Plainfield N. holds on
to complete league sweep
Tigers top Oswego 2-1 for Southwest Prairie title
By Dave Owen
BOLINGBROOK -- The rains finally stopped, and Plainfield North’s flood of injuries continued.
Fortunately for the Tigers, Sam Elster was A-OK.
The senior’s two corner-kicks made the difference in Wednesday’s conference title-clinching 2-1 win over Oswego, a match moved to Bolingbrook due to the soggy grass field at Plainfield North.
Elster curled a corner-kick directly into the net six minutes into the second half to break a 0-0 tie.
Another Elster corner with 19 minutes left was headed home by Dana O’Boye for what turned out to be a critical insurance goal. And Elster's scoring contributions were just a small part of her big-time match.
“Was she everywhere or what” Oswego coach Kelsey Champion said of Elster. “Every single ball seemed to hit her in the head today. Our girls were like, ‘Does she have a concussion yet?’ She headed at least 10 in a row at one point. We couldn’t get the ball away from her.”
Elster and the Tigers (13-5-2, 7-0-0 in the Southwest Prairie Conference) took their play to a new level for the first 30 minutes of the second half – then had to endure a scary finish amid a last-minute barrage by Oswego (10-7-2, 5-2-0).
The Tigers set the tone three minutes into the half, when an Elster corner-kick was headed just over the net by O’Boye.
Three minutes later, Elster’s aim and touch were perfect.
After a Raven Withaar steal and Molly Grant endline attack set up a corner-kick, Elster did the rest. From the right corner, she curled her the ball just under the crossbar for a 1-0 Tiger lead.
“Last year I put in one or two (directly),” Elster said, “but this is the first time I’ve done that this year.
“I just try to put them in the best area for my teammates to be able to get onto it. I have a left foot so swinging from that (right) side (of the field) is to my advantage. I just try to put it in dangerous areas.”
That right corner was magic again later in the half. This time Elster’s restart connected with O’Boye in front, whose header was nearly blocked at the goal-line by Oswego forward Melissa Kasper but just crossed into the net for a 2-0 Tiger edge.
“I got on one (corner-kick) earlier, and I was just looking to go for my spot,” O’Boye said. “And she (Elster) hit it right there. I knew I had to get on it. It was a great play by Sam.”
One of Elster’s many.
“She won almost every battle in the air in the middle of the field,” Tigers coach Jane Crowe said of Elster, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match. “We struggle in the air, but she won so many. And she obviously had the goal and assist.
“I don’t know what we’d do without her. She’s so competitive. And in a game like this for a conference championship, she’s going to give everything she has.”
Elster and all the Tigers came out with added purpose in the second half.
“Most of it was our desire,” Elster said, “getting to loose balls, winning 50/50 balls and playing with more urgency and desperation. That’s what helped us in the second half.”
A scoreless first half featured few elite chances. Plainfield North had two of the best threats – a Megan Brier touch wide right off a Grant pass five minutes in, and Emily DeVaux heading a corner-kick wide in the 32nd minute.
“I feel like in the first half we were a little bit slow and tentative – besides Sam Elster with her head balls, like nine of them in a row,” Plainfield North defender Brittaney Kroll said.
“But I feel like in the second half we definitely picked it up. That’s what we needed to do, and we need to keep it that way.”
Keeping up the second half pace and keeping explosive Oswego at bay proved difficult for the Tigers. Injuries and mounting challenges to their depth didn’t help.
“We ended the game with three of our starters not in,” Crowe said. “Brittaney was more sick than anything – she’s been sick for about a week now, so we kept her in as long as we could, but she was struggling.
“We had another girl Jessica (Christmas) go to the emergency room (and miss the second half) to have her nose X-rayed, and Reese (Stirett) with shin splints hadn’t played in a week but played for a while today. We just tried to get through this game.”
It became a battle to the end.
Seemingly in control up 2-0 in the final 10 minutes, the Tigers had a bitter taste of their own set-piece medicine. Off an Abby Grzetic corner-kick, Riley Parker scored from 6 yards out to cut the Tiger lead to 2-1 with eight minutes left.
And Oswego wasn’t close to finished.
After Tigers forward Grant responded quickly with a shot off the side of the net, Oswego came within inches of tying the match with just three minutes to go.
After a foul, Grzetic powered a solid 35-yard free kick that hit off the crossbar above leaping Tiger goalkeeper Emma Veselsky. The Plainfield North defense cleared the rebound threat out on the sideline.
