Girls soccer: West Aurora handles Larkin

Last season the West Aurora girls soccer team wound up on the wrong end of games simply because it couldn't finish its chances.

That doesn't appear to be the case this season.

The formidable duo of Katharine Stephens and Riley O'Brien showed on Friday during a 4-1 Upstate Eight crossover win over Larkin at Memorial Field in Elgin that the Blackhawks will certainly give teams a handful up front and finishing will be a much different story.

A 20-goal scorer last season, Stephens, who missed the previous 2 games due to injury, came back strong with 2 goals and 1 assist while O'Brien assisted on both of Stephens' goals, signaling the Blackhawks' fourth straight win and a 14-6 advantage this season in the scoring department.

"I think our biggest advantage right now is using our wings out wide right now," Blackhawks coach Laura Wagley said. "We've got two freshmen studs out there where they're helping our center mids and forwards and stretching out the defense so we're able to get in behind with Kat, Riley and Audrey up top."

Those freshmen, Kiara McPherson and Audrey Stephens, are showing what they can do. Both helped bookend the scoring for the Blackhawks (4-1) as McPherson gave West Aurora a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute. Four minutes later the Blackhawks showed the strength on the outside as O'Brien was able to race down the sideline and cross a ball to Stephens in the box, who bounced one just inside the right post for a 2-0 lead. That combo would rinse and repeat in the same fashion during the 67th minute for a 3-1 lead.

"We've been working a lot in this in practice," Kat Stephens said of she and O'Brien moving the ball off each other. "On the first goal I checked to the ball and she made the run down the line and I got her the ball and she crossed and the second one the same thing. She crossed it and I was there."

Audrey Stephens added a tapper in the 75th minute while keeper Bailey Ziman totaled 5 saves. But the offense, which was strong even without Kat Stephens the past 2 games, is coming from all over.

"It's just going to help our girls relax and calm down a little bit and get their confidence in knowing that we can score," Wagley said. "Our defense ... we need to start shutting teams out so we don't have to worry about scoring that many."

Conversely, the Royals (0-1) saw no game action whatsoever coming into Friday. Leading scorer from last season Stephanie Nunez (18 goals), who battled illness in the days prior, zigged and zagged her way through the West Aurora defense in the 50th minute for a goal inside the left post to get Larkin with 2-1. And even though Larkin began the game with good possession and some looks on goal, its debut wasn't sharp.

"It's their fifth game and our first game and I think it showed," said Royals coach Ken Hall, whose team was outshot 13-7. "We were a little rusty and we're playing four freshmen so you have to see what they can do and where we're at. I think we were a little nervous and we had a little trouble containing their forwards from our back and I thought their forwards played really well and were definitely the difference."