Mustangs Prevail in Clash with Falcons
- acphoto22
- Mar 26
- 2 min read
Three years forward from winning the 2022 IHSA 3A state championship, Metea Valley (3-1) is a program that understands how to win. They needed every bit of that experience to take down a tough Wheaton North (1-3) team 2-1.
Early in the first half, the Falcons had a number of restart opportunities, but they couldn't put any of them in the back of the next. The Mustangs responded to the pressure with a couple of quick counters down the field, but they couldn't seem to get crosses onto the feet of players in front of the goal. The result was a nil-nil tie in a half that could easily have seen multiple goals by both teams.
Metea Valley's Olivia Hernandez worked in the central part of the field to get the Mustangs offense rolling. And on the edges of the field, Isabelle Leofanti and Chloe Birch were stretching the Falcons defense to the full width of the field.
The Mustang's offensive pressure resulted in several corner kicks and eventually, late in the half, a foul inside the box. Olivia Gonzalez buried the PK given Metea a one-nil lead. The Mustangs did not let up.
When the Mustangs brought the ball up the left side, Birch pinched in from the right and found herself in front of the Falcons' goal with an open shot.
North's keeper Leah Roe grabbed the hard shot without giving up a rebound. Roe made a number of strong plays throughout the game.
Birch, who made a number of deep runs in both halves, finally connected on a cross with Lily Senese who headed it in for a beautiful goal.
Wheaton North added some late intrigue by scoring with under a minute to play, but Metea Valley closed out the 2-1 victory.
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