“We got ourselves in a hole two goals down, but we came back with a great goal,” Champion said. “Then (the free-kick) hit the crossbar pretty square, bounced down and our players just missed. As she hit it she (Grzetic) said, ‘That’s a beauty.’ She had the angle and everything. You can’t ask for more fight from the girls. They never gave up.
“We tried, we fought,” Champion added. “You can’t be upset with that. We showed some fight and some character, so I’m proud of them for that alone.”
Speaking of character and fight, no one on the field epitomized those traits more than Plainfield North junior defender Kroll.
“She missed her whole freshmen season with a torn ACL, and then tore it again in the third game her sophomore year,” Crowe said.
“This year as a junior, she’s been an important part of our team. She can play any position on the field, which is why she has been such a valuable player for us. She’s been starting on defense for the past few games since one of our starting defenders (Abby Gustafson) went out with an injury. She has also started games at center mid and at forward.”
An Illness Wednesday was Kroll’s latest challenge to face, but she endured in what is typical of her ability to battle through adversity.
“I’ve torn my ACL twice,” Kroll said. “I got out of the brace this season, and I’m feeling good. I’m a little sick right now, but I’m good.
“It’s been a tough recovery, or two recoveries. But these girls on the team have really helped me a lot, and the girls on my club team. These girls have picked me up. They didn’t treat me like I was hurt. When I was out, they treated me like I was one of them, and I was a player. That really helped me.”
Kroll’s presence has also helped the Tigers, especially as their injuries mount.
“Definitely we have some key players injured,” Elster said, “and all of us are dealing with small injuries as well.
“I think everybody coming in is stepping up. We just need to remind each other that we have to demand that much more of ourselves to replace what’s lost.”
After Christmas and Stirrett were sidelined Wednesday, players like Withaar and McKenna Woodill made big contributions off the bench.
“I thought obviously Sam and our back line in general was solid,” Crowe said, “and Raven Withaar came off the bench but played almost the whole game. I thought she gave us a spark with her energy and working hard in the middle. She was a key for us.”
After Grzetic’s crossbar shot, the Tigers had to endure one more scare.
An Oswego threat in the final minute initated with a Morgan Brown throw-in, which set up Grzetic for a 30-yard shot straight-on. But Veselsky made the save to seal the win.
“I think we relaxed a little bit after we got our second goal,” O’Boye said. “If we had kept our intensity it wouldn’t have looked like that.
“However we kept our composure and kept our confidence, we were organized in the back and we pulled through.”
With big challenges ahead against Naperville North on Thursday night and a rugged sectional, the Tigers know there is little room to let up going forward.
“When we sat back after that second goal, we absolutely can’t do that,” O’Boye said. “And the first half we came out a little slow – I don’t know why we did, but we have to make sure we’re urgent in the first half and the second half, and that we don’t sit back after scoring. We have to keep going and put it all together.”
Kroll also noted the ups-and-downs in Wednesday’s win.
“When we had to get it out (of the defensive end), we got it out,” she said. “And we had good possession. But as Dana said, we kind of relaxed in the second half – which gave them good opportunities.”
Not letting up is even more vital from a coach’s perspective.
“We talked about it,” Crowe said, “that we got the 2-0 lead and seemed to have complete control of the game, and then we kind of relaxed and thought it was over. They get that goal, and they suddenly have momentum and energy, and we’re kind of flustered.
“I thought we played a lot better in the second half than the first, but we get that lead and we can’t relax.”
With a hopefully healthier roster and a late-game lesson learned, Crowe is confident as playoffs loom.
“Next week we know we’ll have to turn it up a little bit,” she said. “And I think we will. We have a little break after tomorrow to hopefully regroup and come out a little bit stronger.”
Starting line-ups
Oswego
GK- Madison Lockard
D- Hannah Caruso
D- Jordyn Schoen
D- Morgan Brown
D- Carissa Brown
MF- Abby Grzetic
MF- Margaret Pagone
MF- Kacie Moran
MF- Erin Marchert
F- Kaylee Zimbelmann
F- Melissa Kasper
Plainfield North
GK- Emma Veselsky
D- Dana O’Boye
D- Brittaney Kroll
D- Emily DeVaux
D- Kaitlyn Mauder
MF- Sam Elster
MF- Kendyl Keay
MF- Megan Breier
MF- Reyse Stirrett
F- Molly Grant
F- Jessica Christmas
MVP of the Match: Sam Elster, MF, Plainfield North
to complete league sweep
Tigers top Oswego 2-1 for Southwest Prairie title
By Dave Owen
BOLINGBROOK -- The rains finally stopped, and Plainfield North’s flood of injuries continued.
