Wolves can't maintain scoring touch in loss to Minooka

By Curt Herron

 

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After seeing her squad get 16 goals in its previous two matches, Oswego East coach Lauren Anderson hoped that perhaps they had found the scoring touch.

But the inability of finding the net that has hampered the Wolves throughout the season affected them again on Thursday when they played at Minooka.

Although East had plenty of great scoring opportunities, especially in the opening half, they had little to show for it afterward against the Indians.

Meanwhile, Minooka didn't play like a team that hadn't won yet and broke a 1-1 halftime draw by getting a pair of scores during the final 40 minutes.

As a result, the Indians snapped their nine-match winless streak and halted East's two-game win streak with a 3-1 Southwest Prairie Conference victory.

"We had possession for the majority of the game but Minooka didn't give up and kept fighting," Anderson said. "They out-worked us and that's why they ended up coming out on top.

"The story for us both last season and this year has been that we get all of the opportunities in the world but we struggle to finish. The ball bounces right in front of the goal but we can't seem to finish.

"In our last couple of games we not only won but we also scored goals. So the hope was that we would come into this game with some confidence behind us and continue that, but unfortunately, we fell short."

Things started out on the wrong foot for the Wolves (3-5, 1-2) when they were whistled for a foul in the box about a quarter of an hour into the match.

Jillian Hetfleisch put in the subsequent penalty kick to give Minooka (1-6-3, 1-2) the early advantage over East, which had blanked its last two opponents.

During the final 20 minutes of the opening half, the Wolves seemed to be camped out in the Indians' side of the field and had numerous scoring chances.

Holly Schwarz and Miranda Lambert started things with wide attempts before Brittany Brewer and Anida Phetchanpheng were denied by keeper Rachel Herzberger.

The Wolves finally managed to even things up in the 33rd minute when Brewer sent a shot that went off of Herzberger's hands and deflected off the crossbar.

Phetchanpheng was there to put in the short rebound and it looked like that spark might result in another score before the squads halted for halftime.

East had plenty of good chances in the last five minutes of the half, beginning with a free kick by Brenna Risch that the keeper deflected over the net.

Then Lambert was thwarted on a line drive and Brewer saw her grounder hauled in by Herzberger before a header by Mady Aubuchon went wide of the frame.

In the final two minutes of the half, Phetchanpheng had an attempt denied, Alexia Tobias saw a try deflected by a defender and a Risch shot was wide.

Following the break, the tide began to turn as the hosts started to balance the chances, which ultimately led to them connecting on the go-ahead score.

Herzberger stopped short attempts by Schwarz and Megan Ross during the opening 15 minutes of the new half but the next threat paid off for Minooka.

Shortly after Marisol Galvan had a try from close range deflected away, Brittni Viehman connected to give the Indians a 2-1 lead in the 62nd minute.

East had opportunities to get the equalizer not long after that score but Carli Schlaker saw a pair of short attempts get halted by the Minooka keeper.

During the match's final 10 minutes, Galvan was denied by Wolves keeper Megan Moran shortly before Risch sent a line drive that went wide of the net.

Minooka ended the drama in the 77th minute when Jerry Torres connected and East's last good chance saw Herzberger deflect an attempt by Phetchanpheng.

Needless to say, the win came as a welcome relief to Indian coach Chris Brolley, whose squad had posted an 0-1-3 record in their previous four matches.

"In our last four games we were on the verge," Brolley said. "We changed our lineup a little bit after we lost to some pretty good teams in our first few games. Hopefully we're building some confidence.

"This was a big win for us since Oswego East always has good team. Any time you get an opportunity like a goal on a PK early in a game, you have to stay on your game and I think we laid off a little bit.

"In the second half, I thought the momentum was even and getting that goal halfway through helped us to pick up the intensity. We were able to be a bit more relaxed after that and played better defense."