Wrap: Naperville Central nips Wheaton N.
Less than 30 seconds apart, Naperville Central goalkeeper Hannah Oppenheimer made the save of the game on Thursday, and teammate Kelly Adams took the shot of the game.
"That's my first goal of the season, and I've been wanting one for a long time," Adams said.
Naperville Central's 1-0 win over visiting Wheaton North on Adams' goal was considerably more than the sum of those two plays, however.
First, there was some pretty fair soccer played.
"I thought it was a fantastic game," said Falcons coach Tim McEvilly.
"I thought both teams did a good job of trying to be organized and trying to attack and create chances."
Secondly, Thursday's contest carried huge ramifications in the DuPage Valley Conference. The Redhawks (15-4) improved to 5-0 and the Falcons (14-2) fell to 4-1 in DVC play, meaning next week's game between Naperville Central and Wheaton Warrenville South (12-1-1, 4-1) should be a big one.
With Falcons goalkeeper Hannah Perry making 8 saves and Oppenheimer posting 6 before leaving the field with a leg injury late in the contest, both teams sent a good handful of hard-hit shots on net.
The game turned on a pair of plays in the 39th minute, starting with a diving save by Oppenheimer on a shot by the Falcons' Paige Fowler. After the save the Redhawks raced up the field and scored.
"Hannah's been making amazing saves for us. Hopefully, she's all right," Adams said.
"We were able to get it off the line and counter it right away. We don't want them getting momentum, thinking they're going to score after coming close like that."
Kristen Hall took a shot from 18 yards out, and Adams followed it up and buried the deflection to the back netting just before halftime. Play see-sawed back and forth throughout a scoreless second half.
"We had limited opportunities, and we were fortunate on the goal that Kelly kept tracking the ball," said Redhawks coach Ed Watson. "I was impressed by how (Wheaton North's) backs played. They were very strong tonight."
Falcons defenders Erin Strom, Meredith Chase, Kristin Perrine and Jesse Smith were solid throughout, and Watson was also pleased with his girls in back.
"They're a very good team … and (Jaime) Orewiler is just relentless," Watson said. "I thought Taylor Heatherly played a great game for us, and I'm always happy with Jessica Rubin.
"But it's a team effort. It starts from Hannah on up, and Hannah didn't just stand in goal and get a shutout tonight. She certainly earned it."
-- Gary Larsen
Boys tennis
Neuqua Valley 6, Waubonsie Valley 1:ŒFor Neuqua Valley first-doubles team Skeeter Plowman and Chase Perry, their recently formed partnership is a little like a homecoming.
The two, who played as a doubles team for about half of last season, were reunited recently when Plowman's doubles partner left the team, and Perry, who had been playing singles, filled in. The transition was seamless as the Wildcats continued their winning ways, as a team and at the No. 1 doubles position.
On Thursday, in typically windy conditions at Neuqua Valley, the Plowman and Perry duo defeated Chris Utterback and Gary Sheng of Waubonsie Valley to help lead the Wildcats to a 6-1 triumph over their archrival and Upstate Eight Conference opponent.
The win keeps the Wildcats on track for their eighth straight conference crown.
"We're similar players and we know each other's strengths and weaknesses," said Plowman, after the pair's third straight win without a defeat. "We're also able to pick each other up. I hope we stay together for sectionals. I think we can do well and go far at state."
Both are accomplished net players, which gave them an advantage in Thursday's weather.
"Once we get the ball in play, we don't lose many points," Plowman said. "Chase has a great serve and we can both put the ball away."
"They feed off one another," said Neuqua JV coach Carol Bulfer, who was filling in for coach Trudy Bennorth. Bennorth missed the match due to a death in her family.
"In that last game they demonstrated how Chase sets everything up with his serve and Skeeter closes off the point. They both have a really positive attitude and that serves them well."
Bulfer thought her team was "really ready to play today" despite the less-than-satisfactory conditions.
For Waubonsie Valley (7-3, 6-3), it was another disappointment in a year that coach Phil Galow thought his Warriors would be an Upstate Eight contender.
"We got a tail-whupping," Galow said. "We didn't compete today. We give away things too easy. We don't play in matches the way we do in practice. They don't seem to understand that it's even more important that they step up in matches like this because of all the weekend tournament rainouts we've had."
