Tigers, Redhawks prove to be very even for 100 minutes

By Darryl Mellema

There was as much to separate Naperville Central and Wheaton Warrenville South as there was space between the two team's players on Monday in Wheaton.

And when the ball came loose, you usually couldn't slip a piece of paper between the Redhawks and Tigers.

Eighty minutes of regulation play and a further 20 minutes of overtime failed to break a 0-0 deadlock, so that scoreless scoreline became official.

The two teams shared the spoils in this year's DuPage Valley Conference encounter.

"Over the last 10 years or so, there's only been a couple of aberrations to this contest," Redhawks coach Ed Watson said. "The majority of time, it's gone to overtime."

Fifty-fifty balls were chased in the manner sharks move during a feeding frenzy.

Each team had periods of possession in which the other had to scramble. And there were some goal scoring chances for both squads.

"I would rarely say that any game is deserving of finishing in a tie," Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari said.

"But perhaps the way the game swung tonight, the momentum swings were pretty consistent and even throughout the match."

The reason for the intensity is simple: this is more than just a conference game.

The two squads have always been in contention for the DVC title, regardless if either finished first or not. And both teams are aware of the reputation of the other school.

"Two years ago, they beat us in golden goal," Naperville senior defender Sally Stocchero said. "Last year we beat them with a few minutes left.

"We're always up there competing for the conference championship. With it being an early game in the season, we wanted to go after it really hard."

Players like Stocchero or Wheaton Warrenville South senior defender Bridget Shrigley are all too aware of the intensity this match brings.

For all the hard tackles and back-and-forth play - neither team earned a yellow card in the match.

"Every game we play against each other is always fierce," Shrigley said. "I think sometimes it's almost bigger than other rivalries.

"Naperville Central, they have the most DVC wins. Coming out and playing the way we did tonight was really good."

Host Wheaton Warrenville South (5-1-1, 1-0-1) edged its foe for quality chances, especially in a flurry that began eight minutes into the second half.

First Kara Bimschlager had a shot saved by Naperville Central sophomore goalkeeper Jill D'Amico. Three minutes later, D'Amico again denied Bimschlager.

Twelve minutes into the half, Jill Langlas headed toward an open area of the goal but the Redhawks managed to clear the ball.

Bimschlager also had one of the best chances in the first half, a shot that D'Amico half-saved - with the ball clipping the top of the crossbar after going off the goalie's gloves.

"It was scary sometimes," D'Amico said. "I have some tough ones I had to save. But my defense got everything out. We weren't going to let them score."

Naperville Central (5-0-4, 1-0-1) got stronger defensive play the rest of the half and allowed its forwards to move into attack.

Over the course of the game, the Redhawks had a pair of good chances. Chrissy Manny put a hard, long drive just over the crossbar with 12 minutes left in the first half.

Autumn Muckenhirn forced the Tigers to scramble defensively with five minutes left in the second half.

"We had some chances but not as good as they did," Watson said. "You talk about your last line of defense being your goalkeeper. She was unfortunately tested more than we would have liked."

The best chance by either team in the two 10-minute overtime periods fell to Naperville Central's Gina Maddi, whose shot hit goalkeeper Kelsey Graham's crossbar.

"It's nerve-wracking," Wheaton Warrenville South junior defender Laine Jackson said. "But I know (Graham) is back there and I trust her so I want to make sure I'm there in case she misses it or mishandles it."

Jackson plays sweeper for the Tigers and kept pressure from reaching Graham for most of the 100 minutes of play.

She had plenty of help as - in the same manner as Naperville Central did - the Tigers defended as a unit.

"We stepped up really well," Jackson said. "Our outside backs did a really good job marking. I'm just kind of there to sweep up if they get through balls.

"I think the backs did a good job of getting on their top forwards."

The similarities between the teams extended to their formations on Monday.

"We both play with three up top," Shrigley said. "That's a little different for us. We haven't defended against a team with three up top. We kind of played a four-player system defending to address that."

After playing four games in five days, the Redhawks get a mini-break to heal and rest before playing on Thursday against Glenbard East.

"(Watson) gave us (Tuesday) off," Stocchero said. "We've played a lot of games and it's been hard."

Wheaton Warrenville South faces Geneva on Wednesday in what could be a tough nonconference contest.

The Tigers are also among the teams competing in both massive suburban tournaments this year - the Pepsi Showdown and the Naperville Invitational.

The Pepsi tournament ends this weekend while the Naperville invite opens play on April 22.

"We do play a tough schedule," Shrigley said. "I like it. It challenges our team and I think we're doing a really nice job with that."

Neither team has had much practice time recently. Even though Callipari said his team would have a light workout on Tuesday, he said the chance to discuss a few things would be beneficial.

"We've got some things we need to work out," Callipari said. Our speed of play has to improve.

"Our confidence on the ball has to get better. We need to make the simple passes and do it with a clearer frame of mind."

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