Girls soccer: Glenbard South shuts out Willowbrook

Glenbard South has battled through some tough girls soccer games during the course of the regular season.

Those games, many of which were mismatches that the Raiders found themselves on the wrong side of, have proven to be valuable learning experiences as well though.

Apparently the Raiders knew that those games would only make them better for the end of the year and especially the postseason, and that's what they are gearing up for now as they finish the regular-season schedule.

Soon, they'll find out if such a strong finish will pay dividends, especially after they dominated Willowbrook 3-0 on a cold and a rainy night on Monday.

"We had a bit of a culture change with me coming in, and there were some growing pains where the kids were looking up at the scoreboard too much," first-year Raiders coach Kevin Berner said. "I told them to learn from those early games and to learn from that, and I have to commend the seniors because there was never an occasion where they let the morale get low."

Glenbard South scored twice in the first half in a game which they really dominated play, especially in terms of controlling possession.

Samantha Schutte delivered what proved to be the only goal the Raiders needed.

"I saw an opening on the defense and it was a bit of a breakaway and the goalie sort of fumbled it," the freshman said. "It was a good shot and I was happy it went in."

Marley Benner added an insurance goal in the first half, and it gave the Raiders the comfort that they could appreciate, especially while dominating play. Benner added another goal later in the second half.

"We're coming along nicely," Benner said. "Since our first practice we've gotten so much better than what we used to be. It's just taken some time for us to develop but we're working hard at getting better and I like where we are at now as a team."

The Raiders took some lumps early on in the year, including some major losses, but they've progressed and are now poised for a strong finish.

"With a new coach and the box-and-one it took us some time to adapt, but I think we're ready now," Schutte said. "We've learned quickly and have gotten better as a team to play more aggressive competition. I think we're playing really well right now, which is what the coaches wanted us to do. It's exciting where we're at."