Exempt from Galow's criticism was first-singles Mandela Shepard, who continued his winning ways with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Neuqua's Amrit Bhaskarla for the Warriors' only point.
"Mandela's been consistent," Galow said. "He kept the ball in play and exploited his chances."
"My serve was working well today," Shepard said. "I tried to jam him so he'd miss or give me a short ball that I could put away."
Bhaskarla thought Mandela's power was the big difference in the match.
"His serve is the most powerful one I've seen all season," Bhaskarla said. "In the second game I got used to it and was able to use my mental game a little more. But he finally overpowered me."
-- Neil Shalin
Softball
Glenbard South 5, Kaneland 4:ŒIt's not every day -- heck, it's not every year -- that Glenbard South's softball team loses Western Sun Conference games.
But the Raiders were on the ropes Thursday in Maple Park, thanks to a tape-measure 3-run homer by Kaneland third baseman Sara Rose.
The Raiders responded, first with a pair of unearned runs to force extra innings, then they scored the game-winner in the 10th on a wild pitch for a 5-4 victory.
Glenbard South (16-4) won the Western Sun with a 14-0 record last year. Thursday's come-from-behind win improved the Raiders to 8-0 this year.
"Our goal is to go undefeated in conference," said catcher Jess Fijolek, who went 3-for-4, scored 2 runs, drove in another and made the game's key defensive play. "They are a good team.
"I've been struggling at the plate and I know I have to step up and pull through and be a leader like everyone else."
Fijolek also is one of the walking wounded for the Raiders, a group that added another key member when leadoff hitter Lauren Podgorski left the game in the second inning with a dislocated finger.
Podgorski, a .380 hitter, injured the finger sliding into second base. Center fielder Nikki Simpson's dad took Podgorski to Delnor-Community Hospital.
Podgorski walked on four pitches to start the game and scored the game's first run on Simpson's triple.
"It kind of popped our balloon there for a little bit because she's our sparkplug," Glenbard South coach Julie Fonda said. "We've had a rough week. I'm just glad to come out of it with a win."
While they lost Podgorski, the Raiders welcomed another key player back. After being out sick for a week, pitcher Jill Trzaska relieved in the fifth inning, her first time on the mound since last Friday.
Trzaska improved to 11-1 with 6 scoreless innings. Robin Borowski started for the Raiders and finished with 5 strikeouts and no walks in her 4 innings.
Kaneland (13-4, 6-3) did all its damage with a 4-run second inning. Rose delivered the key blow, a 3-run home run to right center that not only flew over the fence but continued to carry high into the trees beyond the fence.
It was Rose's first home run of the year and second in her career -- the first winning a game at Sycamore last year.
"I don't know if I've seen a ball hit that far," Kaneland coach Dennis Hansen said. "That was quite a feat."
The Knights held their 4-2 lead into the fifth, when Glenbard South tied the game without hitting the ball out of the infield. With runners at second and third and two outs, Kaneland misplayed a hard grounder, then threw the ball away, allowing the tying runs to score.
"We didn't make the plays when we needed to," Hansen said.
The Raiders had the go-ahead run on third base in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, but each time Mallory Huml (10-3) escaped. Huml pitched all 10 innings, allowing 8 hits and striking out three.
Kaneland then had its chances to win the game in the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings. Jessica Lubic hit a shot to left field that fell a few feet short of a walk-off home run. Rose doubled but was left at second base.
The Knights' best chance came with runners at second and third and one out in the eighth. A botched suicide squeeze and a strikeout ended the inning.
Ironically, Glenbard South lost its last game 1-0 to Sandburg on a suicide squeeze Monday. This time Fijolek gunned down the runner at third.
"I called a changeup and (the batter) didn't get it down," Fijolek said. "I saw (the runner) stumble so I knew I could get her."
Kaneland catcher Lindsay Hansen gunned two would-be base stealers. Shortstop Maggie Yagen was busy all day, making 8 assists.
Besides Rose, Vicki Mathieu enjoyed a 3-for-5 day for the Knights, and No. 9 hitter Chassidy Mangers smacked an RBI single.
"Seemed like we hit a lot of shots at them," Hansen said. "(Trzaska) made some nice pitches when she needed to. It was just one of games that a couple plays here or there decide. We battled."
