South sneaks one by North
to win battle of Downers Grove
North controls much of play, but South gets the glory
By Matt Le Cren
DOWNERS GROVE – Mother Nature did Paige Patera no favors Saturday.
As if 37-degree temperatures and frequent snow squalls weren’t enough of a challenge, the Downers Grove South goalkeeper had to contend with a vicious wind gusting up to 50 miles per hour.
The host Mustangs were playing into the teeth of that wind in the first half of their match with crosstown rival Downers Grove North, meaning Patera was extremely busy for most of the first 40 minutes.
The swirling winds meant that many of Downers Grove North’s shots turned into knuckle balls. Catching them was the soccer equivalent of eating soup with a fork.
But Patera was up to the task. The junior made 10 saves and senior forward Autumn Rasmussen scored against the run of play in the 32nd minute as the Mustangs eked out a 1-0 nonconference victory.
“I’d say right after the first shot I adjusted to it because you could see the curves they would have in the air,” Patera said. “So you would have to set yourself first and then you’d see the curve and you’d have to shift and follow wherever the curve was going to.”
Patera, a varsity rookie, didn’t look too coordinated on some of her early saves but that was because the wind was blowing the ball all over the place, turning routine bounces into adventures. She twice had to leap to corral bouncing shots from long range.
“I think everyone adjusted really well at the beginning,” Patera said. “The first few minutes it’s hard.
“You have to figure out what’s going on but after that we picked it up, adjusted and knew what we were all going to do.”
Patera has adjusted quickly to the varsity level. She has three shutouts in her first five games.
“Paige has been doing very well for us,” Downers Grove South coach Chris Hernandez said. “Coming up her first year on varsity, it can be a little bit of an adjustment, but she’s done well.
“She has communicated well with her voice organizing the backline and the midfield, and that adds a different layer when you can use that communication aspect to organize what’s in front of you. It makes your job a lot easier.”
Not much of what Patera did against the Trojans was easy. She was tested just three minutes in when she had to face some cannon fire from Downers Grove North sophomore Abby Swanson, who ripped a 30-yard rocket that was headed for the top shelf.
Patera leaped to tip the ball against the underside of the crossbar and it came down on the goal line before she snatched it. She also denied Swanson on a 25-yard bullet in the 25th minute.
There was some debate as to whether Swanson’s first shot crossed the goal line, but she didn’t argue.
“It was tough to see on the field, but it was the ref’s call at the end of the day,” Swanson said. “It doesn’t matter one way or the other. It’s just part of the game.
“It would have been nice to have an early goal but you win some, lose some.”
The Trojans (1-1-0) lost despite earning a 12-5 edge in shots and controlling much of the play, even against the wind in the second half.
Junior Simone Gardner hit the right post with a 31-yard free kick in the 53rd minute and Swanson nearly tied the game twice in the final 2:25, missing a 14-yard shot wide of the left post and then sending in a cross that barely missed the head of teammate Haley Reynolds in front of the goal with 45 seconds to go.
“We need to find some more opportunities like that throughout the game,” Swanson said.
She figures to get plenty of opportunities, especially when the Trojans return to full strength. They were missing senior forward Bridget Keys and four other players due to vacations and injuries. Swanson, who missed her freshman year following ACL surgery, will only be better with a little more support.
“She’s very strong,” said Downers Grove North coach Robert Calder said. "She’s got a ridiculously good left and right. She can hit 20-30 (yards) with her left and she’s right-footed.”
But it was Patera who took the biggest hit of the game when she collided with Downers Grove North forward Delaney Forst on a breakaway with 10:15 left in the second half.
Both players were shaken up but later returned. Payton Froats replaced Patera and made one save before Patera, who was hit in the mouth, came back to play the final two minutes.
“I just felt determined to finish the match we all started,” Patera said. “There’s a little bit of swelling, that’s all.”
Patera was loathe to miss any time in a victory the Mustangs said was three years in the making. Downers Grove South (4-1-0) has lost only once to the Trojans but hadn’t beaten them since 2012.
“It was pretty exciting,” Patera said. “North put up a really good fight. They played really well so I have to give them a lot of credit, too.
“It’s great to play teams that want to win, too, so you both get a good experience and good exposure, too.”
Exposure was inevitable in such cold conditions, though the players didn’t seem to mind it as much as the fans.
“Today was a good day to play,” Rasmussen said. “I don’t really think the conditions mattered. We’re going to play no matter what.”
Swanson agreed
“Obviously, we prefer perfect conditions for every game but it adds to the rivalry a little bit when you have snow coming across and the wind,” Swanson said. “It all adds to the atmosphere.
“We still had a good fan section come out. It was pretty cool.”
