Wildcats drop opener to Prospect under new coach Schoen

By Curt Herron

Things went fairly well for Plainfield Central during its opening half of soccer in Wednesday's season opener.

The Wildcats trailed Prospect 1-0 at halftime and hoped to challenge visiting Prospect during the final 40 minutes.

But that plan got derailed within the first two minutes of the new half after the Knights scored a pair of goals.

After seeing his team suddenly facing a 3-0 deficit, new Wildcat coach Ken Schoen wasn't pleased by how they responded.

Things got worse for youthful hosts, who seemed to become demoralized after yielding the two goals within 20 seconds.

Prospect collected three more goals during the final 38 minutes en route to a 6-0 nonconference win in Plainfield.

Click to hear coach Ken Schoen interview

The Wildcats (0-1) fell behind with 20:36 left in the opening half when Jessie Pretrovski scored from about 20 yards out.

Although Prospect (2-0) had more of the possession in the first half, the hosts were still very much in it at the break.

But just 93 seconds into the second half, Lauren MacNab scored on a header from close range to give the Knights a 2-0 lead.

And then only 20 seconds later, Pretrovski scored on a line drive from about 20 yards out to extend Prospect's advantage.

MacNab later added another goal and Sara Helwink also scored twice in the final 15 minutes to cap the Knights' victory.

Prospect's defense posted its second straight shutout and didn't allow for many shots to reach goalkeeper Megan McCabe.

Click to see Prospect story and pictures of the match

Meanwhile, Wildcat freshman keeper Sarah Armstrong had her hands full as Prospect kept up steady pressure throughout.

Both squads put younger starting lineups on the field Wednesday, with each team going with seven freshmen or sophomores.

The Wildcats started one senior, Amanda Jensen, plus three juniors, Kelsey Graefen, Krista Pezzopane and Jessie Woodall.

Three sophomores who were in Wednesday's starting lineup were Jessica Kaminski, Lauren Kulaga and Britney Lenza.

Joining Armstrong as freshmen starters for the Wildcats were Melissa Del Sarto, Sami Jensen and Lisa Schroeder.

The team's other senior is Taylor Caldwell while Kendall Gerding, Riley Killion, Jordan Leikel and Bailey Wysocki are juniors.

Other sophomore Wildcats are Jessica Banta, Anna Mihelich and Carissa Silunas while Jessica Munkvold is another freshman.

Plainfield Central hosts Morris today and Geneva on Monday before opening up conference play on April 1 in Minooka.