Victory against Fenton worth the wait to Wheaton Academy

Wheaton Academy scored its first goal of the game 13 minutes into Wednesday's Class 2A Elmwood Park sectional semifinal.

Well more than an hour later the Warriors scored their second goal in the 17th minute.

A series of delays prompted by Elmwood Park's lightning-detection system only delayed the inevitable. Once they got back on the field to stay, the top-seeded Warriors earned a 4-0 victory against No. 5 Fenton (8-13-1).

"You just get so pumped and so ready and then it's like, all right, now we don't even know if we're going to get it in," Warriors sophomore Ally Witt said of the delays. "It's frustrating, but you've got to learn to get on the field and be ready to play. You can't be flat."

The Warriors know they'll have to be at their best for Friday's 4 p.m. sectional championship game against archrival St. Francis, the sectional's second seed. The teams met a couple of weeks ago in a Suburban Christian Conference match, with Wheaton Academy finally winning in a shootout after tying 1-1.

"They brought the heat and we didn't," Witt said of that May 13 game. "They were really on and we were really off. I don't know what happened that game. It was weird. It was a weird game. We're really ready for this game Friday."

Wheaton Academy dominated the action against Fenton, outshooting the Bison 20-0 for the match.

Emily Mulder and Kristen Morency combined on the shutout, with help from defenders Christi Dithrich, Kerrin Clancy and Lindsey Burke.

Rachel Nasralla scored the first goal off a Kristen Wittmuss flick-on header, and Alexa Sharkey scored the second off a Witt assist.

In the 29th minute Wittmuss scored with help from Crystal Thomas, and Thomas finished the scoring in the 40th minute off a Sydney Sharkey cross.

"It's one of the games where we want to play the best. Now the girls have a taste of what it is to play the best team out there," Fenton coach Victor Ruiz said.

Fenton only loses three seniors, so the returning players can benefit from the sectional experience. Among the returning players will be junior Kathrine McEvoy, a first-year soccer player who kept the game close with some good saves.

"She's done great for us, so it'll be great for us having her back next year," Ruiz said.