Wolves erupt in second half to defeat Romeoville

By Darryl Mellema

As Romeoville's Nancy Diaz floated a wind-blown shot over Oswego East's defenders and goalkeeper and scored just 21 seconds into the second half, most in the crowd on Thursday probably thought the game was about to come to life.

It did, but not in the two-sided way it might have appeared. That's because Diaz's goal lit the fuse on the host Wolves, who responded with four goals in 27 minutes to claim a 6-2 victory in the Southwest Prairie Conference opener for both teams.

"It's unfortunate that that's what it took for us to turn it on," Oswego East coach Lauren Anderson said. "But it was like a switch was flipped and they said 'we've got to get this going now.' "

Playing into the strong wind, Oswego East dominated early exchanges and took the lead within five minutes through Brittany Brewer.

But although the Wolves (2-0-1, 1-0) were playing decent soccer, they weren't in quite the control it seemed since Romeoville (4-2, 0-1) wasn't being overwhelmed at all.

"It took us more time than it should have to figure it out," Anderson said. "This is our first time coming out in these conditions. But it's soccer and you have to used to it and adjust the way you play."

The Wolves doubled that lead at the midpoint of the half when Lauryn Marchert scored following a scramble in the six-yard box.

But Romeoville gained life with a quarter hour left in the opening half when Yasmine Cahue scored.

There are different attitudes as to whether playing into the wind or with the wind is more beneficial.

Many coaches mention that when playing into the wind, their players tend to keep the ball on the ground more and this benefits them through better movement and possession.

Wednesday, it worked in the reverse for Oswego East. With the wind at their backs and tied 2-2 after Diaz scored, the Wolves put together their best stretch of play in the match.

Players moved, passes were played to those players and shot opportunities came in droves, as did goals.

"We're a team," Brewer said. "It all worked out in the end. We all pulled together. If we'd all lost, we would have been mad."

Jessica Alvarez signaled the host's drive toward a go-ahead goal when she had a sharp shot saved five minutes after Diaz scored.

As the pressure continued unabated, a Romeoville mistake gifted the Wolves their second goal.

A bouncing ball in the penalty area was not cleared by the Spartans and Brewer slipped in and scored her second goal of the contest.

"In a way, it was kind of a reality check when they scored to tie it," Lauren Hoppensteadt said. "We realized that we needed to pick it up. We knew we were better than we were playing."

That goal came 16 minutes into the half and it took the Wolves two minutes to add to their lead, and they did so with style.

Alvarez sent a leading ball out of midfield for Cari Schlaker, whose left wing cross was met by Lauren Hoppensteadt, who headed Oswego East to a 4-2 lead.

With that goal, the Wolves were never again in serious danger of not winning the match and their play began reached an even more confident level.

"We kind of went into panic mode and everyone was like 'we've got to score,' " Hoppensteadt said. "We've just got to relax and play our game."

Two minutes after Hoppensteadt's goal, the Wolves had a 5-2 lead, this time through Alvarez, who had two efforts to score, and made good with that second attempt after an initial cross by Hoppensteadt.

Hoppensteadt and Alvarez combined again with 13 minutes left, this time with Alvarez crossing to Hoppensteadt, who netted her second goal of the afternoon.

"It took us a while to get into our game," Anderson said. "Romeoville fought to the very end. They beat us in the first half through hustle and heart."