Chesterton stung by yellowjackets and Warsaw Tigers on opening night for the new soccer stadium in a 2-0 loss

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

At first glance and even through and after the game, Chesterton’s new turf soccer venue was as advertised: Beautiful, functional, intimate.
But as so many in Chesterton were reminded of last week, nature knows no boundaries, which a couple of Trojans learned Wednesday before their season-opening match that they lost to Warsaw, 2-0.
Yellowjackets, known as the most aggressive of wasps, nest in holes in the ground. Little did the girls know that one was located behind their bench.
One of the players and then another stepped on a nest and the swarm was on.
“Other than getting stung by 19 bees or something like that, I like the new field a lot,” junior defensive center-midfielder Gabby Roberson said. “My friend stepped there and said ‘Something just bit me.’ So, she stepped aside and I took her place in that position and all the bees came up. I had them all over my leg, but I think I only got stung four times.”
One of the coaches pulled the rest of the yellowjackets from Roberson’s sock and someone else sprayed the nest, and the game went on as scheduled.
Technically, yellowjackets are wasps not bees, and therefore can sting multiple times, but when you’re getting stung, who cares about how the assailant is classified?
Once the match started the swarming was done by the orange and white Tigers from Warsaw.
Amy Escutia-Palacios scored a goal in the first half and Haddi Hoeppner added one in the second and the Tigers dominated possession with a 2-0 lead the rest of the way.
The Trojans missed four practices in the aftermath of a storm that didn’t hit Warsaw.
“That would be an excuse and that’s not what happened in this game. We competed hard but we didn’t put enough quality on the field,” Coach Ben Forgey said. “We worked really hard, but we didn’t stick to our game plan and we didn’t win balls out of the air. And if we’re not going to do those two things, we’re not going to have success, but we’ve got a group that wants to get better.”
Three-fourths of last season’s goals are gone, most from as good a senior class as there was in the region, including 28 from Adey Avey (Detroit Mercy), 16 from Eva Montes (Indiana Northwest) and 15 from Claire Vrahoretis (Vassar), the last of whom could put together a highlight reel of headers, post it on Youtube and watch it go viral.
This season’s senior class? There isn’t one. That’s right, not a single senior on the roster.
Speedy sophomore Lily Duracz, who ran in the state 4x100 relay, gives Chesterton a scorer around whom to build the offense.
“We can’t expect to score as many goals, but Lilly’s our way through,” Forgey said. “Lily or people scoring goals from Lilly’s assists. She did create one glorious, point-blank chance for one of her teammates and we didn’t score from it. She did everything required and played the ball right in front of the goal and we didn’t capitalize. That happens.”
Duracz isn’t the only forward with the potential to become a scoring threat.
“We’ve got some danger up there,” Forgey said. “Campbell (Gingrich) will chip in for some goals.”
Roberson sees better days on the horizon.
“I think for the first time we played it wasn’t bad, but I definitely think there are a lot of improvements that can be made. I don’t think we played a horrible game but we need to make a lot of improvements. Hopefully at practice we’ll know find a way to get better at what we know we need to get better at,” she said.
Areas such as?
“Building out of the back,” Roberson said. “I think we struggled with that, and maybe a little bit more finishing. So, hopefully we’ll get better.”
All from the home team agreed one area that doesn’t need improvement is the stadium.
“It’s great,” Forgey said. “We’ve got some work to do to put together performances to match the new field. It’s brilliant. It’s perfect. It’s got everything we need.”