Fortunately for the Tigers, Sam Elster was A-OK.
The senior’s two corner-kicks made the difference in Wednesday’s conference title-clinching 2-1 win over Oswego, a match moved to Bolingbrook due to the soggy grass field at Plainfield North.
Elster curled a corner-kick directly into the net six minutes into the second half to break a 0-0 tie.
Another Elster corner with 19 minutes left was headed home by Dana O’Boye for what turned out to be a critical insurance goal. And Elster's scoring contributions were just a small part of her big-time match.
“Was she everywhere or what” Oswego coach Kelsey Champion said of Elster. “Every single ball seemed to hit her in the head today. Our girls were like, ‘Does she have a concussion yet?’ She headed at least 10 in a row at one point. We couldn’t get the ball away from her.”
Elster and the Tigers (13-5-2, 7-0-0 in the Southwest Prairie Conference) took their play to a new level for the first 30 minutes of the second half – then had to endure a scary finish amid a last-minute barrage by Oswego (10-7-2, 5-2-0).
The Tigers set the tone three minutes into the half, when an Elster corner-kick was headed just over the net by O’Boye.
Three minutes later, Elster’s aim and touch were perfect.
After a Raven Withaar steal and Molly Grant endline attack set up a corner-kick, Elster did the rest. From the right corner, she curled her the ball just under the crossbar for a 1-0 Tiger lead.
“Last year I put in one or two (directly),” Elster said, “but this is the first time I’ve done that this year.
“I just try to put them in the best area for my teammates to be able to get onto it. I have a left foot so swinging from that (right) side (of the field) is to my advantage. I just try to put it in dangerous areas.”
That right corner was magic again later in the half. This time Elster’s restart connected with O’Boye in front, whose header was nearly blocked at the goal-line by Oswego forward Melissa Kasper but just crossed into the net for a 2-0 Tiger edge.
“I got on one (corner-kick) earlier, and I was just looking to go for my spot,” O’Boye said. “And she (Elster) hit it right there. I knew I had to get on it. It was a great play by Sam.”
One of Elster’s many.
“She won almost every battle in the air in the middle of the field,” Tigers coach Jane Crowe said of Elster, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match. “We struggle in the air, but she won so many. And she obviously had the goal and assist.
“I don’t know what we’d do without her. She’s so competitive. And in a game like this for a conference championship, she’s going to give everything she has.”
Elster and all the Tigers came out with added purpose in the second half.
“Most of it was our desire,” Elster said, “getting to loose balls, winning 50/50 balls and playing with more urgency and desperation. That’s what helped us in the second half.”
A scoreless first half featured few elite chances. Plainfield North had two of the best threats – a Megan Brier touch wide right off a Grant pass five minutes in, and Emily DeVaux heading a corner-kick wide in the 32nd minute.
“I feel like in the first half we were a little bit slow and tentative – besides Sam Elster with her head balls, like nine of them in a row,” Plainfield North defender Brittaney Kroll said.
“But I feel like in the second half we definitely picked it up. That’s what we needed to do, and we need to keep it that way.”
Keeping up the second half pace and keeping explosive Oswego at bay proved difficult for the Tigers. Injuries and mounting challenges to their depth didn’t help.
“We ended the game with three of our starters not in,” Crowe said. “Brittaney was more sick than anything – she’s been sick for about a week now, so we kept her in as long as we could, but she was struggling.
“We had another girl Jessica (Christmas) go to the emergency room (and miss the second half) to have her nose X-rayed, and Reese (Stirett) with shin splints hadn’t played in a week but played for a while today. We just tried to get through this game.”
It became a battle to the end.
Seemingly in control up 2-0 in the final 10 minutes, the Tigers had a bitter taste of their own set-piece medicine. Off an Abby Grzetic corner-kick, Riley Parker scored from 6 yards out to cut the Tiger lead to 2-1 with eight minutes left.
And Oswego wasn’t close to finished.
After Tigers forward Grant responded quickly with a shot off the side of the net, Oswego came within inches of tying the match with just three minutes to go.
After a foul, Grzetic powered a solid 35-yard free kick that hit off the crossbar above leaping Tiger goalkeeper Emma Veselsky. The Plainfield North defense cleared the rebound threat out on the sideline.
