One of Oswego senior Abbigail Grzetic’s biggest priorities was to finally beat Plainfield North.
The Panthers fell short of doing that during Wednesday’s Southwest Prairie Conference home game, rallying in the second half before falling 3-2.
“As a senior, this is bittersweet for me because it’s the last time we’re playing them and I’ve always wanted to beat Plainfield North,” Grzetic said. “I think our underclassmen have a very good chance of beating them next year, but I’m not thinking of that now. We’ll move past this and try to get better for our next game.”
Plainfield North (3-2, 2-0) hasn’t lost a conference game since 2008, going 58-0 during that time.
“Oswego always gives us our toughest games in the conference and they play hard and physical, and they never back down,” Tigers coach Jane Crowe said. “We know it’s never going to be an easy game, and this wasn’t. We’re just used to playing them later in the season, so were both still trying to figure things out.”
Grzetic curled in a corner kick with 6:05 remaining to pull the Panthers (0-4, 0-1) to within 3-2, but they couldn’t muster anything else offensively the rest of the afternoon.
“We’ve had a rough start to the season, but we came out and played hard for a full 80 minutes,” Grzetic said. “I’m sure proud of the girls. I’m not happy that we lost, but it was a good game overall. We played well against a very good team.”
Oswego fell behind in the opening minutes on a goal by Molly Grant, but tightened things up defensively to remain within striking distance. That paid off with 23:57 remaining when Kaylee Zimbelmann scored on a breakaway to tie the game at 1-1.
“I just knew up top they were fumbling it around a lot and if we kept the pressure up we’d get an opening,” Zimbelmann said. “I saw where I was, had the ball and knew it could help change the game so I just took it myself and went towards the goal.”
Victoria Thornton’s goal off a corner kick midway through the second half put Plainfield North up 2-1. Megan Breier’s tap-in with 9:10 left appeared to seal the game for the Tigers before Grzetic scored to halve Oswego’s deficit.
“We were there until the very end and we’ve been talking about putting in that full effort and they did that,” Oswego coach Kelsey Champion said. “Unfortunately we gave up that early goal, but we kept fighting. I’m happy with how we didn’t give up. I can’t be disappointed with that effort. To score with six minutes left and to keep fighting, I loved seeing that.”
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Teams can become discouraged when they find themselves winless by the end of March, but the Panthers remain optimistic and are looking beyond their early results.
“Losing doesn’t mean much now compared to in May,” Champion said. “Our schedule is brutally tough and it’s been a great test for the team. The girls have a good attitude and they’re continuing to get better. That’s all that matters right now.”
C.R. Walker is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News.