Slow start proves costly to Wildcats against Panthers

By Eddie Burns

West Chicago played pretty well for much of Tuesday's nonconference match in Oswego.

But unfortunately for the Wildcats, they trailed 3-0 after the first 14 minutes of play and couldn't recover as they dropped a 4-1 decision to the Panthers.

Meagan Radloff, who recently returned to action after suffering an ankle injury, admitted that it was hardly the start the Wildcats (3-5) wanted, but it was something they will look to avoid in the future.

"Definitely not the way we wanted the match to go," Radloff said. "(Falling behind like we did) forced us to work harder and we played them even from that point forward, which is encouraging."

The match did take on a much different tone for the remaining 65 minutes. West Chicago began to do a much better job of playing its possessing style.

The Wildcats, who played the first half going into a stiff wind, had a handful of scoring chances against Oswego's flat four defensive formation and they eventually converted.

Cassie Thill began the run when she played a ball over the top of the defense, which allowed Radloff to use her speed to corral the ball and send a shot past Oswego goalie Katie Wagner to trim the Panthers' lead to 3-1 in the 36th minute. It was Radloff's seventh goal of the season.

Radloff and teammate Bianca Navejas had several other close chances in the second half when the Wildcats played with the wind, but they simply couldn't convert.

"We couldn't put anything in the net," Radloff said. "We just seemed to be a bit off today. This was the first time that we played on grass this season.

"I'm not using it as an excuse, but it is different and slower-paced. It was hard to judge the ball sometimes when you haven't been on grass and we ran into that problem."

West Chicago coach Cesar Gomez, who pointed to the performances of defender Anna Mercaldo and midfielder Sarah Opel, was limited to one substitute because of injuries and some players are gone on spring break vacations, but he didn't make any excuses.

"I was pleased with what I saw out there," Gomez said. "It is all about having fun and the kids were having fun out there today. I really liked how we possessed the ball at times.

"This is my third year here and I thought it would take four years to engage people and we're ahead of schedule."

Oswego (1-2) put forth such a strong effort the first 20 minutes of the match that Panthers' coach Jamie Bartkowiak was at a loss for words.

"The first 20 minutes were amazing and that is how we need to play all of the time," said Bartkowiak.

The Panthers, who had not played in eight days, came out aggressive and scored three times in the opening 14 minutes to take a quick 3-0 lead.

Oswego's first goal came off the Panthers' lone corner kick when junior Cathy Tram sent a cross into the West Chicago penalty area where teammate Lisa Bajkowski was waiting to head it past Wildcats goalie Kelsey Myers in the seventh minute.

In the 11th minute, sophomores Hunter Coppes and Erin Apolzan connected for the first of Apolzan's two goals when Coppes, who added a goal of her own in the second half, sent a cross and Apolzan finished.

Sophomore Trisha Carr assisted Apolzan's second goal in the 14th minute, which gave the hosts a three-goal lead.

Bartkowiak applauded the effort she received from her sophomores.

"To see Hunter and Erin come in and perform the way they did was fantastic," Bartkowiak said. "You can't ask for more than that to have people come off the bench and give 100 percent.

"They were in a tough situation and I explained to several girls, and they were in that group, that playing time might be tough because we have so many people, but they've been awesome about it and they've come out and gave us everything they had and we're very pleased about that."

Apolzan said she noticed a difference in the way the Panthers (1-2) attacked compared to the first two matches, which were losses to Bartlett and Naperville Central.

"As a team, we went harder after the ball," Apolzan said. "We played together more and connected more passes, which helped us early on in the match and I benefited from the great passing."

Coppes capped the scoring for the Panthers in the 65th minute.

"We sort of fell into a trap that a lot of teams will fall into," Bartkowiak said. "When you get up by three goals and then you relax. I was happy with the second half because there was much more fight.

"The soccer wasn't working as well as we wanted it to, but at least they didn't quit on me. Late in the first half we sort of quit and let them back in the match."