Toughness Wins Titles

What is the difference between winning and losing? Can a loss offer any benefit?

Metea Valley won the sugary-drink-sponsored tournament by defeating Wheaton-Warrenville South 2-1.

The match was an intense mental and physical battle.

State titles are not given out. They are won by a collection of players and coaches out battling every team in their path. Amanda Wegfield (10) never gives up on this play. Fans who are distracted by the referee's unused whistle in the above video, let it go. Referees do what they do. Winners, they block out that which they cannot control, and they focus on doing their job. Wegfield fights through defenders and literally falls into the net as she scores.

Wegfield was not the only Mustang with laser focus on Sunday. Emma Strcic (7) and Olivia Hernandez (8) epitomized the expectations of a midfielder. Play defense. Play offense. End to end. Sideline to sideline. From minute one to the last minute of stoppage time.

Metea Valley players point to Emma Strcic, holding shiny belt, when she is named MVP of the sugary-beverage championship game that the Mustangs won by defeating Wheaton-Warrenville South 2-1, April 27, 2025, LaGrange, Illinois. | Allen Cunningham FiveStarFrames.com

The locked-in focus of Wegfield, Strcic, and Gonzalez give Metea Valley a chance to win every game they play. But those three are not the only Mustangs making plays. Isabelle Leofanti (21) has speed out on one edge, and Lily Senese (3) has a feisty toughness on the other.

Metea Valley's Lily Senese, far left in the above photo, scores the Mustang's 2nd goal enroute to a 2-1 victory over Wheaton-Warrenville South in the sugary-drink championship match, Sunday, April 27, 2025, LaGrange, Illinois. | Allen Cunningham FiveStarFrames.com

Wheaton-Warrenville came into this match without a loss, and they showed their toughness competing in this game until the final whistle. Down 2-0, they did not pack up their boots and ball and call it a day. Late in the match they were still playing hard, and scored on a corner kick.

Wheaton-Warrenvile South's Eleanor Whaley (15) scores a goal against Metea Valley, April 27, 2025, LaGrange, Illinois. | Allen Cunningham FiveStarFrames.com

Eleanor Whaley's late goal made clear the Tigers will not quit. It also gave Metea Valley's head coach Chris Whaley, Eleanor's dad, a moment to smile. Hats off to Eleanor and her dad. There is enough pressure in competitive soccer without competing against a family member.

When the game was complete, the Mustangs participated in a sweet, carbonated celebration. Respect to coach Rachel Bostick as she and most of the players let go of the physical and mental demands of the earlier game and enjoyed the closeness and pure joy of team membership.