Leary's goal caps Wildcats' comeback win vs. Conant

 

CLICK FOR PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME

CLICK HERE FOR NEUQUA VALLEY'S TEAM PAGE

By Darryl Mellema

Everyone knew Neuqua Valley was one of the best teams in Illinois, and a ranked team in the nation, heading into Wednesday’s Naperville Invitational opener against Conant.

But the Cougars entered the match undefeated themselves and spent 80 minutes at Naperville Central proving they deserve to be put in anyone’s list of top teams in the state.

Neuqua Valley won the match 2-1, but Conant took the lead and more than played its part in a match that wouldn’t have looked out of place at North Central College, just a couple of miles from Naperville Central, where the state finals take place every June.

It was, however, a match everyone enjoyed, from the coaches through to the players of both teams.

“That’s a good, solid team, plain and simple,” Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau said. “We beat a team that’s one of the top teams we’ve seen.”

Noelle Leary scored the game-winning goal with 15 minutes left in the match, and she was as full of praise for her team’s opponents as she was in her compliments toward her own team’s grit in fighting back from an early deficit.

“I think it’s good for us,” Leary said. “This is definitely one of the better teams we’ve played this season. So it’s great to be able to come out and have an intense game where everybody is working.”

Matches like Wednesday’s truly show the talent of both teams because both squads are challenged. Neither team had an easy 80 minutes and although Neuqua Valley (13-0) had an edge in possession and goal chances, the Cougars (9-1) played their part in making the match such an entertaining one to watch.

“It felt like we were at state,” Conant junior Kelsey Foss said. “It was a huge game and it was for a lot, on our record and for our team. It’s a riot to play in a match like this, especially with this kind of pressure. Everyone went all out and it was a physical game. It was a big game for both of us because we were both undefeated. We just didn’t come out on top.”

The game-winning goal came when Leary hit a shot from near the top of the penalty area that blazed into the roof of the Conant net.

“Basically, I saw the ball come in,” Leary said. “Normally, I just rip it with my left foot. But I saw her blocking it, so I cut it in with my right. It dipped in and luckily it went in.”
Moreau liked the goal as well.

“It was right-footed, that was unusual for her,” Moreau said. “She’s such a great kid and she’s very quiet. It’s very nice to see a kid like that have a big, huge smile on her face.”

Conant nearly took the lead in the opening minute when Kelsey Foss’ cross was met by Kaitlin Chiero and put into the net – but the play was ruled offside.

Eight minutes into the match, the Cougars had the ball in the net again, and this time it counted. Early midfield work by Courtney Raetzman led to a pass to Chiero in a seam in the Neuqua Valley defense. Chiero was tackled as she headed toward the penalty area, but still got the ball to Sammi van de Linde, who continued forward, shot from just beyond the penalty spot, and scored.

“We caught them on a little bit of a counter,” Conant coach Jason Franco said. “They were ‘stepped’ and got it to Chiero, who got it to Sammi, and she slotted it. That’s what you want in a game like this. You don’t want to be chasing a team like them.”

The goal marked the second time this year that Neuqua Valley fell behind in a match. The previous time, the Wildcats immediately equalized against Waubonsie Valley. This time, Conant held out for 25 minutes.

“We settled down,” Leary said. “We were kind of jittery and the ball was kind of bouncing around. We kept it down and played our game, and that’s what helped us control the game.”

Moreau pointed to the midfield, and especially Hope D’Addario, as a key area in both blunting Conant’s early dominance and in building its own momentum.

“I thought the key to the game was our central midfielders,” Moreau said. “I thought Hope was incredible. It was nice to see a lot of good fight from us. Some of that kind of stuff, if you don’t know soccer, you might not notice what an incredible game Hope played – and she did.”

And from a Neuqua Valley perspective, van de Linde’s goal was an occasion which required some adjustments.

“We were letting their midfielders run free,” Moreau said. “After 7 minutes, I don’t think you saw their midfielders run free any more because we clamped down on them.”

