Willowbrook, Glenbard South come out even

Shots are good. Goals are better.

Glenbard South outshot Willowbrook 26-8 Saturday afternoon in a nonconference game in Glen Ellyn, but the teams tied on goals 2-2.

“We need to keep making better choices and shooting at the times that we need to be shooting and passing at the times that we need to be passing,” Glenbard South coach Melissa Pero said. “Once we start shooting when we have the open shot, then we’ll start putting some goals in the back of the net. We’re forcing the shot from angles we should be passing, and as a result we’re getting our shots blocked.”

Glenbard South took the first of its two leads in the 33rd minute, when freshman Jurguen Gomez cleaned up a rebound of a Thomas Gkotse shot.

Willowbrook tied the game in the 47th on Ben Draus’ penalty kick after Christian Gonzalez was fouled in the penalty area.

Glenbard South (3-7-1) retook the lead in the 67th minute on Damien Sampson’s left-footed blast from 13 yards following a short corner kick. But Willowbrook tied the game within seconds when a determined Draus found net after beating two defenders.

“We were down twice in the game and came back twice on them,” Willowbrook coach Brian Frank said. “Other games in the past we haven’t done that. The intensity’s there, the spirit’s there, and we definitely didn’t quit. The last 13 minutes they easily could have rolled over and they came right back and scored on them.”

The goals increased Draus’ season tally to 7.

“Ben’s game has really improved over the past week-plus,” Frank said.

“We just kept playing hard and didn’t give up when we went down 1-0,” Draus said. “Then when they scored their second goal we came right back at them and scored another goal. Almost got the win there at the end, but it didn’t go our way.”

For the young Warriors (1-11-2) it was a decent result, especially considering they had only two players dressed to play on their bench.

“We’ve been hit hard with injuries this season, but the guys who are out here did a good job,” Draus said.

The Raiders were more disappointed by the draw.

“We’re still having some bumps in the road,” Pero said. “We’re still not doing some of the things that we’re practicing in practice. Once we put into play what we’re trying to do, then we’ll be fine.”

Glenbard South went deep into the postseason last year, going all the way to a Class 2A supersectional, but repeating that feat will be difficult this season.

“We’re a young team, we’re completely new,” Pero said. “We graduated 18 players. It’s a rebuilding year, and we’re building not just for this season but for the future. We will be back where we were last year, it’s just going to take some time to get everybody buying into the program and buying into the same things. But we’ll get there.”