Swanson was less than happy with the way the Mustangs scored the game’s lone goal.
It came with 8:55 remaining in the first half against the wind and against the run of play. Lexi Dimovski worked a short corner kick and sent a secondary ball that got caught up in the wind.
The Trojans tried to clear it but a header wound up in front of the goal, where Rasmussen scored from five yards out.
“That one was tough,” Calder said. “I think my two girls went for a header and misjudged it with the wind because it was so high and then we got a bad head on it.
“It bounced around a little bit; they were first to the ball and poked it in.”
Rasmussen said her effort was nothing special.
“It was kind of bouncing around so I just put it in the net,” said Rasmussen, who earlier missed wide on a better chance – a 12-yard shot on a breakaway off a feed from Dimovski. “Sometimes it’s ugly, but I’ll take it.”
Aside from that, Downers Grove South’s only other legitimate scoring chance came with 15:00 to go in the second half when Natalia Pinto’s 29-yard free kick sailed inches over the crossbar.
“We actually defended them pretty well,” Calder said. “They were fast, they could get in, and I thought we stopped them pretty well.
But Calder rued his team’s near-misses.
“We had some good looks,” Calder said. “(Swanson’s first shot) was just super close.
“We also had a couple corners that kind of bobbled around and didn’t go in. We left a few on the field, and we felt like they scored (on) their chance.”
That was fine with Rasmussen.
“It felt really good,” Rasmussen said. “We hadn’t played (the Trojans) since my freshman year. We knew we wanted it, and we knew we were capable of winning it, so to get the result was awesome.”
Starting line-ups
Downers Grove North
GK: Grace Stevenson
D: Alyse Dutcher
D: Elizabeth Hodonicky
D: Carissa Mysliwiec
D: Arlinda Osmani
MF: Delaney Forst
MF: Maria Derrig
MF: Olivia Bull
MF: Abby Swanson
MF: Simone Gardner
F: Carlie Nehls
Downers Grove South
GK: Paige Patera
D: Sara Foernssler
D: Hannah Rossi
D: Marcela Calderon
D: Sydney Clements
MF: Sarah Casey
MF: Kailee O’Connor
MF: Natalia Pinto
MF: Megan Albers
F: Lexi Dimovski
F: Autumn Rasmussen
MVP of the Match: Paige Patera, GK, Downers Grove South
to win battle of Downers Grove
North controls much of play, but South gets the glory
By Matt Le Cren
DOWNERS GROVE – Mother Nature did Paige Patera no favors Saturday.
As if 37-degree temperatures and frequent snow squalls weren’t enough of a challenge, the Downers Grove South goalkeeper had to contend with a vicious wind gusting up to 50 miles per hour.
The host Mustangs were playing into the teeth of that wind in the first half of their match with crosstown rival Downers Grove North, meaning Patera was extremely busy for most of the first 40 minutes.
The swirling winds meant that many of Downers Grove North’s shots turned into knuckle balls. Catching them was the soccer equivalent of eating soup with a fork.
But Patera was up to the task. The junior made 10 saves and senior forward Autumn Rasmussen scored against the run of play in the 32nd minute as the Mustangs eked out a 1-0 nonconference victory.
“I’d say right after the first shot I adjusted to it because you could see the curves they would have in the air,” Patera said. “So you would have to set yourself first and then you’d see the curve and you’d have to shift and follow wherever the curve was going to.”
Patera, a varsity rookie, didn’t look too coordinated on some of her early saves but that was because the wind was blowing the ball all over the place, turning routine bounces into adventures. She twice had to leap to corral bouncing shots from long range.
“I think everyone adjusted really well at the beginning,” Patera said. “The first few minutes it’s hard.
“You have to figure out what’s going on but after that we picked it up, adjusted and knew what we were all going to do.”
Patera has adjusted quickly to the varsity level. She has three shutouts in her first five games.
“Paige has been doing very well for us,” Downers Grove South coach Chris Hernandez said. “Coming up her first year on varsity, it can be a little bit of an adjustment, but she’s done well.
“She has communicated well with her voice organizing the backline and the midfield, and that adds a different layer when you can use that communication aspect to organize what’s in front of you. It makes your job a lot easier.”
Not much of what Patera did against the Trojans was easy. She was tested just three minutes in when she had to face some cannon fire from Downers Grove North sophomore Abby Swanson, who ripped a 30-yard rocket that was headed for the top shelf.
Patera leaped to tip the ball against the underside of the crossbar and it came down on the goal line before she snatched it. She also denied Swanson on a 25-yard bullet in the 25th minute.
There was some debate as to whether Swanson’s first shot crossed the goal line, but she didn’t argue.
