Tigers fend off late surge from West Chicago

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By D.J. Wanberg
Photos courtesy of Diana Fowee

It's been that kind of season for the West Chicago girls’ soccer team.

Down 3-1 late in their regular-season finale Thursday night against visiting Wheaton Warrenville South , the Wildcats showed why they are a sixth seed in the Class 3A St. Charles East Sectional and why this season they could make some playoff waves.

West Chicago (9-9-3 overall, 3-2-2 DuPage Valley Conference) was able to sustain some heavy offensive pressure with under nine minutes to play against the Tigers (10-7-2, 5-2). The best chances during that time span included Shelly Molskow's attack on the net with her shot hitting the goalpost with roughly 8:30 left to play.

West Chicago senior Meagan Radloff then scored her second goal of the game, turning a contest that was running out the clock to the Tigers having to sweat out the rest of a 3-2 victory.

Next for the Wildcats is a trip to the Schaumburg Regional this Tuesday, May 17 for a 6:30 p.m. semifinal contest against 10th-seeded South Elgin. The winner faces the No. 2 hosts Friday, May 20 at 6 p.m.

"We're really excited about being a sixth seed," Radloff said. "We've been a lower seed every year. We want to advance. We want to win a regional."

West Chicago has never won a regional title in girls’ soccer.

It was a physical game and Radloff's second goal was an example of that as she went on a breakaway. Tiger goalkeeper Arianna Lee (six saves) came out to meet her and the two collided, but Radloff was still able to get the shot off. Teammate Andie Lazzerini assisted on the goal.

Radloff put West Chicago on the board first with 17:44 left in the first half. She got off a 20-yard shot that Lee dove to the left to try and stop, but couldn't grab.

The best defensive plays of the first 40 minutes for the Wildcats came approximately 12 minutes into the game when midfielder Sarah Opel broke a two-on-one breakaway by forcing the player about to make a cross pass off the ball.

Goalkeeper Kelsey Myers (seven saves), with under 20 minutes left until halftime, made a quick-thinking kick save on WW South's Dana Miller, who would pressure Myers and the Wildcat defense all night, and then shortly after, caught a corner kick in heavy traffic in front of her net.

West Chicago coach J. Cesar Gomez is pleased with many aspects of the Wildcats' season. He said that playing WW South, a consistently tough squad year in and year out in the DVC, as tough as the Wildcats did, shows the team's progress.

But that's not to say, he doesn't think West Chicago can be better as it heads  into the playoffs.

"We know what we can do. But we have not been able to deliver that lately. We need to come with the intensity (shown late in the game) from the beginning," Gomez said. "We get 20 minutes here, 20 minutes there. But you have to play an 80-minute game in the playoffs. If you don't, you'll likely fall short."

As for WW South, it only had starting goalkeeper Kelsey Graham on the field for just the 1:19 of the contest. She injured her left ankle and had to be carted off the field.

Coach Guy Callipari said after the game the extent of Graham's injury was unknown.  She had left during the first half to go to a hospital for an x-ray.

The Tigers tied the game 1-1, with 15:13 left until halftime, when Laine Jackson was able to fend off one last West Chicago defender and send a shot to Myers' right and into a lower corner of the net.

WW South took the lead for good just 1:23 into the second half on an 18-yard blast from Mary Heaton to make it 2-1.

The physical aspect of the game continued as Miller collided with a West Chicago player in the second half and had to leave the game. She returned with 15:56 left and it took her just 18 seconds to convert on a 15-yard shot that made it 3-1.

"The defender's head, I think, hit me in the face. Half of my teeth are numb and my cheekbone is bruised," Miller said good-naturedly. "Erica Filarski was opposite me. I ran in and she made the cross (which led to the goal)."

WW South closes out the regular season Saturday at home with an 11 a.m. contest against Hinsdale Central. Then it's off to the Neuqua Valley Regional where the Tigers, seeded ninth in the Waubonsie Valley Sectional, play eighth-seeded Benet, Wednesday, May 18, at 4:30 p.m. in a regional semifinal.
The winner will likely play top-seeded Neuqua Valley on Friday, May 20 at 4:30 p.m. in the regional final.

"The past few games have helped us. It's been sort of an up and down season. We've won a few in a row and that's made us feel better," Miller said.