For the first time in 16 years, a girls soccer team other than Downers Grove South is the champion of the West Suburban Gold.
With its 5-0 win over visiting Leyden on Tuesday, Hinsdale South improved to 6-0 in conference play to win its first conference title since 2001.
“This feels so amazing,” senior midfielder Tess Sobol said. “I’m speechless. I can’t believe it.”
Hornets coach Jen Belmonte was a high school junior on the Hornets’ 2001 team under longtime head coach Pat Wolf, who is now an assistant coach under Belmonte.
Sobol and senior forward Cali Vanderplow were varsity freshmen on the Hornets team that placed fourth in Class 2A in 2014.
“Even then, we didn’t win conference that year,” Sobol said. “It means so much to come together as a team and win it this year. To (go unbeaten) in the conference is incredible.”
More Top Picks Bike Light
The Hornets (14-3-3) didn’t give up a single goal in its six conference wins and have outscored all opponents 60-8 this year.
Led by goalkeeper Radhika Patel and a sturdy back line, the Hornets’ victory against Leyden was the team’s 14th shutout of the season.
Senior captains Emily Ofenloch, Erin Alajoki, Nicole Kilrea and Sobol have played varsity soccer together since they were sophomores. Ofenloch and Kilrea are defensive mainstays, and Alajoki and Sobol are midfield anchors for the Hornets.
Senior goalkeeper Patel and her sister, senior defender Gopika Patel, are Loyola recruits who played high-level club soccer before joining the Hornets’ squad this year. Vanderplow returned to varsity soccer this year after playing club soccer her sophomore and junior years.
“It’s just a pleasant surprise getting the (Patels) back there, along with Cali, and it’s been a combination of the seven seniors and the juniors we have with them,” Belmonte said. “It’s a really good group.”
Hinsdale South took control of Tuesday’s game early, getting a goal from Gina Cavalli just three minutes into play and another at 13 minutes by Alajoki. Abigail Mazurek scored in the 21st minute, and Kerry Glimco scored on a header off a Cavalli feed one minute later, giving the Hornets a 4-0 halftime lead.
Cavalli added a goal in the second half after Alajoki reached the endline and crossed a ball that was deflected by Leyden’s goalkeeper. Cavalli was there to finish it, giving her two goals and an assist on the day.
“Her sister was here from college and her grandma was in from Florida, so I know she wanted to put on a little bit of a show out there,” Belmonte said of Cavalli. “But everyone shared the ball, and it’s nice to see our scoring spread out like that.”
After starting the season 7-0-2, the Hornets faced elite competition at the PepsiCo Showdown and knew there room for improvement.
“We were in the highest bracket of the (PepsiCo), and we played some tough teams,” Belmonte said. “We lost 3-0 to (Lyons), 2-0 to Maine South, and 1-0 to Wheaton Warrenville South. Scoring-wise, that was probably our weakest week.”
Those three losses accounted for six of the eight goals the Hornets have given up all year and also pointed them back in the direction of finding their attacking footing.
“We started strong with goal-scoring this year and then had a little struggle at the PepsiCo tournament,” Vanderplow said. “We hadn’t been taking that simple pass at the end of plays. We went back to the basics and started to hit that simple ball.
“That’s what we did tonight. … I can’t believe after 16 years that we finally won (the conference title) again.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press