By Kyle LoJacono
The Wharton girls soccer team won its invitational tournament for the first time, defeating Steinbrenner 2-1 in penalty kicks (PKs) Nov. 3.
The Wildcats (3-0-1) fell behind the Warriors (2-1) in the sixth minute, but scored after halftime to force PKs.
The squads each converted four of five attempts, with Steinbrenner senior goalkeeper Eleanor Wilson making the only save, setting up sudden death PKs.
Wharton senior midfielder Leah Chisolm set the ball, took a deep breath and fired a shot toward the bottom right corner. Wilson appeared to stop it, but the ball just trickled across the line.
“Coach will ask who wants to go, and people step up,” said Chisolm, an Eckerd College commit. “I didn’t at first, but after our fifth one missed, I figured just go for it.”
Chisolm said she is “terrified” of PKs and never normally takes them.
“I was thinking I have to get over that fear,” Chisolm said. “I can’t run away from it.”
Wildcats coach Denis Vukorep said he was “proud” Chisolm decided to take the PK.
“She stepped up for her team, stepped out of her comfort zone and did it,” Vukorep said.
Wildcats’ goalkeeper Gabrielle Hyppolite stopped Claire Groenstein’s shot to send the home team out a winner.
Steinbrenner was without seven players and Wharton was without four during the finals because of injuries, club games or SAT testing.
“We said at the start we might get down 1-0 or up 1-0, but we’ve got to keep pushing,” Vukorep said. “We can’t use any excuses based on who’s here and who isn’t here. Everyone who made the team wanted to play. This was an opportunity for people to step up.”
Warriors coach Angela Gillisse wouldn’t use being shorthanded as justification for losing.
“We’re only going to be as strong as our weakest players, and we were looking to the depth on our bench to finish some of these opportunities,” Gillisse said. “I think we outplayed them, but we made a few key mistakes. … It was just some early in the season jitters that hopefully, with more training, will improve the dynamic of some of our midfielders and forwards.”
Steinbrenner dominated possession in the first half and scored the game’s opening tally when senior forward Alexis Bredeau notched her eighth goal. The University of North Florida commit totaled eight last season.
The Wildcats started attacking more after halftime to counter the Warriors’ offense.
“First half we just wanted to be conservative because we had some kids playing who haven’t gotten into games yet because of not having some starters today,” Vukorep said. “We just wanted to feel things out. The girls felt good at halftime, so we said let’s go attack. We went to a more attacking formation, created more opportunities and had more possession. We were only able to do that because some people stepped up.”
The change paid off when junior midfielder Laura Johnson found Chisolm on a through ball, who capitalized with the game-tying tally seven minutes after halftime.
Vukorep said Chisolm was fighting an ankle injury.
“If we had more numbers she probably wouldn’t have played today, but she was an absolute beast,” Vukorep said. “When she was on the ball she was unstable.”
Vukorep felt good going into PKs.
“We’re money on penalty kicks,” Vukorep said. “We’re probably 5-1 in the last four years in PKs.”
Vukorep added getting past quality teams for the title will benefit his young squad that is replacing seven seniors from last year.
“We’ve done this the last six years, and we invite the best teams we can get,” Vukorep said. “Steinbrenner has won a state championship, but they’ve never won our tournament. This is not an easy tournament to win.”
Wharton beat Sunlake 5-2 and Berkley Prep 3-1 to advance to the finals. Forward Lexie Oeth and Chisolm each recorded two goals against the Seahawks.
Steinbrenner defeated Clearwater Central Catholic (CCC) 9-1 and Newsome 4-3 in PKs to reach the championship game. Bredeau scored six times against CCC, while forward Jessica Taylor had two goals.
The Wildcats play at Freedom Nov. 7, while the Warriors host Newsome. Both games start at 8 p.m.
—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker
