Glenbard West defeats Glenbard South

Welcome to varsity, kid.

Glenbard West's Sophie Bouton had a hat trick in the first half and added another goal in the second half to lead the Hilltoppers to a 7-0 nonconference girls soccer win over Glenbard South on Thursday in Glen Ellyn.

It was quite a debut for the junior, who was appearing in her first varsity game after playing at the lower levels the past two years.

"I had four goals in a game, but that was with my club team," she said. "This was all new to me for high school."

Bouton and sophomore Emma Wallace proved to be a dynamic scoring duo with Wallace assisting on all four of Bouton's scores, including her third goal with 2:02 left in the first half. That one had to deflate the Raiders, who kept the game competitive for the majority of the opening half.

"When you're up 3-0 you feel way more confident going into half," Bouton said. "That had to make them feel even worse so it was awesome getting that third goal."

Wallace found herself in the midst of a breakaway with 30:45 left in the second half so she took that shot herself to make it 4-0.

Bouton scored her final goal with 27:14 on the clock.

Sophomore Claire Dibadj added a pair of goals to finish the strong offensive start by the Hilltoppers, the second coming via an assist from junior Paige Dickson.

The Hilltoppers owned possession and showcased stellar ball movement, especially once they broke the game open.

"A nice thing about our team is they do pass the ball very well, which was evident tonight," Hilltoppers assistant coach Morgan Kasperek said. "At first we were a little too aggressive, wanting to make the home run play every single time, but then they calmed down and were able to possess the ball, make better passes and string some things together."

That was especially apparent between Wallace and Bouton.

"Emma is used to being the primary scorer for us so for her to get all those assists was nice," Kasperek said. "Sophie was in the right place a lot. Emma crossed them and Sophie tapped them in, which is exactly what you want for an outside mid, especially because we played with just one forward."

While it was an extremely successful opener for the Hilltoppers, it was the second consecutive shutout loss for the Raiders by a large margin. They dropped a 5-0 decision to Rolling Meadows on Tuesday.

"The critical thing for our girls to know with a new system and a new coaching staff is that you can't let games against opponents you'll never face in the state tournament beat you up and wear you down mentally," Raiders coach Kevin Berner said. "I thought they did a good job of keeping the attitude positive."

He's also stressing patience, especially with a difficult nonconference schedule.

"The reality is it could be a while until we feel what a win feels like," he said. "But I'm proud of the girls. They're working hard and we'll get there."