D'Agostino makes one last save for Red Devils in home finale
By Matt Le Cren
Wheaton Warrenville South and host Hinsdale Central ended the regular season on a high note Saturday and it had nothing to do with the Tigers' entertaining 2-1 victory.
That's because the match began with an emotional display of sportsmanship.
Hinsdale Central senior Nicole D'Agostino, who was the goalie for the Red Devils during their first state championship last year, took the field for the final time in her prep career after Hinsdale coach Skip Begley and WW South skipper Guy Callipari scripted the first 30 seconds.
D'Agostino, a University of Pittsburgh signee, has been out of action since suffering a torn ACL on April 14 and will undergo surgery this summer.
The Red Devils allowed Tigers forward Liz Ciesielski to dribble straight up the field and roll a shot at D'Agostino, who made the save and threw an outlet pass.
The Tigers then got the ball back and kicked it out of bounds, allowing D'Agostino to limp off the field.
"It really meant a lot," D'Agostino said. "[I've dedicated] four years to this team and this is my last home game. I didn't want it to be this way.
"There is not one thing I would change, except for the knee. I've grown so much as a person playing with the people on this team. It's really meant a lot."
Many of the players on the Hinsdale Central bench had tears in their eyes as freshman Kathryn Knoch replaced D'Agostino in the net.
The loss of D'Agostino was a perhaps the final blow to the Red Devils' hopes of repeating as champs.
"That was awful nice of Guy and Wheaton Warrenville South to take care of that," Begley said. "Guy is that type of guy. He is well-respected as a sportsman and a great coach. There was no problem with him and his team being able to do that. It was nice for Nicky."
With backup goalie Katie Tarman out with a sprained ankle, Knoch made just her second career appearance and played well and made eight saves in 67 minutes.
But it wasn't enough to slow down the Tigers (15-3-3), who unleashed a 28-shot barrage on the Red Devils (8-12-1).
The visitors drew first blood at the 21:29 mark of the first half when senior defender Bridget Shrigley launched a 30-yard free kick on frame.
Knoch stopped the shot but couldn't control it and the ball rolled up against the right post where Nicole LaPetina got to it and tapped it in.
The Tigers made it 2-0 with 6:10 left before intermission. Senior Kara Bimschlager dribbled to the right end line and sent a cross through the crease to sophomore Katherine Fowee for an easy finish.
Though the visitors didn't score again, they still maintained plenty of pressure.
Fowee hit the crossbar a minute into the second half and sent the rebound high and Lexi Peterson had a goal nullified because of an offsides call.
"We're doing really well," Shrigley said. "Today for the first half we definitely controlled the ball. This is our last regular season game, so we're ready for the playoffs to start on Tuesday."
The Tigers, who have been flying under the radar most of the season, figure to be a tough out in the playoffs, which begin Tuesday with a regional semifinal game against Plainfield South at Bolingbrook.
Now fully healthy, they are dangerous offensively and solid in the back.
"I think that we're one step closer," Shrigley said. "We struggle in some games, we do very well in others. We'll take Plainfield South on Tuesday and we'll just take it game by game."
South's defense has pitched nine shutouts and allowed 18 goals in 21 games, four of which came in a 4-0 loss to St. Charles North.
The Tigers allowed only seven shots against the Red Devils, with goalies Kelsey Graham and Arianna Lee combining for three saves.
"Our defense has been tough throughout the season and we have just done an excellent job," said Shrigley, who will play at Augustana College.
"We all know where each other will be and we give it our all. Laine (Jackson) gets everything out and then Haley (Charlton), Erica (Filarski), Noelle (Ekonomou) and Rachel (Adomshick) do a great job. I trust them back there."
Callipari was pleased with the fine regular season showing from his team, which lost eight players to graduation and will lose seven more this year.
"We've gotten some great leadership and we've got some nice young talent that is coming up," Callipari said. "I think our freshmen class has scored one-fourth of our goals this season, so that says a lot about their input and they've been important goals."
Goals have been hard to come by for Hinsdale Central, which has only 27 this year.
But the Red Devils did manage to make the Tigers sweat a little, cutting the gap to 2-1 with 27:44 to go in the second half when Mallory Feinstein out-jumped Lee to head home a long free kick from senior defender Melissa Boduch.
The hosts had a couple of chances to tie it. Lee saved a long shot from Feinstein shortly before Graham checked back in with 17:05 left, and two minutes later Graham made a leaping stop on Eryka Hawkins' drive from 25 yards out.
"I think we did [show improvement]," Boduch said. "We got a goal, which is good. We haven't been scoring a lot of goals lately.
“We now have the confidence of knowing we just need to crash the net and goals come out of that. I'm really happy that we're getting that momentum and creating chances."
But the Red Devils have yet to do that consistently, prompting some unorthodox moves by Begley, who did the soccer version of pulling the goalie when he took Knoch out of the game with 12:45 remaining.
Boduch wore the goalie jersey and played sweeper, often coming out to midfield to help with the attack. While it didn't work, it didn't hurt, either, since she made three saves.
This was Boduch's fourth appearance in the yellow jersey and she has yet to allow a goal. Central has scored one goal with the extra attacker and that came in a 3-1 loss to Rockford Boylan the first time Begley tried the experiment.
"It's exciting," Boduch said. "I was a little nervous because if they score I'd feel like it's all my fault. I think it does [help] by [pulling the goalie]. We definitely step up a lot and our whole lineup goes forward."
"I think it is unorthodox and I think Boduch is aggressive, assertive and she's a decent athlete," Begley said. "We're not going to expect her to make any goalkeeper saves, but if they're right at her she's okay.
"It's just something when you're down and you have to try to get a goal when you haven't gotten any through the run of play, you have to look at doing something. When you get desperate, we have to play it, and we're desperate."
The Red Devils will not be favored when they open the playoffs with a regional semifinal against Plainfield North (20-4-1, 17 shutouts) Wednesday at Neuqua Valley, but they aren't going to surrender their crown without a fight.
"We've been working really hard at practice and I just think it's a matter of how hard we have to work and how much we want it," Boduch said.
"We definitely want it and we're going to come out tough in our first game. I'm a little upset going into it with all these losses, but it's okay. We're going to keep working hard."
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