Neuqua Valley Cruises Again at Downers South Invite

Even though the girls soccer team had won its first two matches of the season by shutout, the Wildcats felt they weren’t playing up to their potential.

They’re singing a different tune now.

With all phases of their game apparently in harmony, the Wildcats (4-0) have crushed their last two opponents by a combined 13-0, including Thursday’s 6-0 rout of host at the Downers Grove South Invite. Neuqua will play for the tournament championship on Saturday night at Hinsdale Central.

"I think we have the potential to beat a lot of teams like this,” Neuqua senior midfielder Alexa Wilde said. “It’s really [about] what our mentality is when we come into a game and I think the last two games we came into it with more intensity than we did the first two games. I think it’s showing [in the results].”           

Despite missing a penalty kick, Wilde played a big role in the offensive explosion. She scored her team’s fourth goal of the game with 14:46 left in the first half when she headed home a corner kick from Hope D’Addario. Four minutes earlier, Wilde had assisted on sophomore Zoey Goralski’s third goal of the game.

Goralski registered her second hat trick in as many games and she accomplished it within a span of 4:36, showcasing her speed and finishing ability. She now has seven goals in three games this spring, one less than she had all of last season.

“I don’t have any say in [the hat tricks], but I’d like to make it a nightly thing,” a smiling Goralski said. “The passes [her teammates] put in are great and I like to have one [defender] in front of me so I can take them on and from there on out it’s just getting it on net and seeing what happens.”

For the Wildcats lately, scoring is a matter of just getting Goralski the ball and seeing what happens. She beat at least one defender on all three of her goals, with the final two coming on lead passes from the midfield.

“Oh, my gosh, her foot skills are amazing and it’s amazing to watch,” Wilde said. “I love looking for her on those through balls or whatever [the play] is because I know she can take it to the goal and she’s going to finish it every time.”

Goralski started the scoring at the 23:25 mark of the opening period when she beat the defense into the right side of the penalty area and got around Red Devils goalie Julia Gesior. For a moment it appeared as though Goralski had let her dribble get away from her, but she tracked the ball down on the end line, used some fancy footwork to get around Gesior again and then fired a 10-yard shot from a severe angle before any defenders could get there. It was the same type of sharp angle Goralski had scored on the night before against Lincoln-Way Central, only from the opposite side of the box.

“On two of [the goals] she made some nice moves to beat defenders and she’s just real quick,” Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau said. “She moves with the ball and the ball stays on her foot.”

That’s an advanced skill for an attacker and can be deadly in a one-on-one situation.

“It’s one of my strong points, I think, is just taking people on one-on-one,” Goralski said. “I try to use it as much as I can.”

Wilde pointed out that Goralski has another key strength rarely found in young players.

“She’s got some serious composure around the net, which is hard to find in a lot of girls, that last-minute touch,” Wilde said. I think that’s amazing.”

Gianna Dal Pozzo and Meghan McBride also scored for the Wildcats, who outshot Hinsdale Central 28-6 and have yet to allow a goal. Freshman goalie Madison Thielsen had to make only one save to get the shutout.

“We certainly played poorly in the first half,” said Hinsdale Central coach Skip Begley, whose team fell to 2-3. “We did not understand the concept of what they were trying to do.

“We played some different people in the back in the second half and I thought we did a little bit better job, but we certainly didn’t have much offense.”

Gesior made nine saves for the Red Devils, who finish the round-robin tournament by facing Lincoln-Way Central on Saturday.