Girls soccer: Yorkville stays aggressive, shuts out Joliet Central for SPC win

JOLIET – Playing soccer at Joliet Central is always a unique experience because of the proximity of the field to the railroad tracks and the many Metra trains that go by.

Well, Yorkville was able to hop on the express train and come away with a nice 4-0 victory over the host Steelmen in a Southwest Prairie Conference clash on Tuesday evening.

Four different players scored for the Foxes (5-9-1, 2-5-1), who broke a two-game losing streak, and have been playing well from midseason on, going 4-3-1 in their last eight games.

“Their goalie was making some nice saves early,” Yorkville coach Lauren Hoppensteadt said of Steelmen senior Madison Schlismann. “But once we got a goal, we did a good job of progressing and building some confidence. We’ve had a nice spread of people scoring.”

“Their goalie was making some nice saves early. But once we got a goal, we did a good job of progressing and building some confidence.”

—  Lauren Hoppensteadt, Yorkville girls soccer coach

Before the game, Yorkville assistant coach Scott Roseberg told the team to “Come out aggressive in the first five minutes.” The Foxes did but shots by senior Joslyn Bullington, junior Abby Broadway, and freshman Ashley McCallough, were good opportunities that either just missed the mark or were turned back by Schlismann.

Broadway, however, got the ball in an open opportunity on the right side. She was able to freeze Schlismann and convert her shot just inside the far, left post for the game’s initial goal with 13:46 left in the first half.

“She’s been our leading scorer,” Hoppensteadt said of Broadway. “She had a hat trick earlier in the season. We had some super ball movement.”

Joliet Central (3-11, 0-9) tried to counter as junior Emma Schlismann and senior Sara Mascote had opportunities that were wide or saved by senior keeper Lauren Dinnsen. The Foxes then added to the lead when junior Isabel Chilelli converted a goal from 20 yards out into the left corner with 2:29 left in the half.

Both first-half goals were assisted by Brynn Messersmith. The junior, who like many of the Foxes, can play forward or midfield, got in on the scoring herself. That came with 34:46 remaining in the game as Messersmith took a restart from nearly 30 yards out on the left side and placed it perfectly as it sailed over Schlismann’s head and into the net.

“Those are fun to shoot,” Messersmith said. of the restart score. “That was my third goal of the season but second on a restart. I also had one in the DeKalb Tournament.

“We can do a lot of give-and-go’s. Everyone is possessing the ball well. It (our record) has been hard through the season. But this boosts our morale a lot.”

Bullington capped the scoring as she converted in traffic in slipped in the final goal from close range with 21:25 to play. Broadway got credit for the assist.

“It was good to finish one and put it in the net,” said Bullington, who had a shot saved just 30 seconds before scoring. “It feels good to get this win. We’ve had close games (3 losses by a goal) but once we got the momentum we kept it up.”

Bullington and Messersmith said they didn’t notice the trains going by. But their coach did.

“I noticed them more when I was sitting on the bench,” Hoppensteadt said. “Because our field was flooded last season, this is our third year in a row coming here. It was just nice to get a win.”

Juli Calderon, a sophomore forward who had a hat trick in a 5-1 win over host Shepard earlier this season, had a few opportunities for the Steelmen but couldn’t convert.

“Juli had four combined opportunities,” Joliet Central coach Stephanie Phillips said. “Unfortunately she just couldn’t get one in the back of the net. But absolutely Madison Schlismann has kept us in most of our games. She takes a very active role and goes and gets the ball.

“It didn’t happen for us in this game. But going into the game we kept very much of a positive attitude and that’s something our program always does, just to be positive.”