Radloff, Wildcats, earn a big DVC win

By Matt Le Cren
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If you give Meagan Radloff any kind of room, she’s going to beat you.

Heck, even if you don’t give her any space, she still might beat you.

Wheaton North did a good job of defending the West Chicago star Friday, but Radloff still burned them for two goals and nearly a third in leading the visiting Wildcats to a 3-2 upset victory at Rexilius Field in Wheaton.

The Eastern Illinois-bound Radloff now has four goals in three games this season after torching opponents for 26 last spring.

“That was definitely one of the best games we’ve had,” Radloff said. “For the four years I’ve been here we’ve never beaten Wheaton North, so we really wanted to get one win against them at least, so it’s good that we finally did.”

Radloff played a big part in the victory, staking the Wildcats, who improved to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the DuPage Valley Conference, to an early 2-0 lead.

Junior Jenny Amaro set up the first score, tapping a short pass to Radloff at the top of the penalty area. Radloff was guarded fairly tightly but made one move to get a clear look and sent the shot inside the right post, stunning the Falcons (3-1, 1-1) just 4:17 into the contest.

The senior struck again at the 25:37 mark, running onto a long lead pass up the right wing from senior midfielder Bianca Navejas. Radloff had a defender running stride-for-stride with her but after taking a few dribbles she launched a 20-yard shot into the upper left corner.

“That was just a great play overall and she knows how to finish,” Amaro said. “She basically knows what to do whenever she has the ball.

“I really appreciate [that] we have her as a team player. She leads our team. Without her I don’t know how we would do it. Yeah, we have some good players but she just does incredible [things].”

Radloff wasn’t through causing trouble for the Falcons, who spent nearly the entire first half chasing the ball. She barely missed the hat trick with 12:08 to go in the first half when she drilled a 25-yard free kick off the crossbar. Eight minutes later, Radloff dribbled to the right endline and sent a cross in front to Andie Lazzerini, whose one-timer sailed high.

That highlighted the fact that Radloff is equally dangerous as a distributor. With Navejas, Amaro and Jessica Quinn controlling the midfield, the Wildcats had a huge advantage in time of possession.

“It’s neat to have the backing of a solid 12 people returning,” West Chicago coach Cesar Gomez said. “They know what we try to do and they bought into it. I enjoy possession soccer. It’s productive. If you possess, that’s the name of the game.”

Radloff’s ability to do that is rubbing off on her teammates, who are learning from their captain’s example.

“The sweet thing about it is the reason you are in coaching is to find somebody who will listen to you and just kind of pay attention, and she’s that,” Gomez said. “Whatever you ask of her, she will play and it’s so much fun coaching her. She’s going to give her all every game.

“Some people are good, but they want to be good on their own, meaning they don’t need the coach’s help.  She just soaks in whatever we say to her. We will miss her leadership and the fun that she brings.”

But the Wildcats have other weapons, notably Lazzerini. The sophomore made up for her first half miss by scoring on a breakaway with 34:47 left in the second half to make it 3-0. Lazzerini showed poise on the play, winning a challenge from Wheaton North goalie Emily Barry 35 yards out and then rolling a long shot into the net while being chased by two Falcons.

But as Gomez told his team afterward, the Wildcats still need to learn how to close out better opponents. Radloff said the Wildcats “kind of got scared for a little bit” and the Falcons were able to stage a late rally, scoring twice in the final five minutes.

After being unable to do anything against a defense spearheaded by freshman fullback Shelly Molskow and senior goalie Kelsey Myers, Wheaton North averted the shutout with 4:25 left when Isabelle Santana knocked home a cross from Ashley Oltman from close range even though Myers got a piece of it.

Then with 1:22 remaining, Sidney Sharkey made a nifty move to get free in the left corner and sent a left-footed cross into the middle that Myers dove forward to cut off. But Myers could not hang on to the ball and Kate Wiegman, who earlier in the game was stopped on a breakaway by Myers, was there to blast it home from 10 yards out to make things interesting. West Chicago, however, did not give up another shot in securing what it hopes will be a statement win.

“West Chicago is always overlooked,” said Radloff, who has increased her goal total every year. “We’re working our way up.

“I’m glad with how I’ve played. I’m just hoping to keep it up this season. We have a good senior [class]. Hopefully West Chicago can get some recognition finally.”

Beating Wheaton North is a good start toward that.

“We talk about that,” Gomez said. “We challenged [Radloff] a little bit. I said we came close [before] and today you have to [beat North]. We need to make that jump.

“I’m still happy being the [No. 5 team in the DVC] besides the Napervilles and the Wheatons. This is probably the second time we’ve beat somebody bigger in the DVC. It’s always good to win against a very good opponent. Wheaton North always has a good team.”