Girls soccer teams brave chilly spring

The andhigh school girls soccer teams aren’t squeamish about the weather.

Although baseball, softball, boys tennis and other outdoor spring sports have postponed or cancelled events because of the unseasonably cold weather, Oswego East earned its first win of the season via a 2-1 decision over Glenbard South.

Trailing 1-0, sophomore Julianna DePoister scored the Wolves first goal of the season with 40 seconds left in the first half to tie it at 1-1 heading into the second half.

Junior midfielder Carli Schlaker scored the winning goal in the 74th minute to the game.

Oswego East (1-1) started the season with a 4-0 loss to Downers Grove South.

The Wolves are picked to finish second in the Southwest Prairie Conference behind overwhelming favorite Plainfield North, according to the official preseason poll.

Oswego East has climbed the ladder and posted 5-2 league marks each of the last two seasons, which was good enough to tie for second place last year with Minooka.

The Wolves feature preseason all-SPC selections Schlaker, Anida Phetchanpheng, Katie Ross and Jill Hall.

After a pair of runner-up finishes, Oswego (0-2) has taken fourth in the league each of the last two seasons. All-league performer Lisa Bajkowski, Cathy Tram and Miranda Pence, who are all-SPC preseason picks, lead the Panthers into the 2011 league season, which starts Thursday.

“I am so excited for this season,” Oswego coach Jamie Bartkowiak said. “I have an entire roster full of talented, hard-working players.  I think we can really surprise a lot of people this year with our level of play and because of that, I think we can be very successful.”

The Panthers dropped a 4-0 decision to Naperville Central last week in Naperville.

“This was a tough game for us tonight, but we learned so much,” Bartkowiak said. “I think the girls did a fantastic job today of overcoming the difficulties they faced and it was clear they were improving even during the game.  We still have more to learn, but once we do we're going to accomplish great things.”

Laura Gallardo (three saves) and Amy Annala (four saves) shared time in goal for the Panthers.

“We're working on a new formation; one that a lot of the girls have never played,” Bartkowiak said. “That forces us into a steep learning curve and with this being only our second game that makes things difficult.”

The Oswego East baseball team has started the season 0-2, losing 8-4 to West Aurora and 4-1 to Streamwood.

Cody Burton and Eric Egan were both 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Wolves in the loss to West Aurora. Burton had two stolen bases, including a steal of home to score the only run in the loss to Streamwood.

Eric Egan took the loss, allowing one run over four innings.

Oswego East’s softball team is still in search of its first win of the season after an 0-3 start.

The Wolves fell to Conant 2-1 and 10-3 and suffered a 5-4 loss to Loyola at the Spring Jamboree