Sanchez goal puts West Aurora over Wheaton Academy
Marlene Sanchez was of a singular focus Wednesday in Aurora.
"I wanted to score so badly," the West Aurora sophomore said. "It was the first game of the year, and the score was tied."
Sanchez converted from point-blank range off a Riley O'Brien corner kick with 51.4 seconds to play in the Blackhawks' 3-2 victory over Wheaton Academy in the schools' nonconference girls soccer season opener.
The goal capped West Aurora scoring twice in slightly more than two minutes after Wheaton Academy junior midfielder Anna Joy Setran put the Warriors up 2-1 with 9:12 to play.
Katharine Stephens' perseverance paid immeasurable dividends for the Blackhawks for the equalizer moments before the Sanchez match-clinching goal.
Stephens took a pass from inside midfield and maneuvered past one Wheaton Academy defender. Approaching the Warriors' goal, Stephens was knocked down by contact.
"I thought I was (fouled)," Stephens said. "When I didn't hear the whistle, I knew I had to keep playing."
Stephens had the presence to regain her feet, retain possession of the ball and beat the Warriors' keeper with 3:53 to play.
"We really wanted this," Stephens said. "In the first half we weren't attacking until about 10 minutes were left. Once we realized we could play with them, the second half we started gunning it."
After a scoreless draw in the opening 40 minutes, the second half offered an entirely different text with 5 combined goals.
O'Brien opened the scoring 18-plus minutes after the intermission for the Blackhawks (1-0) by converting a penalty kick.
The Warriors' Emmerson Fuller tied the match at 1-1 by capitalizing on a Gabi LaMantia rebound.
The score came seconds after Fuller had her 12-yard free kick crash violently off the crossbar.
"I just got any body part I could on it," Fuller said of her goal with 24:25 to play. "I got really excited (by the free kick). It was unfortunate it didn't go in."
The Warriors (0-1) appeared to take command when Setran scored with less than 10 minutes to play.
"That's unacceptable that we didn't close out the game, but you have to credit West Aurora for battling through to the very end," Wheaton Academy coach David Underwood said.
The Warriors squandered the best-scoring chance of the first half as the team failed to convert a penalty kick.
The ball bounced innocuously off the left post.
"That (miss) was huge, especially in a 1-goal game," Underwood said. "We hit crossbars, we hit posts. You have to convert those."
Stephens' tying-goal came moments after Anya Lehman had her shot slide tantalizingly past the Warriors' right post.