“It was tough to see on the field, but it was the ref’s call at the end of the day,” Swanson said. “It doesn’t matter one way or the other. It’s just part of the game.
“It would have been nice to have an early goal but you win some, lose some.”
The Trojans (1-1-0) lost despite earning a 12-5 edge in shots and controlling much of the play, even against the wind in the second half.
Junior Simone Gardner hit the right post with a 31-yard free kick in the 53rd minute and Swanson nearly tied the game twice in the final 2:25, missing a 14-yard shot wide of the left post and then sending in a cross that barely missed the head of teammate Haley Reynolds in front of the goal with 45 seconds to go.
“We need to find some more opportunities like that throughout the game,” Swanson said.
She figures to get plenty of opportunities, especially when the Trojans return to full strength. They were missing senior forward Bridget Keys and four other players due to vacations and injuries. Swanson, who missed her freshman year following ACL surgery, will only be better with a little more support.
“She’s very strong,” said Downers Grove North coach Robert Calder said. "She’s got a ridiculously good left and right. She can hit 20-30 (yards) with her left and she’s right-footed.”
But it was Patera who took the biggest hit of the game when she collided with Downers Grove North forward Delaney Forst on a breakaway with 10:15 left in the second half.
Both players were shaken up but later returned. Payton Froats replaced Patera and made one save before Patera, who was hit in the mouth, came back to play the final two minutes.
“I just felt determined to finish the match we all started,” Patera said. “There’s a little bit of swelling, that’s all.”
Patera was loathe to miss any time in a victory the Mustangs said was three years in the making. Downers Grove South (4-1-0) has lost only once to the Trojans but hadn’t beaten them since 2012.
“It was pretty exciting,” Patera said. “North put up a really good fight. They played really well so I have to give them a lot of credit, too.
“It’s great to play teams that want to win, too, so you both get a good experience and good exposure, too.”
Exposure was inevitable in such cold conditions, though the players didn’t seem to mind it as much as the fans.
“Today was a good day to play,” Rasmussen said. “I don’t really think the conditions mattered. We’re going to play no matter what.”
Swanson agreed
“Obviously, we prefer perfect conditions for every game but it adds to the rivalry a little bit when you have snow coming across and the wind,” Swanson said. “It all adds to the atmosphere.
“We still had a good fan section come out. It was pretty cool.”
Swanson was less than happy with the way the Mustangs scored the game’s lone goal.
It came with 8:55 remaining in the first half against the wind and against the run of play. Lexi Dimovski worked a short corner kick and sent a secondary ball that got caught up in the wind.
The Trojans tried to clear it but a header wound up in front of the goal, where Rasmussen scored from five yards out.
“That one was tough,” Calder said. “I think my two girls went for a header and misjudged it with the wind because it was so high and then we got a bad head on it.
“It bounced around a little bit; they were first to the ball and poked it in.”
Rasmussen said her effort was nothing special.
“It was kind of bouncing around so I just put it in the net,” said Rasmussen, who earlier missed wide on a better chance – a 12-yard shot on a breakaway off a feed from Dimovski. “Sometimes it’s ugly, but I’ll take it.”
Aside from that, Downers Grove South’s only other legitimate scoring chance came with 15:00 to go in the second half when Natalia Pinto’s 29-yard free kick sailed inches over the crossbar.
“We actually defended them pretty well,” Calder said. “They were fast, they could get in, and I thought we stopped them pretty well.
But Calder rued his team’s near-misses.
“We had some good looks,” Calder said. “(Swanson’s first shot) was just super close.
“We also had a couple corners that kind of bobbled around and didn’t go in. We left a few on the field, and we felt like they scored (on) their chance.”
That was fine with Rasmussen.
“It felt really good,” Rasmussen said. “We hadn’t played (the Trojans) since my freshman year. We knew we wanted it, and we knew we were capable of winning it, so to get the result was awesome.”
Starting line-ups
Downers Grove North
GK: Grace Stevenson
D: Alyse Dutcher
D: Elizabeth Hodonicky
D: Carissa Mysliwiec
D: Arlinda Osmani
MF: Delaney Forst
MF: Maria Derrig
MF: Olivia Bull
MF: Abby Swanson
MF: Simone Gardner
F: Carlie Nehls
Downers Grove South
GK: Paige Patera
D: Sara Foernssler
D: Hannah Rossi
D: Marcela Calderon
D: Sydney Clements
MF: Sarah Casey
MF: Kailee O’Connor
MF: Natalia Pinto
MF: Megan Albers
F: Lexi Dimovski
F: Autumn Rasmussen
MVP of the Match: Paige Patera, GK, Downers Grove South