Jordyn Washington, Oswego continue hot start, beat Bartlett at Plainfield Classic

PLAINFIELD – Jordyn Washington’s parents tried her in every sport when she was young. Soccer was last.

She quickly took to it like a fish to water.

“They were like ‘Oh! She likes this,’ ” Washington said. “I’m super competitive. Scored like every goal in Little League.”

Athleticism is in the family DNA. Washington’s mom played Division I basketball. Her dad did Division I football. Washington, Oswego’s junior striker, has a powerful frame that would seem conducive to those sports, and stands out on the soccer field.

Washington, and her team, continued their brilliant start to the season Tuesday.

She scored two goals, and Oswego beat Bartlett 4-1 in pool play of the Plainfield Classic to advance to Thursday’s semifinals at Plainfield North.

Freshman Mane Brolley and senior Aubrey Eirich also scored for Oswego (10-1-1), which advanced to face the Hinsdale Central/Hersey winner.

The Panthers have outscored their first 12 opponents by a combined 52-3 margin.

“It’s been good,” Washington said. “We know who we are but we have to keep playing like that, stay to that standard.”

Washington has already set a high standard for herself. She missed her freshman season after suffering a torn ACL, MCL, meniscus and LCL in her knee, but came back with a sensational debut high school season as a sophomore with 23 goals.

A year removed from surgery, Washington feels better than ever.

“I feel like I’ve finally grown my wings, got my bearings,” Washington said. “I know what I should be doing and how I can play off my team.”

Washington scored Tuesday’s first goal 20 minutes in with a 20-yard strike from the center of the field. She showed her tremendous physical gifts on her second goal.

Washington got behind the Bartlett defense and had her first shot blocked by the keeper. But she powered in a rebound shot with a defender draped all over her for a 3-0 lead with 30:34 left in the game.

“It was a bit tricky, but good hand-eye coordination,” Washington said.

It’s nothing new to Oswego coach Gaspar Arias.

“She is very strong on top. I think she is very lethal,” Arias said. “If you give her space, she is going to take it. There are times where they man mark her and she’s still able to score.”

Bartlett (3-3-3), which is breaking in an entire new back line this season, had difficulty containing Oswego.

“Oswego always has a good program, a good challenge. We meet them in tournament play every once in a while,” Bartlett coach Vince Revak said. “It’s a game of learning how to contain those good players today. We didn’t do a great job of keeping the ball in front of us and did a lot of chasing.”

Christina Soumakis scored Bartlett’s lone goal on an assist from Kalli Stark. They are two of five freshmen on Bartlett, which had shut out six straight opponents before tournament losses to Plainfield North and Oswego.

“We have some positives, but there is a lot of consistent mistakes that we have been making that we haven’t figured out,” Revak said. “We essentially have a brand new back line, we had a lot of shutouts in a row and this tournament humbled us, which we need.”

Washington anticipates the rest of the tournament being Oswego’s toughest challenge up to date, but Eirich likes where this group is at. An Oswego team with an influx of young newcomers and transfers has seemingly blended seamlessly.

“Our communication and connection is great,” Eirich said. “We’re probably with each other every day building memories. We have so many new girls, multiple girls coming from new schools transferring and moving in. We made it a point to know each other on an individual level. It’s not just coming to soccer practice and games. We’re spending time with each other collectively.”