over Wheaton North on Saturday.

So how was Graham the one leaving with the two-foot trophy that features a gold soccer ball on top?

“I don’t know how she made off with that,” senior Hayley Charlton said, laughing. “She just said she’d grab it. Everyone was like, ‘OK, Kelse.’”

Regardless, nobody was complaining. The Tigers were all having too much fun celebrating the victory to decide who should carry the trophy from the field.

Sophomore Dana Miller had the biggest direct impact on the game, scoring twice. Her second goal, which came early in the 78th minute, gave the Tigers (7-6-3) the final tiebreaker that ensured their Wheaton Cup bragging rights.

“We knew we needed get three goals,” Miller said. “When we got the first two we were feeling confident, but we did a good job of not letting that go to our heads and we finished off strong.”
The Tigers jumped to a 1-0 lead in the 9th minute on a nifty combination play. Laine Jackson started it with a shot that was blocked by a defender near the top of the penalty area.

Jackson followed and sent a touch pass to Erica Filarski down the right side. Filarski then sent the ball into the middle where Miller ran up to it and booted it in to the net at 31:33.

The Tigers added to their lead in the 34th minute, about 10 minutes after having a goal disallowed on an offside.

But they got one that counted with 6:07 left in the half. With Jenna Schultz and Katherine Fowee bearing down, Warriors keeper Kristen Morency rushed out to the top of the penalty area. Schultz got their first and touched it past Morency.

Fowee chased it and was able to tap it into the unguarded goal just before the ball rolled past the endline to the left post.

The Warriors escaped further damage in the 37th minute when a Filarski free kick from 20 yards out clanged off the crossbar.

Morency’s play kept her team in the game. She made two saves in the second minute, including one a header on the Tigers’ first of six first-half corner kicks. She also kept the ball out of the net on a 35-yard rocket from Natalie Jensen that was destined for the right upper 90.

The Tigers took that 2-0 lead into halftime and held a commanding edge in play. They led 11-2 on shots taken and 7-1 in shots on goal.

“More than anything their effort set us back right from the start,” said Warriors coach Scott Marksberry, whose team fell to 8-5 . “They came and played hard and we didn’t. They just outplayed us for probably 78 of 80 minutes today. We had a couple flashes here and there in the second half, but they just outworked us all over the field.”

The Tigers kept the pressure going in the second half. Though they only got one more goal, they were even more dominant statistically, holding a 12-0 advantage in shot attempts. Half of those were on goal as Morency finished with 10 saves.

Charlton had some good scoring chances in the final 20 minutes, but she couldn’t come up with the all-important third goal. Instead, Charlton earned the assist on Miller’s goal with 2:58 remaining.

“That was the one that got us the trophy,” Charlton said. “We knew coming in we had a chance to get the cup back, but we needed three goals to win it outright, which was kind of nice.”

The victory marked the first time the Tigers have won consecutive games since they were 3-1, and their current 2-0-1 mark is the best stretch they’ve had all season.

“We’re feeling pretty confident, especially after this win,” Miller said of the team’s attitude heading into the final week of the regular season. “We needed this. We’ve had a roller coaster of a season, some good wins and some games we should have won but didn’t. This will put some confidence back into us.”