Huskies cruise to 4-0 win over Elmwood Park

By Gary Larsen

The learning curve of early-season soccer can feature wildly erratic peaks and valleys from one game to the next.

Take Oak Park-River Forest’s first game of the season against Naperville Central, for example. The Huskies struggled throughout the first 40 minutes of an eventual 0-0 tie, before stepping up in the second half and playing much better soccer.

“We still have a lot to work on, but we did improve during the course of that game, especially the forwards’ movement, and in getting the ball up to us,” Huskies’ veteran forward Emily Gullo said.

The Huskies’ second test of the season came against Elmwood Park on Friday, and while the Tigers aren’t an annually ranked team like Naperville Central, they battled and allowed the Huskies to learn a little bit more about themselves in Oak Park.

Gullo scored and assisted on a goal by Shelby Cozzette, and coach Paul Wright got goals from Jessica Luttrell and Katrina Vogel in a 4-0 win.

The junior Gullo showed throughout that she’s ready to have another fine season.

“She’s a three-year varsity starter, extremely passionate and knowledgeable about the game, and she helps the other players get better,” Wright said. “She directs them on their runs, she’s extremely crafty with the ball, and speedy.”

“Even when she gets shut out, she’s pulling one or two players with her, which opens up space for the midfielders and the other forwards to get the job done.”

Wright also expects big things from his midfield, including the likes of Jessica Luttrell, Kate McCole, and Mikaela Gillman. Gullo also has high hopes.

“We have a really great core at midfield,” Gullo said. “We have a bunch of our midfielders coming back and a few more who played club ball, so we’re really strong up the middle.”

“We lost a couple of key seniors but we’ve been able to replace them a strong incoming junior class.”

In back, senior defender Stephanie Sullivan returns but moves from the outside to the middle of the defense. Senior Maggie Tansey brings experience to the outside, newcomers to the defense in senior Kate Elgie and junior Maggie Schurr will be key, and junior Dorothe Franklin will also be expected to contribute.

“We’re coming in with a new goalkeeper and sweeper, and unfortunately we lost one of our outside centers, but I think we’re coming together really well,” Sullivan said. “After the Naperville game we’ve got a lot of aggressiveness, which is really important for us.”

Sophomore goalkeeper Katie Oldach will figure prominently this season, and she’s off to a solid start with two shutouts to her name.

“We didn’t have anyone come out for (varsity) goalkeeper, and she stepped up,” Wright said. “She really stepped up. She was on the Freshman A team last year and we pulled her up for a couple sophomore games.”

“She stopped a breakaway against Naperville Central, and after that she got a ton of confidence. She’s coming off the line and talking. She’s still a little timid now and then, but for a sophomore going against juniors and seniors she’s playing well.”

Sullivan sees a positive acclimation process in place for the sophomore keeper.

“At first you’re not sure and we’re not used to her calling and stuff, but it’s working really well,” Sullivan said. “Against Naperville Central she made a huge save coming out against a player and stopping her. I made sure to go and congratulate her after the play. You want to keep her confidence up.”

The Huskies play Riverside-Brookfield on Thursday before taking a 12-day hiatus for spring break. They start up play again in the Pepsi Showdown on April 6 against Deerfield.

“Last year we did really well (in the Pepsi Showdown), and this year will be different because we’re not hosting it,” Sullivan said. “But we’re definitely excited about it.”

Also starting for Wright against Elmwood Park were Sara McCall, Alex Neumann, and Victoria Gallo.