Girls soccer: St. Charles East shuts out Wheaton Warrenville South
After battling Wheaton Warrenville South to a 0-0 tie in the first half Tuesday night, St. Charles East coach Vince DiNuzzo adjusted his lineup in an effort to break the deadlock.
DiNuzzo moved defender Alondra Carranza from the backline to the middle. The change paid off as the junior scored what ended up as being the only goal of match in the Saints' 1-0 DuKane Conference win at Norris Stadium.
"We made a change (at halftime). We took Alondra out of the back, put her in the midfield," DiNuzzo said. "When you take a kid that is Alondra's caliber and put her in the middle of the field, it makes a difference."
The play started with an Ashley DiOrio thrown from the far sideline 20 yards from the goal with 25:31 left in the contest. Tiger defenders cleared the ball from the goal area. Carranza corralled it in the middle of the pitch and knocked it in from 30 yards out.
"It just came to my feet and I just took a touch and I just wanted to shoot it," Carranza said. "So I shot with my left and it just went by her."
The first half consisted of back and forth play between the teams, with both sides unable to finish attacks. The first shot on goal, a Saints attempt, was during the 11th minute.
The best chance for Wheaton Warrenville South came at the 18:11 mark of the first half when Jennifer Aalbue's free kick from 30 yards out went wide right.
Carranza also just missed a goal on a free kick in the 35th minute.
The Saints (15-5, 2-1) stepped up their offense in the second half with more shots but they either missed the mark or were well defended by the Tigers' back four and keeper Abbie Brennan (7 saves).
"The group played a lot harder with a little more sense of urgency (in the second half)," DiNuzzo said "We looked a bit sluggish after last night's game - the days are blending together now. We got going in the second half and had the run of play."
St. Charles East also had a scare late in the second half when Gabrielle McCaslin fell to the ground after being hit in the head. It took the junior forward some time to get back up.
"She took a knock to the head but she went back in after she was medically cleared," said DiNuzzo. "She just got her bell rung a little bit."
Wheaton Warrenville South fell to 11-4, 2-3.
"I thought the first half was played really well. I don't think we did our part to equal the competitive spirit that they brought into the second half and they put us on our heels a little bit," said WW South coach Guy Callipari. "They pressured us when they needed to and we had a very difficult time of getting out of the middle third and finding some of the opportunities we had up top like we head in the first half."