Wheaton North, Metea Valley draw up a good start

Wheaton North and Metea Valley squared off on the windswept pitch at Metea Valley and played to a 1-1 draw that left both girls soccer teams feeling relatively optimistic about their chances in 2015.

Coming off a trip to the sectional final in 2014, Metea Valley has high expectations, and with forward Lexi Pelafas in the mix, Wheaton North figures to be competitive in the DuPage Valley Conference.

Pelafas made her presence felt early on in the opener, settling down an errant Metea Valley touch before unleashing a bender from the left corner of the box that found the far post in the 11th minute.

"At first my back was turned to the goal and I didn't see anyone in front of me, so I turned," Pelafas said. "I tried looking for someone wide, but I saw the goal wide open so I took a shot at the far post."

Yet despite Wheaton North striking first, it was Metea Valley that controlled possession in the early going and seemed to control the tempo.

"The wind was definitely a factor tonight. Our possession was definitely a lot better in the first half playing into the wind," Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley said.

That possession created several first-half opportunities, many of which coming on the foot of sophomore Jade Eriksen-Russo. In the 22nd minute she managed to level the score at 1-1 when she took a beautiful touch in traffic from senior captain Alena Sidwell and calmly fired it into the back of the net from the middle of the box.

"You know, I like to score," Eriksen-Russo said with a smile on her face. "Offensively, I think we were making runs and we were all working together really well."

That'd be the end of the scoring for the game, as the two teams generally tended to battle in the midfield the majority of the second half.

"We're playing in a brand new formation," Wheaton North coach Tim McEvilly said. "Those two holding midfielders are doing something they've never really had to do before and those first 40 minutes were a little sketchy regarding what they had to do out there, but I thought they grew more during the last 40."

Wheaton North freshman goalkeeper Zoe Welsh had 8 saves.