Sycamore standing in way: Sterling must contend with talented team

Ordinarily, Laura Wagley would love to take in a Sycamore girls soccer match.

The Golden Warriors’ first-year soccer coach graduated from Sycamore in 2004 before starring for Aurora University.

On Tuesday, Wagley will coach her first regional match against the top-seeded and Division 1- loaded Spartans.

“’As soon as I saw that they were in our regional, I knew we’d play them right away,” Wagley said. “It’s tough because I’ll always be a Spartan at heart, but I am a coach now and I am coaching to win.”

Wagley has ties with several of the players on the Sycamore roster, which includes Northern Illinois University recruits Nici Newquist and Sara Cervenka, and Marquette-bound Karissa Miller.

“I am friends with a lot of the girls on the team,” Wagley said. “Mostly, I met them through camps we did when I was in high school.

“I was actually out to eat with a few of them a while ago and I told them that we were going to play them,” Wagley said. “I’m not sure they knew what I meant. I don’t think they knew Sterling had a team and that I was the head coach.”

The chances of victory for the 2-13 Warriors are slim against the Spartans.

“We’ve been working on packing the defense in as much as possible, “ Sterling senior Megan Vandersee said. “We want to do everything we can to stop them from scoring.

“Playing against a team like this will be great for the girls coming back. It’ll give them experience against some talented players and help them understand how to understand how to stop them.”

Wagley has the same feeling about the experience of playing Sycamore.

“Sycamore is a top-notch program and I hope that the girls take note of the way they conduct themselves,” Wagley said. “Their coach [David Lichamer] is great. He really runs the program well.”

Dixon lost to Sycamore 8-0 on April 2. If the Duchesses can get by Rochelle, to whom they lost 2-0 earlier this year, they may get another chance at the Spartans.

“We were missing a few key players the first time we played Sycamore,” Dixon coach Mahmoud Etemadi said. “They are a very good team, but I think we can play better than that if we get the chance.”