Wildcats beat Trojans but miss out on invite championship

 

 

By Matt Le Cren

West Chicago and Downers Grove North are similar teams on similar paths.

Both have rosters filled with young yet inexperienced talent and both are on the rise.

They met on the field Saturday in the final game of the West Chicago Wildcat Shootout and both came away winners.

Host West Chicago edged Downers Grove North 1-0 in an evenly played game but the Trojans won the tournament championship.

West Chicago, Downers North and Glenbard North, which edged Bartlett 3-2 on penalty kicks earlier in the day, all finished the round-robin tournament with 2-1 records and all went 1-1 against each other. But Downers North prevailed on goal differential.

It was the first tournament championship in recent memory for the Trojans (7-7), who were second in this tourney last year.

“I’m very happy with where we are,” Downers North coach Bob Calder said. “We’re competing with teams that are very strong.

“West Chicago is a very strong team this year and I thought we had a really good battle. I thought we even won the second half, so I’m happy with how our girls fought all the way down to the end.”

Wildcat star Andie Lazzerini tallied her career-high 15th goal of the season on a beautiful 25-yard shot with 6:49 left in the first half.

Despite being the focus of Downers North’s defensive efforts, Lazzerini used her speed and strength to dangerous effect throughout the contest and wound up taking six of her team’s eight shots.

The goal came on a breakaway up the right side in which the Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne recruit blew past a defender and rifled a shot on the dead run over the head of Trojans goalie Christina Siddu and into the upper left corner of the net.

“I warned the girls pre-game [that] she is the one,” Calder said.”She showed why.”

“I got really good control on the ball,” Lazzerini said. “I saw one defender on me so I tried to make a move, got past her and then I saw the frame, so I just shot it, tried to get second post and it went in.”

The goal was the first given up in three games by the Trojans, who had their season-high three-game winning streak snapped.

“She got away from our defenders,” Siddu said. “I was out a little too far and I went up for it and it went right through me. It was a great shot. She’s a great player.”

The Wildcats (10-8-3) needed two more goals in order to win the tournament but weren’t able to get them thanks in part to Siddu, who made four saves, including a huge stop on another breakaway by Lazzerini in the second half.

A lead pass from sophomore midfielder Kayla Kirkwood sprung Lazzerini free up the middle, where she blazed between two defenders and raced in on Siddu, who charged out to dive and deflect Lazzerini’s shot with her upper arm with 14:35 remaining.

Aside from a long Lazzerini header that Siddu gloved easily four minutes later, that would be West Chicago’s last real threat to increase its lead.

“We knew ahead of time that we had to win by three to win it,” West Chicago coach Cesar Gomez said. “I did not want to put a burden on them. We had a sense of urgency, not desperation. We wanted to score but we did not want to be desperate in our game.”

The victory was the third straight for the Wildcats, the second time this season they’ve accomplished that feat.

“I’m proud of the girls and they’re making great improvement,” Gomez said. “You want to be on a winning streak now. We’re competing well. The future is bright. I would say we’re the most improved team in the DVC.”

But as Gomez said, the Wildcats have a big mountain to climb in the upcoming playoffs, where they are seeded ninth at the Hoffman Estates Sectional.

If they get past No. 8 seed Schaumburg in the first round, they likely would face top-seeded St. Charles North, the defending state runner-up, in the regional finals.

To compete with those teams, WeGo needs to have more than just Lazzerini scoring. Gomez thinks another senior, Katie Becker, could be a decisive weapon.

She created several chances against the Trojans, including a crisp cross in the second minute that Siddu dove to cut off just before it got to an open Lazzerini in front.

“I would say the girl that I’m really happy with right now is Katie Becker,” Gomez said.

“She’s doing well but she still needs to bring a little bit more passion to the game. I think sometimes it’s kind of hard to do it. I can’t give you passion. You have to have that yourself. That’s what would help.”

Lazzerini wasn’t too concerned about not winning the tournament. She is focused more on the big picture.

“I’m just happy we won [the game],” Lazzerini said. “I think that we’re really stepping up our game. We’re getting ready for regional play and we really want to make a difference in regionals, so we’re trying to boost our confidence.”

The Trojans, who are faced with a similarly tough postseason path, are trying to do the same.

Downers North is the No. 10 seed at the Hinsdale Central Sectional. They play No. 7 Glenbard East in the first round and would probably have to face No. 2 seed Lyons Township in the regional finals.

“We should have won [this game],” Siddu said. “West Chicago is a great team. They put up a good battle. It would have been nice to win but I’m happy with the result.”

Indeed, there is reason for the Trojans to be optimistic. They outshot the Wildcats 11-8 and had the better of the play in the second half.

They nearly tied it with 25:05 to go when West Chicago freshman goalie Gaby Navejas (four saves) couldn’t hang onto a 35-yard free kick by Arlinda Osmani and Emma Marino hit the left post on the rebound.

Eight minutes earlier, the Trojans’ Alyse Dutcher missed the left post with a shot and Downers North came up empty on five corner kicks, including three in a row at one point.

“[The tournament championship] is a big confidence-booster,” Siddu said. “We’re going into the playoffs soon and we really needed this. We really appreciate all the hard work [the players do] especially for us seniors.

“We really appreciate the younger girls doing it for us. I know they really want to try for our last year. As for us seniors, we’re putting it all on the field seeing as it’s our last year. We want to do as much as we can.”