Wounded Panthers show bite vs. Plainfield South

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By Darryl Mellema

Looking at Oswego's team bench during Saturday's Southwest Prairie Conference match with Plainfield South was a bit like looking at a hospital's emergency room. There were certainly plenty of crutches to go around.

But Lisa Bajkowski's legs are functioning just fine, and the Panthers were thankful for that when she dispatched a penalty kick 12 minutes into the second half that earned the hosts their third victory of the season.

“They've fought really hard the last couple of games,” Oswego coach Jamie Bartkowiak said. “It didn't come easily. They've definitely earned the last two W's that they've got.”

Oswego (3-7-3) found itself defending much of the first half as Plainfield South (8-4-1) came forward in a series of waves.

“Plainfield South did a really good job of fighting for the second ball,” Bartkowiak said. “We'd win the first one and Plainfield South would fight really hard to win the second one. Hat's off to them for that. That's something we weren't used to seeing.”

Whenever the Cougars broke through the Panthers' defense, they found themselves facing Oswego goalie Amy Annala. A freshman, Annala made saves with her knees, her hands and seemingly anything else she could get between the ball and the goal.

“Amy plays very well,” Bartkowiak said. “She is very strong. She has good instincts and natural ability. She's just a good natural athlete and she does a great job back there for us.”

The match took awhile to burst to live. But just after the midpoint of the first half, the match swung from end to end. First Oswego's Erin Apolzan hit a long shot that was saved by Taylor Schwebke. Then the Panthers' Macee Hughes struck a long shot which Schwebke gathered. Plainfield South struck back when Danni Dame fed Kelsey Pruett, whose goalbound effort was saved by Annala.

“I think we played well today,” Plainfield South coach Kevin Allen said. “We just didn't finish. It's the second game in a row we got shut out, and if you don't score goals, you're not going to win.”

Bajkowski showed an ability to drive the ball from long distances during the match, but her ability to calm things in the midfield was just as important, although the penalty kick was important too.

“She played really, really well today,” Bartkowiak said. “That's nice to see to see her get a reward for working so hard.”

Oswego has had to reshape its midfield through the season and the grouping seems to be working together as the regular season nears its final weeks.

“They're finally clicking,” Bartkowiak said. “It took some time for them to really learn the formation that they're sitting in. I think that's why you see the record that we're looking at. We saw some very strong teams at the beginning of the year. And when you're learning a new formation, it's always going to be a struggle. I think you're seeing us work into that formation and see the rewards of that.”

Bartkowiak said she is hopeful some of her injured players will return before the IHSA playoffs start.

“We're missing some girls,” Bartkowiak said. “But I think some girls are stepping up and stepping in strongly and doing very well in their stead. Hopefully, we'll start to see them come back for us toward playoffs. It could worse. But we've been hit with the (injury) bug all season. We've been really unlucky with that.”

Oswego's field presents some challenges for teams used to playing on football field-sized pitches or on fields with large crowns. The Panthers' field is wide, nicely-grassed and that grass had recently been cut – everything that makes for good passing moves, so long as you're prepared to use the full width of the field.

“I thought we adjusted well to playing on a real-sized field as opposed to a football field,” Allen said. “I was a little concerned. We always struggle here, boys and girls, adjusting to the space.”

Plainfield South had a penalty claim of its own late in the second half, but the appeal was waved away and the match continued. So for all their strong buildup, the Cougars fell 1-0.

“It's always frustrating, but we shouldn't have put ourselves in that situation,” Allen said. “We had several chances in both halves that we should have put away.”

The Cougars had a strong six-match unbeaten run recently stopped and they have not yet regained the form that created that patch of good soccer and good results. And after a 2-0 start in conference play, Plainfield South is now 2-2 in the SPC.

“Things were clicking,” Allen said. “I don't know if we took things for granted – I don't think so. But conference games, it's a whole new story. You're not going to have 5-0 or 6-0 wins in conference. Every game is a battle. But knowing how we played today and Thursday, it wasn't our best soccer. We are capable of playing much better soccer.”