By Bobby Narang
The Oswego East High School boys soccer team endured a rough start in the first week of the season.
The Wolves, amid a difficult week due to intense heat, opened up the season with a 1-1 draw to Hinsdale Central and dropped a 2-1 decision to Waubonsie Valley Friday, Aug. 25. The Warriors scored two goals in the second half to pull out the comeback road victory before a big crowd on a steaming late afternoon at Oswego East.
The Wolves led, 1-0, following an impressive goal by Jonathan Carranza, but they couldn’t hold the advantage.
“We have to finish better,” Carranza said. “We have some other things to work on. It was an unlucky loss. I think we played pretty good and hustled. It was just unlucky they got that last goal and we were unable to finish.”
The Wolves are looking to take another step forward this Fall after finishing with a 9-7-4 record last season. They have high hopes with 14 returnees even though they miss the big-time scoring of Dupablo Parodis-Yu.
Oswego East’s Caleb Pankiewicz said the Wolves will improve the season due to their talent and work ethic.
“I feel like it just comes down to our mental mistakes,” Pankiewicz said. “It’s a tough loss, but we will come back from it. We worked hard and we will come back stronger. I feel as a new team with a lot of new players that we just have to get our confidence up. We know we can finish.”
Oswego East senior Landon Kangas said finishing is something the team must become better at to challenge for a conference championship.
“It’s tough to lose off two of their easier chances, but we struggled in the final third converting off their mistakes,” Kangas said. “We have to start taking more shots and connecting in the final third and goals will come.”
Meanwhile, Waubonsie Valley defeated highly ranked Benet Academy in its opener and gained a solid road victory over Oswego East.
“We had to deal with bus issues and roll with the punches, but we did, and it was tough with the heat,” Waubonsie Valley head coach Jose Garcia said. “We started off a bit slow, but once we got the momentum toward the middle of the game that really helped us. We’re still trying to figure things out possession and technical wise, but toward the end, we started to get it together.
“I’m so proud of these boys and on what they’ve accomplished so far, and they are really meshing right now. We’ve been doing a good job on the final third and finishing.”