Chicagoland Soccer

Wolves edged by rival Panthers in regular season finale

By Steve Nemeth

Considering all the medical aspects of Tuesday’s cross-town battle between Oswego and Oswego East, it’s surprising the match wasn’t played with a “Red Cross” flag flying nearby.

When all was said and done, the host Panthers survived a 2-1 Southwest Prairie Conference tangle that included five players helped off the field at one time or another.

Perhaps the tone was set the day before when eighth-year Oswego coach Jamie Bartkowiak underwent an appendectomy that kept her from the sidelines.

The scoreboard at John Jardine Field also wasn’t 100 percent, in addition to being unable to ever show the match score, the clock portion only worked during the final 20 minutes of each half.

Much more regrettable was the continued pattern of players suffering freak injuries despite the lack of ill will or zealous play usually associated with such a rivalry.

The most discomforting incident occurred just seven minutes in when Oswego defender Riley Brown suffered a lower left leg injury that required the services of an ambulance.

For Oswego East scoring leader Anida Phetchanpheng, the most haunting moment came with 17:17 left before halftime when the junior sprinted ahead to reach a through ball for a 1-v-1 with Panther goalie Amy Annala only to have her shot sail over the crossbar.

A little over five minutes elapsed before Phetchanpheng was off to another race for a loose ball only to have Annala rush out to make one of her five saves on the match.

Oswego’s Lisa Dano was the next player needing an athletic trainer with just over six minutes to play before intermission.

Once play resumed, the Panthers nearly gained the lead when Macee Hughes missed the upper right corner. The near-goal gave the hosts enough of an offensive spark to earn a corner kick.

While the corner sailed to the far side of the visiting Wolves’ goal, Oswego junior Nikki Anderson gathered the ball and passed back across the goal mouth where teammate Bridgett Leverich headed home an eight-yarder with 3:40 still to be played in the opening half.

“It’s like we put our minds together,” Anderson joked while putting her forehead to Leverich’s.

“Actually I just wanted to get it back in front of the box so someone else could finish it, I had no idea it was going in (the far side of) the net, but it was a great feeling!” Leverich admitted with regard to her fourth goal of the season. “We came into the contest knowing they had beaten some people we had lost to, plus being our cross-town rival, this was a game we really wanted.”

The next stoppage came 20 seconds before intermission when East’s Mady Aubuchon had to be helped off the field. Both coaching staffs agreed to shorten halftime to just five minutes taking into account all of the previous stoppages.

By the time the contest officially ended, delays from injuries nearly equaled that of three normal halftimes.

Early in the second half, East had a potential equalizer from Megan Ross sail over the crossbar and shortly after that, Oswego boosted its advantage to two goals.

Off a Panther corner kick by Dano, the ensuing scramble saw Anderson get a touch on a ball that also came in contact with a Wolves defender for a possible own goal at the 50th minute.

“Things happen quickly and it’s pretty much instinct to try to get the ball in the net,” Anderson said. “I know I got a touch on it and even if it hit someone else I believe I got the goal.”

Anderson had seven strikes going into the victory which enabled Oswego to finish SPC play with a 5-2 mark along with an 8-10-2 record heading into Thursday’s season finale at home against Batavia.

The Panthers face SPC champ Plainfield North in next week’s May 16 Metea Valley Regional opener.

The Wolves cut the deficit in half in the 56th minute as Phetchanpheng bumped her team-best point tally to 32 (14 goals and four assists) by hustling into position to re-direct a cross toward the left post.

That’s where Megan Moran chalked up her third goal of the year by parking a four-yarder inside the left post.

“The ball came off (teammate) Megan (Ross) and I just wanted to put it in quickly before anyone could get to it,” Moran noted. “We really wanted to get back into the match and that goal put us in a position for a tie.”

Unfortunately for East, the equalizer would never materialize and the Wolves’ ended the regular season with their overall ledger dipping to 8-8-1 and 3-4 for SPC competition.

The Wolves’ Holly Schwarz also needed medical help from the host training staff as Oswego head trainer Brian Cronin and assistant Lyn Veitengruber were kept busy throughout the contest

“Just like last year’s thriller, it always seems like every meeting ends within a goal,” noted East coach Lauren Anderson, whose team lost 1-0 at home in 2011 but pulled out a 1-0 road win in 2010. “We just didn’t finish enough of our opportunities today.”

That sentiment was echoed by Phetchanpheng: “We’ve got so much potential as a team and we wanted to make sure we didn’t stop shooting, but you also have make all the chances count.

“We certainly wanted to end the regular season on a victory, especially against a rival, so it’s disappointing not to get the win for (senior) Carli (Schlaker).”

East was hoping to continue the momentum of having gone 5-1-1 in its previous seven matches which included a road loss to SPC champ Plainfield North that was notable for the Wolves managing the first goal against a Tigers squad that hadn’t yielded a goal in 11 contests. East rebounded from the setback with a 7-0 thumping of East Aurora.

For host Oswego, the victory gives the Panthers a 4-1-1 result over its final six outings prior to the Batavia contest.

“I’m most proud of our effort,” said assistant coach Kelsey Hoinkes, who directed the Panthers in Bartkowiak’s absence. “We had a number of problems, but kept going and kept fighting through. It’s certainly nice to end conference play with a win and I love scoring first in a match like this.

“Best of all, it wasn’t just a good shot, it was an all-around great play be everyone and scoring first is huge. We really played better as a whole team and that’s what we have to continue to do. Depending on our injuries, we’ll have to find another way to score and that means others can step up.”

Panther keeper Annala finished with five saves and drew compliments from teammates Leverich and Anderson.

“Amy has been the backbone of our defense all year and today was another example,” Leverich added. “We all knew we had to play our hardest to day against a good opponent and Amy certainly did that.”

“I’d say she was a rock today,” Anderson continued. “Whether it’s an assist or a goal, anything I can do to get us a win is my goal. Defensively, everything Amy does for us helps us succeed. I was really happy with Amy and the whole team’s effort and focus considering the injuries and the stoppages.”

Brown’s status, and that of sophomore Kaylan Mills whose second half injury had her left arm in a sling after the contest, remain to be determined.