Girls soccer: Oswego East shuts out West Aurora

Updated: April 23, 2012 9:27PM

There certainly wasn’t a lack of opportunities in Monday’s non-conference match, but in the end Oswego East found the back of the net twice to post a 2-0 road win over West Aurora.

Both teams were hoping to start building momentum toward the post-season and get on a roll after an up-and-down season thus far, but it was the visiting Wolves who improved to 6-6-1 having gone 3-0-1 over the last four contests. West Aurora, which was hoping to add a fifth victory over a seven-match span, slipped to 6-7-0.

After a scoreless first half, Oswego East got a huge lift when Miranda Lambert’s pass enabled Wolves scoring leader Anita Phetchanpheng to slot a six-yarder from left of center past Blackhawk goalie Cadmiel Rocha.

“We’ve both gotten to know each other pretty well and look for each other whenever possible and Miranda gave me a great feed,” explained Phetchanpheng who primarily played defense her first two seasons but moved up front and notched her 10th goal of the year and fourth match-winner. “Coach brought up the idea of me moving up and with Victoria (Pecci) being such a good defender, I’m just trying to help our offense.”

Oswego East certainly helped its cause by tacking on a second goal just over five minutes later when Megan Ross parked a 12-yarder from the right side inside the left post netting for her fourth strike of the year.

“I saw an opportunity to hit the back post and just went for it,” Ross noted. “I think going up 2-0 really helped motivate us because we knew it would take a very solid effort and three goals to beat us.”

That’s not to say West Aurora didn’t try to make the comeback as the hosts failed to capitalize on Sammie O’Brien’s stellar flip throws. The Blackhawk soph placed eight of her nine tosses in front, but the last touch was either missing or Oswego East made the defensive clear.

“We’ve got to finish our chances, plain and simple,” West Aurora coach Laura Wagley said. “In the first 10 minutes we were awesome, but then we kind of died. They wanted it more and we just didn’t play with enough heart.”

Oswego East managed a 19-15 advantage in overall attempts and an 11-5 edge for on-target tries as junior Megan Moran gave the Wolves a fourth shutout win despite the absence of regular keeper Alyson Newton.

“She’s a center midfielder filling in for us today and she made some great saves for not being a goalie,” Wolves coach Lauren Anderson added. “Wins are always nice, but we’re starting to come together as a team. Pecci had some great (defensive) clears, Megan had some other near goals, and Anita can virtually play any position and always give us 100 percent.”

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