Thorson steps up for Wheaton Academy

Wheaton Academy controlled the majority of the first half of Monday's home girls soccer game against St. Francis, but it didn't have anything to show for it as the clock dwindled down near halftime.

Then senior Molly Thorson made a big-time play.

Freshman teammate Erin Teevans sent in a corner kick, which trickled outside of the penalty box, but Thorson was there to pounce on it. She redirected it just inside the left post to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead with 4:11 left in the first half.

It proved to be the only offense the Warriors would need. They added a second-half insurance goal and earn a 2-0 victory.

"Erin sent it in and it popped out," Thorson said. "I had no mark so I knew I could step up. I was confident and I placed it where I needed to place it and the goalie was out of her place. It was an awesome goal and a great feeling."

Wheaton Academy (10-3-0) got some help on its second goal, an own goal just 80 seconds into the second half.

Sophomore Gretchen Pearson sent a pass to Jamie Netzley that ultimately found its way into the back of the net.

"It didn't help that we scored on ourselves that early into the second half," St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said. "You might as well shoot yourself in both feet then."

Thorson admitted that those type of goals can happen when you have dangerous players like Pearson, Netzley, among others applying pressure.

"Gretchen can beat anybody on the outside with her speed," Thorson said. "Jamie was there, right place, right time, and it gave us a nice cushion and a lot of confidence for the second half."

St. Francis (5-3-0) turned up the intensity in the second half, but it was a little too late for the Spartans.

"We just needed to step up and be more aggressive," Winslow said. "They were physical and we weren't physical enough. We gave away way too many balls, especially in the first half. But this was kind of what I expected to some degree and needed to see at this point in the season."

The Warriors are playing with a lot of confidence these days. They suffered a tough 1-0 loss to Benet last week but appear to have learned from the setback.

"The weather was tough that night, but we learned from it," Thorson said. "We have to settle in, play our game and get what we need to get done to get wins."

The Spartans didn't go away easily. Freshmen Kendra Pasquale and Erin Peck had some scoring chances in the second half, while sophomore goalkeeper Tammy Syron and the backline held their own.

"I think our defense did well in staying compact and keeping them in front of us," Syron said. "They tried to play direct over us because of their speed on top, but I thought we kept them out and did a good job."