Chicagoland Soccer

Blackhawks fight the good fight against WW South

By Gary Larsen

West Aurora knew what it was up against in traveling to perennial DVC power Wheaton Warrenville South on Tuesday, and the Blackhawks knew the Tigers were chasing a conference-clinching win in Wheaton.

West Aurora coach Laura Wagley also had a converted field player in junior Felicia Dattolo playing in net, against a Tigers’ program that never seems to have a shortage of attacking weaponry. Wagley knew that Dattolo would get more than enough action in net.

“Before the game I was like ‘man, it’s cold outside’,” Dattolo said. “But (Wagley) said ‘yeah, you’re not going to be cold’.”

Through 40 minutes, Dattolo and West Aurora threw a good scare into their hosts. The Blackhawks eventually lost 5-1, but they held a 1-0 lead on a Jessica Saffell goal in the game’s 24th minute, and were tied 1-1 with the Tigers at halftime.

“I told them before the game that there was no pressure on us,” Wagley said. “All the pressure was on them. They needed the game more than we do.”

West Aurora has had a recent habit of starting games slow, trailing in games early, and fighting back the rest of the way. The trend didn’t hold on Tuesday.

“It was the opposite of what we’ve been doing. We started out strong,” Wagley said. “Today it was the middle chunk of the second half – we just cannot get a whole game.”

The game plan for the Blackhawks featured a high work rate and hard defensive play, and they withstood the Tigers’ attack through the game’s first 20 minutes with Dattolo fielding everything sent her way.

Dattolo has played in each third of the field this year, and now she can mark ‘goalkeeper’ off of her checklist.

“I couldn’t have asked for anything better. She’s not even a keeper,” Wagley said. “I picked a willing kid and an athletic kid, and one who wouldn’t argue about it. I could tell (Dattolo) to sit on the bench for 80 minutes and she would.”

“I could ask her to do anything and she would, and that’s the type of person we needed. It helps because she has no experience (in net) so my keeper coach can tell her everything right from the beginning, and she won’t be fighting any (habits).”

West Aurora led 1-0 on a 60-yard free kick goal thanks to the mighty right leg of Saffell, and were tied 1-1 with the Tigers at halftime. Saffell’s 60-yard boot skipped low off the artificial turf and found its way into net, giving the sophomore her 20th goal of the season.

The Tigers tied the game before halftime, and then got their persistent attacking pressure to pay off in the 47th minute when they converted on one of their 11 corner kicks on the night.

West Aurora kept fighting, but the Tigers kept the heat on and scored in the 59th, 60th, and 76th minute en route to the win.

“Danielle Bueno, our freshman in the middle,” Wagley answered, when asked which of her players played exceptionally well. “And we switched Stefanie Rempala from outside defender to sweeper, and she showed awesome leadership. I never heard her talk so much.”

The Tigers’ scorekeeper had South with 47 total shots on the night, and the Blackhawks’ converted field player stopped more than her share of them.

“At first, diving was a little bit iffy for me,” Dattolo said. “But I love it now. I honestly wasn’t worried. When we first went out there I was worried at first, but then I saw the way we were playing. We stepped it up.”