Maine West fit to be tied

Five matches in the last six days haven't dulled the senses or effort of Maine West's girls soccer team.

The Warriors drew 0-0 with visiting Niles North in the Central Suburban North opener for both sides on a frigid, blustery night in Des Plaines.

"The team has done very well considering how tough of a stretch of soccer we're in right now," said Maine West coach Jeff Bishop, whose club (4-1-3, 0-0-1) is off to its best start since he took over three years ago. "This was our first big test since our season opener with Maine South, and a good measuring stick to see how we've progressed since then. I thought we did everything real well against a very good opponent - except put one into the back of the net."

Bishop admitted the Vikings (4-1-3, 0-0-1) were the better side in the first quarter, thanks in part to the brilliant play of senior Alyssa Brand.

She ran the show in the middle of the park with pace, composure and a touch of flair.

Warriors captain Joanne Stanfa, a four-year starter who will play at Carthage next year, is quite familiar with Brand's skills.

"Since I made the move over to play club with FC United, my overall play has improved so much more," Stanfa said. "Being able to play with someone like Alyssa, who's a great player both here and in club, has really been a lot of fun.

"I remember playing my first game with the varsity as a freshmen, and scoring a goal, and later watching senior night that season. Now, we're just a week or two from being a part of our senior night."

Stanfa stressed how fast the time went by.

"But our program has gotten so much better," she said. "And a lot of that is due to coach Bishop, who helped turn things around after coming in at practically starting things over from where it was."

The Vikings nearly gained their reward for an impressive start at 19 minutes.

That's when Brant nicely worked some trickery and magic to get the time and space to rattle the post with a right-footed strike. Later, she was the architect of another quality chance, forcing Warriors keeper Katie Ehlers to save that attempt in the 29th minute.

The best opportunity for the home side during the first period came at 26 minutes.

Rachel Kolling got things started from near the midline by connecting with Isabella Lach. The sophomore then found Yessica Reyes. But her shot went over the bar from just outside the box.

"Niles North could say they were unlucky hitting the post twice in this game," Bishop said. "But I feel like we created some very good chances of our own through the run of play. We could have finished just as easily as they did on those two chances they had."

Perhaps one of the best reasons for the Warriors' second half success was their ability to win first and second balls.

That was something they were unable to do during the first 40 minutes of play. West also had a much higher work rate in the middle of the park, particularly from the duo of Stanfa and Kölling.

Stanfa was the driving force in the Warriors' attack with a high percentage of pass completions.

She took on the Vikings with some enterprising carries to help pry open the visitors in their own end.

Junior Kölling tackled and won just about every chance that came her way. She also provided several well-aimed long throws, as well as quality free kick serves.'

"We have a lot of very good seniors on this team," Stanfa said. "But there's a great bunch of juniors and sophomores who are really coming along with each game that we play."

After Valenzuela hit the underside of the bar when Brandt provided the helper at 48 minutes, most of the traffic was one way.

It favored the Warriors, who flooded the Niles North area to keep the Vikings defense on alert as well as its keeper.

Nina Yonan was kept much busier than her counterpart, Katie Ehlers, who had a relatively easier time in the second period than Yonan.

A long throw from Kölling to an unmarked Stanfa nearly created a shot from in close if not for a late block by a Vikings defender.

Later, in the 70th minute, a marvelous ball from Stanfa put Allison Shreyermiller through, only to see her point-blank strike stopped by Yonan.

"There was some great stuff from all of the girls in that second half going forward," Bishop said. "And we nearly put one in coming out of the middle with Allison. So we had our chances to get one in for sure."

The Warriors exploded for 8 goals on Monday night during a 8-0 victory over Waukegan.

"Our back line played its best game of the year thus far, and the girls went out and competed as hard as they could, and that's what you want," Bishop said.

Ehlers enjoyed her second consecutive shutout of this week, with the help of Robin Grooms, Ellie McCabe, Bailey Room and Dorothy Calba.

Next up for the Warriors is the Niles West Tournament this weekend, beginning with a first-round match against Addison Trail at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.