Metea Valley blanks West Chicago

Metea Valley received three goals from three players and won Tuesday night's Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division opener 3-0 over West Chicago in Aurora.

Jenna Kentgen, the all-time leading scoring in Metea Valley's brief history, got things started in the first half for the Mustangs, while Madie Sandberg and Nicki Hernandez added insurance goals in the second half.

"We've got some new girls this year with talent that are helping out a lot already," Kentgen said. "It's definitely nice to have them."

Kentgen's goal came with just less than eight minutes remaining in the first half, when she perfectly judged the trajectory of the ball and then created her own chance.

"I saw a cross coming in and then I watched the defender, who was right in front of me, get ready to go up," Kentgen said. "I knew it was going over her, so I just chested it and then put it in the corner."

Metea Valley (2-1-0, 1-0-0) limited West Chicago's chances. The Mustangs paid particular attention to junior Kayla Kirkwood to keep the Wildcats contained.

"We heard before the game that (Kirkwood) could do a lot of things really well so we kept that in mind," Metea Valley senior defender Tracey McCoy said. "We communicated all night to make sure we had her and we listened to our coaches about squeezing when they had the ball and then spreading it out and then moving forward to get in the attack."

West Chicago (2-4-0, 0-1-0) saw its chance to rally fade with 28:32 remaining when Kentgen's pass to Jade Erickson-Russo turned into a shot from up close that Madie Sandberg pounced on and sent past goalkeeper Gaby Navejas.

With 12:37 remaining Hernandez, a freshman, scored her third goal from 20 yards out.

"I'm surprised I've scored these three goals already," she said. "I was actually really nervous to start the season, but the girls have been so nice to me. We have a fun group here."

Metea Valley senior goalie Chauntelle Johnson recorded the shutout.

Despite the loss, Wildcats coach J. Cesar Chavez remained positive.

"We have a young team with 12 sophomores and we faced a good, talented team that has depth everywhere," he said. "I'm happy with our progress. We're trying to play a simple, attractive, effective soccer and at times we did."