Wildcats fail to finish in loss to Wheaton Warrenville South

By Gary Larsen

“At the beginning of the game we talked about how it doesn’t matter how pretty we play, all that matters is the score at the end,” Wheaton Warrenville South’s Heidi Ansiel said. “At halftime we knew we didn’t play so well, but we thought maybe after the break…”

Sometimes the best laid plans work out. Ansiel netted the lone goal of the game in the second half of her side’s 1-0 sectional semifinal win over Neuqua Valley on Tuesday.

Sixth-seeded WW South (18-3-3) also had a little extra motivation heading into the game against second-seeded Neuqua Valley (19-3-2).

“It wasn’t just the hope, but the extreme want,” the Tigers’ Haley Charlton said. “We were (seeded) sixth but we thought that maybe we should be higher. So this was our way to prove ourselves.”

The next order of business for the Tigers is another tall one: a sectional title game on Friday against top-seeded Waubonsie Valley (19-1-4), a 2-0 winner in the day’s other semifinal over host Naperville Central (16-5-3).

“It’s going to take an effort like this and even more,” Charlton said. “We’re going to have to take care of even the little mistakes we made today, and just fix those because (Waubonsie Valley) is a good team too.”

Neuqua Valley applied more than enough attacking pressure to earn a goal in Tuesday’s game, but the Wildcats couldn’t seem to find the frame.

“We just weren’t putting it on frame and we didn’t make (Tigers’ keeper Kelsey Graham) make a lot of saves,” Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau said. “She made a save on Zoey (Goralski) in the first half but we weren’t there to pounce on it. We had chances, but shots off goal today was a pretty high stat for us.”

The freshman Goralski was dangerous throughout the game, but the Tigers held on to keep Neuqua out of net.

“Jill (Langlas) was competing against three or four people because our (three) frontrunners were staying deep and there was so much play in the middle. But she withstood a lot of what they threw at her,” Tigers coach Guy Callipari said.

“We felt good about withstanding that kind of pressure, and I think it’s now three consecutive shutouts in the postseason for us. But we’ll have our work cut out for us on Friday.”

The game turned in the 63rd minute, when Ansiel sent a perfect ball to the side netting at the far post. “It was off a throw-in. It came back out and I just tried to put it on frame,” Ansiel said. “I was just trying to put it on frame.”

She’s a great athlete and she’s courageous,” Callipari said. “She’s got good height, good speed, and good athleticism, and that served us well today. She came not playing a ton of minutes over the course of the year, but taking advantage of the time that she has and making a big moment today.”

Callipari was also pleased with the way his girls in back performed on Tuesday.

“I thought Haley Charlton did a much better job in the second half on (Goralski). She started to organize her body a little bit more,” Callipari said. “(Laine) Jackson did a nice job in being the second defender and stepping in the hole for us, and Lexi Peterson had a great first half. I think she might have run out of gas a little bit, but she’s a threat every time she’s up high in the one-vee-one environment.”

For Neuqua Valley, a game of chances sent just wide and high ended another fine season.

Neuqua will say goodbye to a pair of senior captains in Jessica Pinto and Courtney Ksiazek, along with seniors Nina Bulat, Kelly Kalkofen, Brenna Vogel, Tori Dunn, Courtney Ratz, and Emily Knapp.
 
“It was a great group of seniors and we battled hard this whole game,” Moreau said. “We left it on the field. Maybe it wasn’t our best game but it wasn’t our worst. We played hard and that’s all we can ask.

(WW South) took advantage of a good chance and that’s a very good team. We wish them luck against Waubonsie.”

Callipari knows his squad goes in as the underdog against the tournament’s top seed on Friday, but the Tigers will keep their shoulder to the wheel.

“We just feel good. The journey continues,” Callipari said. “At 18-3-3 we’re probably the darkhorse if you asked anybody, but we continue to play a style of play that’s effective. We’re maintaining the integrity of the game and we’re not trying to just kick and run.”