Tigers blank Cougars for fourth straight shutout

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By Curt Herron

Plainfield North wanted to make a statement to other teams in the Southwest Prairie Conference on Monday.

And that was the Tigers are determined to defend the league championship that they captured last season.

The squad which learned that lesson the hard way was Plainfield South, which hoped to give rival North a battle on its own field.

But the Tigers scored during the first 13 minutes and dominated play throughout the opening half to grab a decisive 3-0 advantage.

While North didn't add to that total during the final 40 minutes, it didn't need to as it claimed a 3-0 win over South in Joliet.

Sami Smith, Ashley Auble and Callie O'Donnell all scored goals for the Tigers (6-2, 2-0) while Stephanie Barr added two assists.

Paige Polonus went most of the way in the net and Cait Bulthuis took over that role late as the pair combined for a shutout.

While North was busy putting pressure on keeper Taylor Schwebke, the Cougars (3-3-2, 0-1) had few good scoring chances.

The Tigers not only claimed their fourth straight victory, but also recorded their fourth consecutive shutout.

Needless to say, North coach Jane Crowe is quite pleased with how her squad performed on Monday, as well as recently.

Click to hear North coach Jane Crowe interview

South actually had the first good scoring opportunity in the match but it was nearly all North during the initial 40 minutes.

Just over six minutes in, Brittany McDaniel sent a short shot from the side toward the net but it was cleared by Hayley Wegrzyn.

The Tigers got the only goal they would need with 27:49 left in the half when defender Smith scored for the first time this season.

Auble set the score up when she sent a pass to Smith, who fired in a shot from the top of the box to give her team a 1-0 advantage.

Click to hear Sami Smith interview

North continued to threaten during the next eight minutes as Auble got stopped on a pair of short shot attempts by Schwebke.

But the Tigers found the net again with 19 minutes remaining in the half on the first of two free kicks by Barr that led to scores.

The first effort came off of an indirect free kick just outside of the box which Barr placed perfectly in front of the Cougar net.

Auble was positioned there and promptly headed in an attempt to give the visitors a 2-0 lead a minute past the midpoint of the half.

Click to hear South coach Kevin Allen

During the next 12 minutes, North kept up the attack as Katie Cox started things with a grounder and a floater that were both halted.

O'Donnell had a short shot deflected on a 1-on-1 situation before Barr ended the flurry with another grounder to the Cougar keeper.

South got its only other first-half shot on goal with 7:30 left before the break as Sarah Johnson sent a slow grounder to Polonus.

A couple of minutes after Barr sent a long free kick to Schwebke, the senior midfielder had another free kick that led to a goal.

With 3:19 left in the half, Barr's long free kick went in front of the net to O'Donnell, who headed it in to complete the scoring.

Click to hear Stephanie Barr interview

There were far fewer scoring chances for the visitors in the final half as they focused on possessing the ball as much as possible.

Following a 10-minute lull at the start of the second half, North briefly went back on the offensive with three good shot tries.

Ashley Handwork had a liner stopped, Smith's short attempt was deflected away by the keeper and Cox also saw a shot try halted.

In another burst later in the half, Cox had two more attempts stopped by Schwebke, who also pulled in a liner from Madison Hansen.

Johnson collected South's only shot on goal of the second half with 8:40 remaining when she sent a grounder toward Bulthuis.

Hansen nearly set up Ali Cox on another score off a corner kick with 4:30 to play but South's Jena Queen cleared the ball away.

North has matches Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in the Pepsi Showdown while South is off until Saturday when it plays at Rosary.