Girls Soccer: DGS' Zurales Strikes Twice in Win over Lemont

Downers Grove South Forward Stephanie Zurales is one of the most exciting young soccer players in the Chicago area.

The freshman demonstrated that again Wednesday night, scoring two beautiful goals to lift the Mustangs to a 4-0 victory over host Lemont. It was the second two-goal game in the last three matches for Zurales, who now has nine goals, tied for the team lead with Illlinois State-bound senior Keri Kujawa.

“Our midfield played a great game and our defense is really strong,” Zurales said. “They just played the ball through. Those balls were perfect balls, and I just ran right on to them.”

Zurales opened the scoring with 32:54 left in the first half just moments after junior Jessica Bronke stole a pass in the midfield. Bronke quickly found Zurales streaking into the box and the rookie took one touch before beating Lemont goalie Kelly Fritz with a 15-yard shot.

Twenty minutes later, another turnover led to another Zurales strike. This time junior Sarrah Ludwig intercepted a goal kick and fed a pass into the box to Zurales, who quickly turned her defender and launched a left-footed shot into the upper left corner for a 2-0 Downers South lead.

“We’re really glad that she’s coming on as a freshman and scoring all these great goals for us,” Bronke said. “Her foot speed and her moves are really good and she’s able to beat defenders with that. That’s one of her strongest points, because when she beats the defender she has the goal right there in front of her.”

Zurales is impressing friend and foe alike with her play, which has helped the Mustangs to a 10-1-1 record, which includes victories in their last five outings.

“She’s a really good player and the thing I really liked about her was the quality of her finishes,”  Lemont coach Rick Prangen said. “It wasn’t a big build-up. Both those finishes were top-notch.”

Another thing that makes Zurales stand out is her accuracy, as the vast majority of her shots are on frame.

“She’s very efficient with her shooting,” Downers South Coach Barry Jacobson said. “We kind of saw that coming [into the season]. She’s done a nice job. She’s a very polished freshman and works hard and she’s trying to learn to get better. She’s a nice complement to [Kujawa and Ludwig].”

“I just try and hit far corners because I’ve been shooting a lot of them at the goalie, so I’ve got to get them in the corners or just try and cross it so my teammates can get a head on the ball,” Zurales said. “My team is doing really good. Our defense is really strong, our midfield is really strong, so it just helps me out at forward when we have the big, strong people behind me that I know can help me out.”

Zurales had plenty of help against the Indians (6-2), whose only previous loss was to Sandburg. Fellow rookie Emily Wauer extended South’s lead to 3-0 by scoring her fourth goal with 1:31 to go before intermission.

Wauer ran onto a pass from Megan Martin and slotted a shot under a charging Fritz that rolled into the net before a Lemont defender could catch up to it.

“We knew Lemont was going to be a hard game, so we…just wanted to play good,” Bronke said. “So we were just passing it to each other and then looking long for the forwards to go and score right away.”

Defender Jess Pikul capped the scoring with 13:41 left in the second half, heading home a corner kick from Flo Beshiri. Pikul, Kimmy Grimmer, Cara Doogan and Lori Niehaus were rock-solid again in front of junior goalie Amanda Meyers, who faced just six shots and made four saves to post the Mustangs’ fifth straight shutout and eighth of the season.

“They are a superior team,” Prangen said. “4-0 was well-deserved by them.”