Chicagoland Soccer

Wittmuss goal gives Wheaton Academy a win in overtime

By Gary Larsen

After tying Marian Central Catholic with a second-half goal, Wheaton Academy was soon faced with the question that every team has to answer heading into in overtime.

How bad do you want it?

Pretty badly, as it turned out. The host Warriors avoided a shootout in their Suburban Christian Conference opener when Sydney Sharkey danced up the end line in the second overtime period and centered a pass to Kristen Wittmuss, who buried it to give her side the 2-1 win.

“I just saw an opening and knew I had to get the goal in,” said Wittmuss, after netting the first game-winning overtime goal of her career. “Sydney passed the ball right to me. It felt good and it was for the team. We really wanted to win and we were working hard.”

Sharkey’s romp up the end line was set up by a corner kick played short, which was only possible because of the hustle that Ally Witt showed in racing to catch up with a ball rolling over the end line, in time to hammer it off an opposing player and earn the pivotal corner kick.

“I didn’t know if she was going too catch up with it,” Warriors coach Scott Marksberry said of Witt’s key play. “It was pretty far out in front of her, but she’s fast. She’s one of our fastest players. That kind of hustle play – that’s what we get out of Ally every time out.”

The sophomore Sharkey had a hand in both goals on Wednesday, scoring the tying goal in the game’s 69th minute to punctuate a second-half surge by the Warriors. Soccer is played best when it’s played hard, and Wheaton Academy found its fifth gear after the break.

Two weeks after conditioning was a slight issue in a loss to Geneva, the Warriors were seemingly playing with a full tank of gas on Wednesday.

“We spent time in Tennessee (on spring break) and we did a lot of running,” Marksberry said. “We spent the whole time working on running and technique. We did very little tactical work.”

“We drove like 12 hours and as soon as we got there (Marksberry) made us run like three miles,” Warriors junior Rachael Nasralla said of the team-bonding trip to Tennessee. “After the Geneva game, he whipped us into shape.”

Marksberry will continue to slide players around in his attack to find the best combination, but Sharkey all but ensured herself a place on the outside after her performance against the Lady Canes.

“She’s playing so well,” Marksberry said. “We’re really happy with what she’s doing on the outside.”

Marian Central (5-2) showed heart and savvy all over the pitch against defending state champion Wheaton Academy (2-1). The Lady Canes defended well in the face of the Warriors’ pressing attack throughout.

“I like the way we played,” Lady Canes’ head coach Jose Arias said. “We played for the counter and we just made a mistake on their second goal, that’s all.”

“I heard from last year that they were a solid team,” Marksberry said. “This is our first year in the (Suburban Christian Conference) and it’s fun for us to be in conference games that are competitive. They’re very good.”

Marian Central’s Tess Bottorff wreaked havoc in her team’s defensive third, destroying plays and averting danger from her central defensive spot all game long.

The Lady Canes took a 1-0 lead in the first half when Lauren Grady beat everyone to a ball up the right side, went around charging Warriors’ keeper Emily Mulder, and found an empty net.

“It was actually a miss-read ball,” Marksberry said. “It got over the head of one of our backs, and (Grady) was lightning fast. She made a great read on it. Emily did everything she could do but the girl made a nice touch around her.”

The Warriors earned four corner kicks in the first half, sent numerous serves across the goalmouth, and saw a handful of chances fly wide of net. Marksberry’s halftime talk was aimed at elevating the sense of urgency his girls played with in the first half.

“We had to pick it up,” Wittmuss said. “We’re playing for God so we’ve got to give it our all. We worked through our struggles as a team. It was a team effort, the whole game.”

Wittmuss, Sydney Sharkey, Alexa Sharkey, Crystal Thomas, Ally Witt, and Rachael Nasralla took turns being dangerous throughout the second half. Witt was particularly prominent in the attack, while marking back Lindsey Burke stayed busy in back throughout.

“She was great again tonight. She just does her job and locks people down,” Marskberry said of Burke. “And tonight she started our attack a lot of the time from the back. And (Alexa) Sharkey – we moved her into the center mid tonight and she just breaks up plays, she’s good in the air, and she likes to tackle. And when she starts going forward, teams have to adjust.”

Sydney Sharkey’s tying goal came when she turned the corner up the right side and punched a ball past Marian keeper Kaitlin Logan from 12 yards out. The Warriors kept on the hunt to the final buzzer, before huddling up prior to the first 5-minute overtime period.

“Our coach was pumping us up (in the huddle),” the Warriors’ Rachael Nasralla said. “He told us how we’re the defending state champs and everyone comes out and plays their best against us. He got us pumped up and then ended with prayer, which gets us calmed and ready to go.”

Wheaton Academy plays at Stevenson on Thursday in a Pepsi Showdown opener, and will compete in 11 games over the next 16 days.