“We got ourselves in a hole two goals down, but we came back with a great goal,” Champion said. “Then (the free-kick) hit the crossbar pretty square, bounced down and our players just missed. As she hit it she (Grzetic) said, ‘That’s a beauty.’ She had the angle and everything. You can’t ask for more fight from the girls. They never gave up.
“We tried, we fought,” Champion added. “You can’t be upset with that. We showed some fight and some character, so I’m proud of them for that alone.”
Speaking of character and fight, no one on the field epitomized those traits more than Plainfield North junior defender Kroll.
“She missed her whole freshmen season with a torn ACL, and then tore it again in the third game her sophomore year,” Crowe said.
“This year as a junior, she’s been an important part of our team. She can play any position on the field, which is why she has been such a valuable player for us. She’s been starting on defense for the past few games since one of our starting defenders (Abby Gustafson) went out with an injury. She has also started games at center mid and at forward.”
An Illness Wednesday was Kroll’s latest challenge to face, but she endured in what is typical of her ability to battle through adversity.
“I’ve torn my ACL twice,” Kroll said. “I got out of the brace this season, and I’m feeling good. I’m a little sick right now, but I’m good.
“It’s been a tough recovery, or two recoveries. But these girls on the team have really helped me a lot, and the girls on my club team. These girls have picked me up. They didn’t treat me like I was hurt. When I was out, they treated me like I was one of them, and I was a player. That really helped me.”
Kroll’s presence has also helped the Tigers, especially as their injuries mount.
“Definitely we have some key players injured,” Elster said, “and all of us are dealing with small injuries as well.
“I think everybody coming in is stepping up. We just need to remind each other that we have to demand that much more of ourselves to replace what’s lost.”
After Christmas and Stirrett were sidelined Wednesday, players like Withaar and McKenna Woodill made big contributions off the bench.
“I thought obviously Sam and our back line in general was solid,” Crowe said, “and Raven Withaar came off the bench but played almost the whole game. I thought she gave us a spark with her energy and working hard in the middle. She was a key for us.”
After Grzetic’s crossbar shot, the Tigers had to endure one more scare.
An Oswego threat in the final minute initated with a Morgan Brown throw-in, which set up Grzetic for a 30-yard shot straight-on. But Veselsky made the save to seal the win.
“I think we relaxed a little bit after we got our second goal,” O’Boye said. “If we had kept our intensity it wouldn’t have looked like that.
“However we kept our composure and kept our confidence, we were organized in the back and we pulled through.”
With big challenges ahead against Naperville North on Thursday night and a rugged sectional, the Tigers know there is little room to let up going forward.
“When we sat back after that second goal, we absolutely can’t do that,” O’Boye said. “And the first half we came out a little slow – I don’t know why we did, but we have to make sure we’re urgent in the first half and the second half, and that we don’t sit back after scoring. We have to keep going and put it all together.”
Kroll also noted the ups-and-downs in Wednesday’s win.
“When we had to get it out (of the defensive end), we got it out,” she said. “And we had good possession. But as Dana said, we kind of relaxed in the second half – which gave them good opportunities.”
Not letting up is even more vital from a coach’s perspective.
“We talked about it,” Crowe said, “that we got the 2-0 lead and seemed to have complete control of the game, and then we kind of relaxed and thought it was over. They get that goal, and they suddenly have momentum and energy, and we’re kind of flustered.
“I thought we played a lot better in the second half than the first, but we get that lead and we can’t relax.”
With a hopefully healthier roster and a late-game lesson learned, Crowe is confident as playoffs loom.
“Next week we know we’ll have to turn it up a little bit,” she said. “And I think we will. We have a little break after tomorrow to hopefully regroup and come out a little bit stronger.”
Starting line-ups
Oswego
GK- Madison Lockard
D- Hannah Caruso
D- Jordyn Schoen
D- Morgan Brown
D- Carissa Brown
MF- Abby Grzetic
MF- Margaret Pagone
MF- Kacie Moran
MF- Erin Marchert
F- Kaylee Zimbelmann
F- Melissa Kasper
Plainfield North
GK- Emma Veselsky
D- Dana O’Boye
D- Brittaney Kroll
D- Emily DeVaux
D- Kaitlyn Mauder
MF- Sam Elster
MF- Kendyl Keay
MF- Megan Breier
MF- Reyse Stirrett
F- Molly Grant
F- Jessica Christmas
MVP of the Match: Sam Elster, MF, Plainfield North