When Joliet West defeated Joliet Central 7-0 on Tuesday, the conversation was mostly about the senior class. It was senior night, after all, and senior Julia Martinez got the party started with a goal 24 seconds into the game. She ended up scoring two goals, giving the Class of 2024 the win and giving the Tigers the victory.
But in this celebration, let's not forget that while the present is bright for Joliet West, they needed to wear some shade for the future.
The Tigers are 15-5-2 overall and 5-2-2 in conference play. They beat West Aurora 3-1 on Thursday, winning their third straight game and improving to 10-1-2 in their last 13 games. So things are going well this year as we've been building our program since the end of COVID-19. As head coach Alan Stewart said after the Central game, Martinez was a big part of that.
“We've been through ups and downs with things like COVID-19,” he said. “Our seniors have stuck with it, and we’re going to reward them by having all of our seniors start today. We want to reward them for everything they’ve given to the program. I am thinking.”
But just as important in Central's game were the non-seniors. The remaining five goals all came from underclassmen, with Alicia Casillas scoring a hat trick. So, expect the freshmen to continue to grow for years to come because of the great work of the senior class.
“This team is going to grow a lot every year,” Martinez said. “Every season we get better and better. Alicia's freshman hat trick on senior night shows the future of this team.”
21 games and counting. Right now, Lockport's winning streak is there. The Porters are 21-0 in conference play, including 4-0 after a recent win against Lincoln-Way East. Lockport is the standard all teams are striving for this season.
But Saturday was the toughest test yet. In fact, the Griffins and Porters ended regulation tied 1-1 before Lockport won on penalties. Lockport defeated Glenbrook South 2-1 in overtime in the third game of the season and defeated Northwest 1-0 two weeks ago. Add in the Lincoln vs. Way East game and these are the only games decided by one goal.
In other words, Lockport has gained the upper hand. The scary thing for other teams is that they could be even better.
“We're always trying to get better,” head coach Todd Elkay said last month. “We're just trying to keep moving forward a little bit every week, every game, and get ready for the playoffs.”
Speaking of unblemished teams, Lemont managed to remain undefeated with a win over Blue Island Eisenhower in the South Suburban Conference last weekend.
Well, managed is a bit underrated.
Lemont dominated the Cardinals, winning 7-0 with Ella Simpson and Sarah Shields each scoring two goals. It was Lemont's 10th straight win, 13th in 14 tournaments and 10th in conference play. Lemont now has a total of 15 wins and 3 losses.
Lemont was completely dominant after starting the season 2-3. Despite losing 5-1 to Wheaton North on April 9, Lemont has outscored opponents 69-2 in its last 14 games. In his most recent match he won 2-0 and so far he has won 4 matches with a score of 7-0 which is truly incredible.
Andrew will then become Lemont's next choice with one game left before the postseason begins. You don't want to be on Lemont's side of the bracket when the playoffs come around.
