Schaumburg ousts West Chicago
Schaumburg’s 3-1 Class 3A girls soccer regional championship victory over West Chicago on Friday was the fourth time the Saxons have defeated the Wildcats over the last two seasons.
But don’t get the impression that they’ve been easy victories — far from it, according to Schaumburg defender Stephanie Pouse.
“We have a lot of respect for them,” said Pouse, one of a group of seniors who played a final match at their home pitch at Gary Scholz Stadium. “They’re a good team and we knew we’d have to bring a lot of fire to beat them today.”
Freshman forward Alexa Ben tallied twice for Schaumburg, while sophomore forward Jenna Eaker scored the other goal for the second-seeded Saxons.
Backliner Andrea Correa struck late in the game for the only Wildcats tally.
“Schaumburg’s defense is like a brick wall,” said West Chicago coach J. Cesar Gomez, whose team was knocked out of the playoffs by the Saxons for the second straight year. “I keep telling people they’re like the Bulls are now, or maybe like the Pistons were in the old days.
“So much of soccer is a mental game, and we’re still not there with the mental focus yet. Schaumburg knew they beat us before and they could do it again. We play a game that’s pretty to watch, but sometimes I’d like to see us have a hint of more agressiveness.”
After West Chicago midfielder Bianca Navejas just missed in the early going with a bend-it-like-Beckham shot that bounced of the crossbar at the corner of the goal, Eaker put the Saxons ahead with a strike with 25:44 remaining in the first half.
Seven minutes later Ben took a brilliant feed from junior Becky Sneddon and found the back of the net to give Schaumburg a 2-0 lead.
“At that point I knew we had to score again to give us a little bit of a cushion,” said the freshman, who just last year was playing on a Schaumburg Park District travel team but says she’s been “welcomed with open arms” by the Saxons upperclassmen this season. “We came out right from the start with a lot of intensity. We wanted to win and keep our season going.”
Ben’s second goal came in the 26th minute from point-blank range, then Schaumburg’s defensive effort, led by Pouse and sophomore Amanda Kelly, kicked into high gear.
West Chicago ratched the pressure up a notch in the final 20 minutes but the home team was equal to the test.
“We expected (West Chicago) to come at us hard, and they did,” said Saxons assistant coach Tracy Serafini, who guided the team in the second half as head coach Greg Charvat had to leave for a family comittment. “The girls were fired up to come out and play well on their home field. It was a tough match but they had the intensity to get the job done.”