Wilde’s three-goal effort keeps Neuqua unbeaten

Updated: May 3, 2011 10:29PM

As Alexa Wilde goes, so goes Neuqua Valley.

On Tuesday that meant good things all around as the Wildcats (18-0) defeated St. Charles East 5-0 with some early scoring and the senior captain turned in her first career hat trick as a high school player. With the Upstate Eight crossover match loss (the teams play in separate divisions), the Saints fall to 4-7-3.

“We expected they were gonna be quick with the ball and, to be honest, they just moved it far too quickly,” St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison said. “We just didn’t flow. When you give a team like that so much space and time, they’re obviously going to cause problems.”

And cause problems the Wildcats did, scoring first-half goals in the sixth, seventh, 20th and 22nd minutes. Zoey Goralski scored the first off a Meghan Kelley assist, then Wilde followed with her own back-to-back tallies with help from Goralski and Gianna Dal Pozzo assists, respectively.

Dal Pozzo then capped the first-half scoring with help from a Goralski pass.

Wilde reached the three-goal mark with 23 minutes, 14 seconds left in the game, with Hope D’Addario assisting on the play.

Wilde refused to take all the credit for her performance.

“Honestly, I think my teammates just fed me some nice balls,” she said. “They laid them out for me and I just got to rip shots, and that was really nice.”

Her final goal came as a result of an unselfish play by D’Addario.

“It was her shot, and I just had to flick it past the goalie,” the midfielder recalled. “So, it’s almost like I stole it from her.”

Wildcats coach Joe Moreau was pleased to see one of his captains perform so well.

“She’s a special player,” he said. “And she’s a great captain and just a great person. It’s nice to see someone who works so hard get rewarded like that.”

Wilde said the team was happy at halftime to have a 4-0 lead but was not content to stop there. Playing to the team’s enormous potential is a goal every game and, in some respects, she said the team felt “unsatisfied” despite the win.

“You try to put pressure on them early, and I thought we did,” Moreau said.

Courtney Keefer started and did not face a shot-on-goal in the first half. Fellow freshman Madison Thielsen played the second half, making one save. Overall, the Wildcats outshot the Saints 21-2.

Saints keeper Bailey Stengler stopped 11 shots.

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