Neuqua Valley shuts out Metea Valley
The 2010 season was one of success for the Neuqua Valley Wildcats. A 19-3-2 record and sectional semfinal appearance were added to the team’s long list of success over its history.
Tuesday’s 5-0 win over visiting Metea Valley showed that this is a new season. The success is still there. The win pushed the team to 9-0 overall and 2-0 in the Upstate Eight Conference while it enjoys life as the No. 1 team in the Daily Herald rankings.
But the game showed that this is a different team.
The Wildcats led just 1-0 at intermission and the flow of their offense seemed more like it was coming from a ketchup bottle. That changed in the second half as the team racked up 4 unanswered goals against a Metea Valley team that’s nothing to sneeze at 8-4-1, 1-1 in the UEC.
“Last year we would let it get into our heads if the other team scored. We would panic,” said Neuqua senior Alexa Wilde, who scored the first goal. “Today, our confidence was definitely better and we had a different menality in the second half. We did what we needed to do to settle down and find a way to get back into the rhythm and get confidence.”
According to coach Joe Moreau, it was all about his team using all of the space it had available to it on the field.
“We wanted to get the ball wider. They were kind of packing it in the middle. In the second half we weren’t going over the top to get the ball. Three goals were scored when we were getting the ball wide and we got cross passes.”
Neuqua got on the scoreboard in the first half exactly 12 minutes into the game. Wilde’s shot went past a diving goalkeeper Megan Geldernick, who made 14 saves for the Mustangs and was the top factor in keeping Metea in the game during the first 40 minutes.
Wilde had scored about a half-minute earlier, but the goal was waved off due to an offsides call.
It was a big second half for Wildcats forward Zoey Goralski. She assisted on Gianna Dal Pozzo’s goal, just 1:23 into the second half, and then scored the next two, getting an assist from Meghan Kelley on the second one that made it 4-0.
“We just needed to relax and play as a team in the second half,” Goralski said.
Neuqua closed out the scoring with 16:12 left in the game as Morgan Mulcahy deposited a header after taking a pass from Hannah Nelmark.
Moreau said last weekend’s Hazelwood Showcase in St. Louis showed what the Wildcats are capable of and was a big boost going into this week. The Wildcats won twice and outscored their opponents 13-2.
“We played very well in St. Louis against two quality teams. On Friday we went up against a really good quality team and took it to them,” he said.
Neuqua heads back onto the road with a UEC game Thursday at Larkin and takes on host Naperville Central on Saturday.
Metea returns to play Thursday as well with a home game against Lake Forest.
“We just have to keep our heads up. We’re capable of playing against the highest-ranked teams in the state if we play together and play strong,” Geldernick said.