-- John Lemon
Naperville Central 1, Glenbard East 0:ŒNatalie Wunderlich (11-3) struck out 13 in a four-hit shutout, leading Naperville Central (13-4, 5-2 DuPage Valley Conference) past Glenbard East in Naperville. Erin Graham singled and doubled.
Glenbard North 3, West Chicago 0: Jenny Nelson went 2-for-4 with a run scored and run batted in for the Panthers (11-6, 4-3 DVC). Hannah Santora (10-3) threw a one-hit shutout. Mary Connolly struck out 10 for West Chicago (12-5, 6-2).
Wheaton North 3, St. Charles North 2: Adrianne Sieben went 3-for-3 with a double and 2 RBI and Paige Wilson 2-for-3 with a run scored for Wheaton North.
Lake Park 4, Oak Park-River Forest 3: Lynsey Ciezki went 3-for-4 and scored a run for the Lancers (15-4) in a nonconference road win. Missy Mazur (12-4) struck out four for Lake Park, which scored all of its runs in the fifth.
Glenbard West 8, Lyons Township 1: Kathryn Lux went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI for Glenbard West (13-4, 5-2 West Suburban Silver). Melissa Noland was 2-for-4 with a double and 2 RBI, Kristy Borneman 2-for-4 and scored 2 runs and Melissa Rauch 2-for-3 with 2 RBI.
Fenton 1, Riverside-Brookfield 0: Mia Sansone tripled and scored on a Sam Rubright single in the top of the eighth, and the Bison (15-6, 5-1 Metro Suburban Conference) got back in the win column a day after Riverside-Brookfield snapped Fenton's 13-game winning streak.
Downers Grove South 10, Willowbrook 0: Brooke Andresen homered twice and drove in 5 runs for the Mustangs (17-3, 7-1 West Suburban Gold). Marissa Mersch also went deep and scored 3 runs.
Hinsdale South 11, Hinsdale Central 1: Michelle Bolos went 3-for-3 and scored 3 runs and Carly Hinni struck out five for the Hornets.
Westmont 2, Timothy Christian 1: Westmont scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to edge the Trojans. Karen Boice went 3-for-3 for Timothy Christian.
Illiana Christian 10, Lisle 5: Liz Todd went 3-for-4 and scored 2 runs for Lisle (3-13, 2-10 Interstate Eight Conference).
Baseball
Wheaton North 5, Glenbard East 3:ŒThe Falcons (16-6, 10-3) broke a 3-3 tie by scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the sixth. Aric Dama (5-1) was the complete-game winning pitcher. Wade Cervenka drove in 2 runs. Keegan Knoll tripled and drove in 2 runs for the Rams (6-15, 4-9).
Naperville Central 2, West Aurora 1:ŒThe Redhawks (13-7, 8-5) pulled out the DuPage Valley Conference win despite managing only 2 hits. Marc Mantucca's RBI single scored the first run, and one of 3 West Aurora errors in the inning brought home the second run. Andy Pucher (5-2) scattered 9 hits in the complete-game win.
Naperville North 8, WW South 2:ŒJake Naumann improved to 5-2 on the mound for the Huskies (14-8, 7-6) in their DuPage Valley Conference win.
Glenbard South 7, Sycamore 6:ŒWinning pitcher Joe Ramirez (2-0) went 2-for-3 with a double and RBI for the Raiders (14-9, 10-5) in their Western Sun Conference victory. David Suffern added a pair of hits and Anthony Affrunti drove in 3 runs.
Neuqua Valley 11, East Aurora 1:ŒMike McKinley (5-1) pitched a 1-hitter with 8 strikeouts and Geoff Rowan and Brian McNabb homered for the Wildcats (19-3, 15-1) as they swept a three-game series in the Upstate Eight Conference.
Lisle 4-3, Herscher 6-1:ŒAfter dropping a suspended game in the opener, the Lions (11-9, 6-6) bounced back to win the second Interstate Eight Conference game. Billy Potter (2-2) earned the win and Jon Surber had 2 RBI.
Aurora Christian 12-4, Wheaton Academy 4-5:ŒThe Warriors (9-9, 7-5) won Game 2 of the Private School League doubleheader as Sterling Witt went 2-for-3 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI. Eric Albaugh was the winning pitcher.
York 20, Benet 8:ŒLuke Regole went 5-for-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI for the Dukes (12-10) in their nonconference win. Bryan Roberts drove in a run for the Redwings (13-8).