Oswego East coach Juan Leal outlined a simple but effective gameplan for Tuesday’s home game against red-hot Minooka.

The Wolves (5-3-0, 2-0-0) battle Minooka (7-0-1, 3-0-1) in a key early season Southwest Prairie Conference game on the host’s thick, plush pitch Tuesday afternoon in Oswego.

“We need movement, on and off the ball,” Leal said. “We have to defend as a team, and we have to play fast. We want to dictate the tempo of the game.”

The Wolves have been up and down this season. They opened the season by beating Young and Payton of the Chicago Public League, but then suffered a loss Saint Ignatius, all of which were part of Hinsdale Central’s season-starting City-Suburb Connect Invitational. A loss to now-ranked Wheaton Warrenville South followed.

The trend continued with consecutive wins over Batavia and Plainfield South before a loss to no. 18 Hinsdale Central. Oswego East ended the two-wins-followed-by-two-losses streak with a 5-0 league victory over Joliet West on April 5.

“We have had several learning experiences and are starting to gel as a team,” Leal said. “We have had some lineup changes throughout the beginning of the season. We’re starting to find the right fit. We have shown signs of soccer brilliance and also shown that we’re capable of playing well.”

Leal said that seniors Anya Gulbrandsen (striker) and Riley Gumm (midfielder) are players to watch against Minooka, which debuted in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 this week at no. 23. Previously ranked Oswego East currently resides in the honorable mention section of the poll.

“Anya has been a force this season,” he said. “She’s always a disruption for defenders. She’s finding a way to score in every game. Riley has been brilliant with her distribution. She seems to find seams all over the field. Our defenders are organizing themselves very well, led by Emma Klosterman.”

Minooka coach Chris Brolley anticipates a tough match against the Wolves. He said the Indians have to be prepared and ready to battle for 80 minutes in their first match at Oswego East in two years. The Indians, who won 13 games last season after finishing below .500 in 2022, are one of the top teams in the conference this season.

“Their field is tough to play (on),” Brolley said. “Oswego East is a pretty tough team. My players went the other day to watch them play Joliet West, because they know players from both teams. Oswego East has some really athletic, high-level players we have to keep an eye on. We feel confident because of our record, but not overconfident. They want to compete and love challenges.”

The Indians are down a few players due to serious injuries, but have managed to stay undefeated heading into a difficult stretch of opponents.

“We’ve had a couple of injuries, but we’ve been battling through those and still doing well, which is a bright spot,” he said. “We’re a really close team, one of the closest teams we’ve had at Minooka. They like to do stuff on and off the field.”

Brolley said center midfielders Jada Neill and Callie Hefner are the engine of his team.

“Our center mids have been doing a good job,” he said. “Jada and Callie are two pretty high-level players and know the game well and what to do. They control the game a ton, finding gaps for our striker  and opportunities to put (teammates) in space. We don’t combine as well in the first third, but our individual effort is super intense, and they know the game well. We’re getting better every game.”