Neuqua Valley’s Dal Pozzo dooms Geneva
It was a majestic 127 seconds of soccer for Neuqua Valley midfielder Gianna Dal Pozzo Thursday night at Naperville Central.
The Wildcats’ junior scored three times in two minutes and seven seconds nearly midway through the second half to propel Neuqua Valley past Geneva 4-2 in the second quarterfinal of the Naperville Invitational.
Neuqua Valley (13-3-2) advances to meet Naperville North, the consensus top-rated girls soccer team in the state, in the first semifinal this afternoon at Naperville Central.
Geneva (11-3-4), which received both of its goals from Xavier-bound senior Catherine Allon, faces Waubonsie Valley in the consolation bracket.
“It was just the greatest feeling ever,” Dal Pozzo said after her first career hat trick reversed the Vikings’ 2-1 lead. “The second half we executed well and got quality shots. After (the first goal) the balls just kept coming right at me.”
It marked the third consecutive match Neuqua Valley has produced a 3-goal scorer; junior Zoey Goralski scored her seventh goal in her last three games with a second-half drive that knotted the match at 1-1.
“I just think that we fell asleep (defensively),” Allon said of the Dal Pozzo personal blitz that saw scores with 26:42, 25:10 and 24:35 to play, respectively.
“We got a little rattled,” Geneva coach Megan Owens said. “We lost our focus for three minutes. If you fall asleep for three minutes, (quality teams) are going to make you pay for it.”
Dal Pozzo appeared to have her own personal ATM on the sidelines.
With bookend assists from sophomore Olivia Schmitt, Dal Pozzo beat the Geneva keeper to the short side on separate occasions.
The game-winner was a thing of beauty as Dal Pozzo blasted home a point-blank header off a flawless Hope D’Addario corner kick.
“I saw (the corner) come right over the defender,” Dal Pozzo said.
The first half was a statistical aberration as Neuqua Valley dominated possession time and percentage of action in opposition territory.
The Wildcats held a 14-6 advantage in shots, but none found the desired location.
Geneva broke the scoreless tie in the 26th minute when Amanda Lulek tracked down a long pass on the left flank; the junior fed Allon, who beat the lunging Neuqua keeper.
“We wanted to take advantage of our opportunities,” Allon said.
After Goralski scored in the third minute, Allon once again gave the Vikings the lead with a blistering shot from 18 yards out that struck the top of the crossbar and bounced straight down into the Wildcats’ net.
“It was teed up right up there,” Allon said of her second-shot riser. “(The Dal Pozzo outburst) was so frustrating because we had the lead at 1-0 and then 2-1.”
“Geneva is a very fast team,” Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau said. “We were trying to make them chase. We were attacking the goal (in the second half).”