Lake Park enjoying nine-game win streak
Winless in its first four matches of the season, Lake Park has responded by winning its next nine straight to boost its record to 9-2-2 on the season.
The Lancers’ most recent win came on Thursday against Metea Valley. Jessica Franz’s first-half goal was the only scoring of the contest.
“Right now we’re playing pretty good with each other and starting to find our chemistry,” Lake Park coach Chris Fruehling said. “It’s helped us a little bit with more scoring than last year.”
Sophomore Megan Lindbert has done a nice job in a center midfield role, as well as at forward, while senior Alex Munoz has transitioned nicely into her role as stopper.
“Megan has made tremendous strides,” Fruehling said. “Alex has done a great job of bringing composure in our back. She’s done a really nice job.”
Dani DiGiola, an all-sectional selection a year ago. continues to anchor the central midfield for the Lancers and has utilized her foot skills to put the team a win away from eclipsing last year’s 8-8-4 mark.
“I’ve been really happy with how we’ve been playing and would like to finish the season really strong,” Fruehling. “Now it’s getting to the really challenging part of our schedule with Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley, Geneva and the playoffs.”
New edition Mustangs:DuPage County has been a hot spot for girls soccer for quite a long time now, especially with the success of programs at Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley, Naperville Central and Naperville North and Wheaton Academy and Wheaton Warrenville South.Metea Valley is the newcomer to the area, playing its first varsity season this spring after going 17-1-2 last year as a JV squad. The Mustangs have made quite an impression, collecting a 10-6-1 record through Wednesday. Wins have come against Benet, South Elgin and York, among others, while the team tied with Geneva and was en route to a draw with Naperville North on Monday before Zoe Swift scored with 2:24 left to stun the Mustangs.#147;Against the top-tier teams we#146;re going to have close games, but who knew if we could even play with the top tier?#148; Metea Valley coach Pat Feulner asked. #147;We#146;ve taken care of the matches we should win, battled with matches that should be close and taken good teams to the max so there#146;s nothing more I could ask.#148;Feulner is asking his team is to continue growing.Forwards Alyssa Fox and Jenna Kentgen have been strong, Tina Tomaras is part of a strong core group of midfielders while Alexis McKay has been tough as nails on defense, where goalkeeper Megan Geldernick has quickly made a name for herself.#147;The kids right now are starting to adapt and play together,#148; Feulner said. #147;Alexis McKay has done a stellar job of holding the back like together with a lot of young kids and making sure we don#146;t get caught in back.#148;Although they#146;ve reached double digits in victories, Feulner envisions a bright future as long as the kids keeping working hard and eventually undertstand his system and implement it.#147;We#146;ve got kids that play in eight different clubs in the off-season and we#146;re trying to take pieces from all over and put them in a system that#146;s not easy to play,#148; he said. #147;We could beat the ball and chase it, but we#146;re trying to play the game right and it#146;s going to take awhile to adapt and we#146;re just not quite there yet.#148;In the loss to Naperville North, the Mustangs played physical, something that took Feulner a bit by surprise but also something they need to do.#147;I hope they continue doing it and know they can put bodies on people with fair shoulder checks and things like that,#148; he said. #147;It was good to see us not get knocked around and I was a little worried about that because (Naperville North) is a good-sized team.#148;Successful stretch for Huskies:A five-game stretch that featured Waubonsie Valley, Lyons Twp. and Naperville Central as opponents proved to be a nice gauge for Naperville North and coach Brent Terada.The Huskies edged Waubonsie Valley 1-0 lost a wild, high-scoring 4-3 contest to Lyons and tied Naperville Central 1-1. The Huskies also blanked Lincoln-Way Central 5-0 and Metea Valley 1-0 during the stretch.#147;I think this helps us get ready for the postseason playing so many upper-level teams,#148; Naperville North#146;s Zoe Swift said. #147;We had to change a lot to adapt to each team, but we know we have to work hard if we want to have a good chance.#148;The 4-3 loss to Lyons was the big anomaly for the Huskies, who entered the contest having surrendered only three goals in their first eight games. #147;That was a freak occurrence for both teams and was a tough one, but overall we did well,#148; Naperville North coach Brent Terada said. #147;It was a great win against Waubonsie, and then the tie with Central, that#146;s just the way it goes, and then (against Metea) was big to get a win against a tough sectional opponent and we needed it to get one of the higher seeds in our sectional.#148;Finally it appears that the Huskies are comfortable on the field, something that took some time due to some position changes. Adrienne Schertz, Tori Novak and Kiersten Anderson, among others, have switched positions at some point this season.#147;It#146;s a completely different group than what we started with,#148; Terada said. #147;It#146;s been a matter of them getting comfortable. They do a great job of staying organized and challenge every shot and are doing a great job.#148;National recognition for Wildcats:Anyone who has followed any semblance of high school girls soccer in Illinois this season knows about Neuqua Valley. The Wildcats are not only getting a lot of attention throughout their own state, but nationally too. The undefeated Wildcats were recently ranked No. 2 in the Maxpreps Xcellent 25 National Girls Soccer Rankings as well as in the National Rankings of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. In addition, Zoey Goralski was recently an honorable mention selection for Player of the Week by ESPN Rise. Neuqua Valley is pursuing its first state title since 2005.Weathering the storm:Through Wednesday Wheaton Academy had won as many games as it had postponed #8212; six. In what#146;s been a rough spring for most teams in the Chicago area, the Warriors have had an extremely difficult time getting on the field. Most recently, the Warriors went eight days without playing. Rescheduling hasn#146;t been very easy either, and the Warriors will face the daunting task of playing a doubleheader Wednesday with Aurora Central Catholic at 4:30 p.m. and Guerin Prep at 6:30 p.m.#147;It#146;s been tough because we didn#146;t know of the cancellations until the day of the games, so we had to adjust on the fly a little bit,#148; Wheaton Academy coach Scott Marksberry said. #147;We#146;ve been able to have a couple indoor training sessions inside and we worked with some local kids in the community.#148;The lack of playing time has prohibited the Warriors from getting into a rhythm and figuring our what kind of team they really have.#147;It#146;s been rough because sectional seeding comes out today and we feel like a brand-new team still,#148; Marksberry said. #147;We#146;ve notoriously been a slow-starting team that#146;s peaked at the right time, but with a lack of games, that#146;s been a bit more difficult. We#146;re not there yet, but we can get there in the next few weeks.#148;The Warriors finished in third place in Class 2A last year and won a state title in 2A in 2009.