Tigers stay perfect in SPC play

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By Bill Scheibe

Outside midfielders are an underappreciated lot, like having an umbrella in your car on a rainy day. Well, Nikki Auble and Heather Handwork helped rev up Plainfield North’s engine, leading to a deluge of goals.

Auble, a sophomore, and Handwork, a freshman, had a goal and an assist apiece Saturday morning as the host Tigers scored four goals in each half en route to an 8-0 Southwest Prairie victory over shorthanded Plainfield South. North clinched a share of the conference title for the third straight season.

The numbers get even better.

Taking advantage of the constant push by Auble and Handwork, junior forward Callie O’Donnell totaled two goals and three assists as Plainfield North (14-2-2, 6-0-0) posted its seventh straight win – all by shutout. Juniors Paige Polonus and Emily Brodict combined to make five saves, with three by Brodict.

Junior midfielder Ashley Auble and sophomore forward Ashley Handwork – yes, the “older” sisters – also scored goals, as did junior midfielder Madie Hansen and freshman forward Caitlin Tabilog.

Sophomore defender Angie Dziedzic, sophomore forward/midfielder Kaela Leskovar and Hansen also added assists.

“We want to get the ball to the outside because that’s where we have our strength,” Nikki Auble said of the Tigers’ explosive 4-3-3. “We play the ball to our forwards, and since we have three up top, they’re outside, too. And when we make those outside runs and open up space, we wear out the other team.”

“As outside midfielders, we usually have to run back and forth a lot and we have to always anticipate where the ball is going,” Heather Handwork pointed out. “You don’t have to run as much as some people think, but it is more about transitioning and being able to get us started in those transitions.”

That transition seemed like a swarm of bees to Plainfield South (8-6-1, 2-4), which saw its losing streak extended to four games. The Cougars did receive a school-record effort that might never be broken as sophomore sweeper Abby Banks contributed not one, not two, but three non-goalie saves.

Amazing, and with grace.

“I’m always going to cover my keeper no matter what,” Banks said humbly. “But it was a pretty tough.”
“She didn’t quit on the play and you have to give her credit there,” Plainfield South coach Kevin Allen said of Banks. “It’s frustrating because I know how we asked them to leave it all out on the field, give us the effort, and they did. It’s discouraging because they’re working hard and not getting rewarded.”

After dropping the continuation of a suspended game 4-3 to Minooka in overtime Friday night, South played without sophomore midfielder Alex Truhlar (knee), freshman forward Alexis Mele (concussion), junior forward Ashley Taylor (bad ankle sprain) and senior defender Katie Hamilton (high ankle sprain).

“It was difficult knowing that we had four players out, but we had to come out and work well as a team,” Banks said. “I thought we played the best that we could and I give our defense a lot of credit.”

“Hopefully, we’ll get everybody back healthy and give them a better test,” said Allen, whose Cougars open the Naperville Central Regional on Wednesday, May 18, as the 11th seed against sixth-seeded North. “That’s the encouraging thing. But I’m not making any excuses. They were the better team.”

It doesn’t get any better than having outside midfielders that can overlap and churn the attack. With Ashley Auble in the center and Nikki Auble, Heather Handwork, freshman Shayna Dheel and Leskovar rotating on the flanks, O’Donnell, Ashley Handwork and senior Katie Cox were dangerous forwards.

“We just have so many players with so much energy and they don’t get tired,” Plainfield North coach Jane Crowe said. “They don’t get tired and that makes the difference. South was able to stay with us at beginning, but we know that if we keep pushing the play forward, a lot of teams will wear down.”

The wear and tear began to show with 32:43 left in the first half as O’Donnell served a corner kick and controlled a header by Dziedzic. O’Donnell dribbled end line and held on until the last second, faking the pass and firing a point-blank shot past a defenseless junior goalkeeper Taylor Schwebke (14 saves).

With 23:57 left, play pin-balled around the South box before O’Donnell sent a quick cross on the replay toward the far post. Nikki Auble took the space and connected on a header into the right corner.

Fast and furious.

“We’re just an offensive team and we can score like that,” O’Donnell said. “And our outside mids are good. They’re fast, they can go up and down forever, and we know that if we can get ball up to them that they will be able to get the crosses to our forwards. It’s something that works well for us.”

“Our defenders are good at getting the ball up to us,” Auble said of seniors Hayley Wegrzyn and Brianna Buckley, junior Anna O’Donnell and Dziedzic, the sweeper. “That helps us move the ball quicker.”

As quickly as you can say gesundheit, North’s lead expanded to 4-0. On a feed from Auble, Ashley Handwork powered home a shot with 9:15 remaining, and with only 1:39 left, O’Donnell delivered a corner that Ashley Auble converted by leaping into the space and heading down into the right corner.

From there, a mere 33 seconds into the second half. Heather Handwork one-upped her sister, sending a through-ball pass that O’Donnell deked left and deked right on a breakaway before tapping the ball into the empty net. Handwork then scored on a header off an O’Donnell dish with 32:26 left for a 6-0 lead.

“I saw the opportunity and I called them off the ball so I could shoot,” Handwork said. “It’s nice to score a goal, and it’s good whenever I cross it. I know there always will be someone there up top to get it.”

While Handwork got hers into the upper-right corner, Hansen scored from deep inside the box on a pass from Leskovar, who had shots hit both the post and crossbar. That goal with 28:02 left would cut the time in half, with Tabilog tallying on a flick off a Hansen corner with 9:14 to go to culminate the scoring.

Those outside midfielders? Priceless.

“Nikki actually came off the bench and did a really good job,” Crowe said. “Heather did a nice job. They have such a tough job because they have to get up and come back and help out in the middle with only one center mid. But if our outside mids are running at you, you’re going to get tired, and it helps.”