The tying goal was messy. Given a free kick 25 yards in the center of the field, Megan Oyster drove the ball low and into the Conant wall. The ball ricocheted off a Cougars player in that wall, with the carom wrong-footing everyone on both teams as it went into the net.

“It’s good for us to show some character and to come back and to come back with a win,” Leary said. “It’s always a stunner because you go, ‘we’ve got to at least get two more to come back and win. But I think it shows a lot about this team that we were able to do it.”

As Neuqua Valley tightened its midfield grip, Conant had to shift some from its passing game and started to play some longer balls to its forwards.

“Other teams will bring energy up top or in the middle,” Franco said of Neuqua Valley. “They brought team energy and they made it really frantic, which they loved. They really didn’t care if they made some mistakes with their passes, as long as they kept making us mess up. We’ll have to look on the video for ways to play against that high-pressure soccer.”

Certainly trailing in the match opened the possibility that Neuqua Valley might have dropped its first game of the season.

“That’s something you try not to think about during the game,” Leary said. “I mean, it’s probably back there. But you’ve just got to trust your team and know that we’ve got it in us to come back and make sure that we don’t let that happen.”

Moreau said that, to him, keeping the team’s perfect start to the season was less important than the manner of the victory for a team whose aspirations extend beyond regular season success.

“You can’t worry about results,” Moreau said. “You just want to play good soccer. Sometimes you play bad soccer and win and you’re not as happy. You want to play good soccer as much as you can and do things that you’re trying to do.”

Moreau said he felt his team accomplished that mission.

“I thought early on, our forwards weren’t making some great runs,” Moreau said. “But when our forwards were making some really good runs, they were getting open. We’ve got to work on finishing.”

The Naperville Invitational is annually the strongest in-season tournament in Illinois and matches like Wednesday’s are one of the reasons for that strength. The match is exactly the kind Moreau likes his teams to play.

“I think some people try to schedule games that they can win in nonconference,” Moreau said. “You’re only in high school once. You want to try to play the best competition you can. I mean, what’s more exciting, this kind of game of a game you’re winning 7-0? This is fun. This is what it’s all about.”

Conant knows all about the quality of the Naperville Invitational, although the Cougars are one of the top teams in the Mid Suburban League this year.

“Last year, we had to play Neuqua, Waubonsie and New Trier,” Franco said. “It doesn’t get any better than that, especially last year, with them all being as good as they were. We want to get tested.”

Neuqua Valley shies away from none of the top teams in the state, annually playing a brutal schedule, both in the Upstate Eight Conference and with its nonconference opponents. The Wildcats were full of praise for Conant, however.

“I think Conant, in my opinion, is the best team we’ve played in terms of passing the ball around, movement,” Leary said. “No. 18 (Raetzman) has great ball skills.”

D’Addario received kudos from Moreau for her role in slowing down the dangerous Conant junior.

“(Raetzman) is a very, very talented player and if she gets the ball she’ll control the entire field,” D’Addario said. “Our key was to take her out of the game and hopefully that would cut off those balls getting to their forwards. And it worked.”

Franco said his team’s performance was a good way to measure the level of his team’s play, and he said he was pleased with what he saw.

“I know we beat Fremd and we played really well that night, and I know we beat Schaumburg, which is really good,” Franco said. “But we haven’t really played a lights-out team. And this is, and they played really tough with them. We were being a little outplayed and we gave up more chances, but we had chances and we had the lead.”

Foss said the experience of playing a team like Neuqua Valley will be good for the Cougars, not only for the remainder of the Naperville Invitational, but for the rest of the season.

“We really learn what we’re made of as a team and what we can do and what potential we have,” Foss said. “These are great teams. Every single team in this tournament is top quality and it’s good for us to play against them.”

Conant and Neuqua Valley each face Andrew to conclude Pool B play in the invitational, with all matches taking place at Naperville Central. Neuqua Valley plays Andrew on Thursday at 7 p.m. while Conant plays Andrew on Saturday at noon.