Joliet West overcomes rocky start, peaking at the right time: The Herald-News girls soccer notebook

There’s no doubt the beginning of the season was rough for the Joliet West girls soccer team. The Tigers started 2-4, with the four losses by a combined 16-3 margin.

But the Tigers didn’t let that start shape their season, and now they appear to be peaking at the right time.

Since losing four of six matches to start the season, the Tigers have won nine of their past 11, and four in a row. Even their two losses were competitive, falling to Plainfield Central 2-1 and Minooka 3-1.

Next up on the schedule are Shepard, Sandburg, Joliet Central, Oswego East and Bolingbrook. Those five teams are a combined 15-36-12 on the season with Oswego East’s 4-3-5 mark the best of the bunch. The Tigers could be riding a nine-game winning streak when they face Oswego in the regular-season finale.

“The biggest thing for our girls is just competing for 80 minutes,” Tigers coach Alan Stewart said. “We’ve really been preaching that the past couple of games in particular. ... Kudos to our girls for really stepping up these past few games a lot.”

Joliet West’s recent success has come despite dealing with some adversity. The Tigers have had seven different starters miss games, yet that four-game winning streak includes a 2-1 victory over Plainfield South.

Stewart said that was the program’s first win over the Cougars.

Freshman Emma Vugteveen has been a big reason for the Tigers’ success. She has 19 goals and eight assists on the season, including both goals over Plainfield South. Sophomores Alicia Casillas (six goals, five assists) and Isabel Cordoba (five goals four assists) also have been key cogs.

Having contributors that are so young is also a good sign for the future. Joliet West currently is sixth in the Southwest Prairie Conference standings.

“We’ve won against some quality teams for sure,” Stewart said. “We’ve taken care of business when we needed to. ... At this point of the season we just have to keep piling up wins, keep playing hard, and I’m just proud of the girls for being able to finish.”

The other Tigers

One of those early losses for Joliet West was to Plainfield North by a score of 5-0. There’s no shame in that, however. That’s par for the course for Plainfield North opponents this season.

Prior to losing 2-0 to Glenbard West on April 17, Plainfield North had won eight games in a row. The Tigers have now won two consecutive matches and their only other loss was 1-0 to St. Charles North in the second game of the season.

The Tigers (11-2) are outscoring opponents 35-8 on the season. It’s not surprising to see. Plainfield North reached the sectional final last season and was the only team to defeat Lockport in 2024. The season is still far from over, but the Tigers have the look of a team poised for another deep run.

History for the Griffins

Lincoln-Way East entered the season with three Division I commits on its roster and a lot of expectations. The Griffins (9-2-1) have lived up to those expectations so far.

Included in those nine victories was an 8-0 win over Bradley-Bourbonnais on April 22. That victory was the 300th in program history.

Competing since the 2002 season, the Griffins have been led by just two coaches: Brian Papa (2002-2016) and Mike Murphy (2017-present). They’re currently living in the best of times, having made the state tournament for the first time just two years ago.

There’s a lot of soccer to be played, but this year’s group is hoping for a second trip to state.