Tigers' change nets victory over visiting St. Francis

 

By Matt Le Cren
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Photos courtesy of Diana Fowee

You’ve got to hand it to Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari. He’s not afraid to make radical changes if he thinks his original plan isn’t working.

After the Tigers lost 2-0 at home to Plainfield North on Tuesday, Callipari decided to scrap the 3-5-2 alignment his squad was using and switched to a more offensive-oriented 4-3-3.

It worked. WW South (2-1) got two emphatic goals from seniors Erica Filarski and Hailey Gill and gave up only one shot in downing St. Francis 2-0 Thursday night at Red Grange Field. As for the 3-5-2 formation, it’s history.

“So the three weeks we had for training, it’s out the window now because I threw a curve ball on them,” Callipari said. “I said it isn’t working, let’s change speed here and I think this is going to be better for us in the long run. We can get more people forward and more balance on the field.

“[The Tigers] just really struggled with the speed of this field. It’s matted and it’s so fast and if you’re not really technically that great, you’re going to suffer a little bit because of that.  We need to have people in all parts of the field and the 4-3-3 gives us that opportunity.”

The Tigers, who outshot the Spartans 16-1, had four scoring opportunities in the first half and converted two of them. The first came with 26:12 remaining when Filarski took a pass from Dana Miller and fired a shot from 28 yards out that was blocked by St. Francis defender Meg Wagner.

The ball bounced right back to Filarski, who didn’t hesitate in booming the rebound over Wagner and just under the crossbar.

“Dana had a great through ball,” Filarski said. “I hit it with my left and the girl just stopped it. I just went back with my other foot. It was a nice shot.”

Six minutes later, Filarski made a strong pass out of the midfield that sprung sophomore Kate Fowee on a partial breakaway down the right wing. Fowee hit a nice 18-yard shot on the run under pressure but missed high.

But the Tigers didn’t let up and doubled their lead at the 6:21 mark when Gill scored on a shot similar in strength and length to Filarski’s, putting her drive down the middle and top shelf from 25 yards out.

“I think the other day we kind of went in a little overconfident, not really ready for a tough competition, but today as a team we put it together,” Filarski said. “We really connected much better today and we made sure to find spaces where they were open.

“I think we needed to prove ourselves and we wanted it a little bit more this time, because coming off of a 2-0 loss, it’s not something you’re proud of. After getting a nice talking to from the coach we just wanted to go after it and prove to him that we can do it and that we are the team that he thinks we are.”

The Tigers would have taken a 3-0 lead into halftime if not for St. Francis goalie Jenna Ditusa, who made a great diving save on Miller with three ticks left. Ditusa, who finished with six saves, fully extended to knock Miller’s 23-yard left-footed blast around the right post.

Though she didn’t find the back of the net, Miller is proving to be a catalyst for the Tigers with her impressive footwork and muscular shot off both wings.

“Dana’s really stepping up and the best part is she’s only a sophomore, so you’re glad your program has her for two more years,” Filarski said. “She’s really stepping it up. Being in the middle she’s distributing some great balls and really working hard. It sounds surprising as a sophomore but she’s a great example for everyone out there because everyone sees Dana working and then we all want to work as hard as she does.”

Callipari also is pleased with the impact Miller is having.

“I know she was very frustrated because she’s playing with her back to goal and she had two people on her all night,” he said, “but that made certainly opportunities for others and sometimes you have to sacrifice a little bit.”

The Tigers weren’t as effective in the second half as the young Spartans (1-2) did a better job of breaking up passes in the midfield, but the hosts were never threatened and goalie Kelsey Graham did not have to make a save.

Senior sweeper Hayley Charlton led the defensive effort, containing the Spartans’ dangerous Andi Matichak whenever she was in the box and coming up with the defensive play of the night nine minutes into the contest when Matichak knocked a ball away from Graham and into the left corner.

Matichak and Sydney Fox worked a give-and-go out of the corner and looked to have something cooking not far from the goal when Charlton stepped in and forced Matichak into kicking the ball harmlessly over the end line.

“We’re happy with the shutout,” Callipari said. “We talked pre-game that we needed to get beyond one and two-person combinations and start thinking three-way and four-way, start moving the ball with a little bit more intent. We’re still developing. Obviously it looks good in spurts and then it looks really disorganized.”

The Tigers made only one mistake that might have been costly. A giveaway in the midfield and a defender slipping gave the Spartans Katie Ramsey a breakaway, but Graham charged out to the top of the box and Ramsey tripped over Graham’s foot and wasn’t able to get a strong shot off.

The ball did skitter toward the goal but three WW South defenders were there to clear it, though not all of the way out. Sarah Rahman got the ball on the right wing while Graham was still out of the net, but her shot sailed high with 5:45 left in the second half.

St. Francis was coming off its first win of the season, a 1-0 blanking of Sycamore on Tuesday. Freshman Andrea Ravin posted the game-winner off an assist from Matichak.
 
“I give [the Spartans] credit,” Callipari said. “They looked good at times. In fact, at times they even looked better than us especially through the midfield. They were pretty good in transition. They worked very hard all game long.”