Goal before halftime boosts Redhawks past Oswego

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By Eddie Burns

On a day when Gina Maddi tallied a hat trick, her most memorable moment occurred on the goal she assisted.

Shortly before halftime, Naperville Central and Oswego were tied when Maddi accepted a well-played ball from teammate Ashley Tegge.

Maddi had a decent look at the net, but she elected to make the extra pass to teammate Kristin Adams, who scored 20 seconds before intermission to break the tie.

Central used the change in momentum to add two second-half goals which helped the Redhawks register a 4-1 victory in a nonconference match played Monday afternoon.

“I already had one goal at the time and I didn’t want to let my team down by possibly missing the net,” said Maddi about her decision to pass instead of shoot. “I looked up because we’ve been taught to pass when there are open teammates, so I passed and Kristin did the rest.”

Redhawks’ coach Ed Watson said scoring before halftime was an important element to his squad’s victory.

“To score with 20 seconds to go in the half,” Watson said, ‘”that sets the tone for the second half and got us away from thinking about the poor effort we gave on the corner kick that led to Oswego’s goal.”

It was a frustrating goal to allow for the Panthers.

“They were sending runners in and we were caught ball watching and that is the only way they scored,” Oswego coach Jamie Bartkowiak said. “If we stay with our (defensive) marks, that is a completely different game. It was only our second game and definitely a learning experience for us and something we’ll have to focus on in practice and fix it.”

Maddi gave Central (2-0-1) its first lead in the 7th minute moments after Oswego goalie Katie Wagner misplayed a cross, which left the ball at the Maddi’s foot near the front of the Panthers’ goal.

“Gina was right there to capitalize,” Watson said. “Those are the types of plays where, ‘Why isn’t somebody there?’ is sometimes heard and Gina was there this time and that was good to see.”

The Panthers (0-2) pulled even at 1-1 in the 25th minute when Emily Swanson converted on a corner kick taken by teammate Austin Wilson.

Central regained control when Maddi helped set up Adams’ goal shortly before intermission.

The Redhawks continued their nice passing in the second half when Hillary Scott and Krissy Many teamed up and worked the ball to Maddi, who did the rest and beat Oswego goalie Laura Gallardo to give Central a 3-1 lead in the 43rd minute.

Gallardo replaced Wagner at halftime because Bartkowiak is still deciding which of the two goalies best fits for the Panthers.

Maddi’s third goal started in the back when defenders Alex Coon and sophomore Carly Franzese worked a nice give-and-go to get the ball up the field.

Franzese then played a nice ball through to Maddi, who put it away for a 4-1 lead in the 51st minute.

“It was kind of a quiet hat trick,” Watson said.

Maddi said the team is starting to take shape even though it hasn’t operated at full strength because of injuries and illness to a few key components.

“We’re starting to get a lot more comfortable with each out on the field,” Maddi said. “We did a nice job finishing our scoring chances when they presented themselves.”

Sophomore goalie Jill D’Amico was back in net and she recorded eight saves.

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