Barbs' season ends

Published: May 22, 2009
DeKalb Daily Chronicle

ROCKFORD – After an early season 7-0 shutout, the DeKalb girls soccer team knew that the key to beating Rockford Boylan was to keep things close, with a one-goal difference ideally.

Unfortunately, the Titans defense kept them from getting almost any shots on their goalie, and the Barbs fell 3-0 to Boylan in the 3A Boylan Regional final.

Not that DeKalb’s defense laid down on the job. Despite Boylan’s several shots on sophomore Nicole Smith, the Barbs managed to get the ball out with a steal or header.

“I knew we were going to have to play a little more defense,” DeKalb coach Phil Rouse said. “But I knew that whoever got to two goals first would win.”

The first half had DeKalb (9-11) feeling better about its chances. Boylan had only managed one goal, which came from senior Ashley Botts heading in a corner kick at 10:35 left in the first half.

But the second came two minutes into the second half, again, thanks to a header off a corner kick from senior Kristina Kelly.

With 1:26 left in the game, Kelly would do the same thing to bring about the game’s final score.

The problems came from DeKalb not being able to get the ball up into Boylan’s territory, instead kicking it out of bounds or back to Titan forwards. After the second goal, every corner kick became a tense moment.

“[DeKalb] did a nice job on defense,” Boylan coach Mark Couper said. “Nothing was easy. It was a matter of capitalizing on dead balls.”

The Barbs tried to look positively on their improvements since the last time they played the Titans (18-5).

“Because [the first game] was so early in the season we didn’t feel like it was the same team playing them,” Rouse said. “We came and played toe-to-toe.”

Junior Karen Lehan helped lead the charge on defense, despite having to leave to game temporarily after hitting her head against a Titan foward’s head.

“It’s tough when you have to play 70 minutes on defense,” she said. “But we definitely improved on that end.”

Still, it was hard for DeKalb to mask the sting of getting so far and not getting a chance to play in the Algonquin Jacobs Sectional.

“There’s nothing I could say to take away the pain,” Rouse said. “But they came and they played their best, and I’m real proud of them.”

For Lehan, one thing needs to happen before she can look forward to another chance next year: “First we have to celebrate with our seniors.”

Quick goal sets tone for Cogs

Published: May 19, 2009

DeKalb Daily Chronicle

ELGIN – It only took 33 seconds for the Genoa-Kingston girls soccer team to be at a disadvantage in the Class 1A Westminster Christian Regional title game against St. Edward.

As the Lady Waves passed the kick-off closer toward the Cogs goal, Mallory Malone kicked a high flying shot into the wind, which curved the ball perfectly into the top right corner of the net.

From there, it was a match of G-K trying to keep St. Edward out of its half; a hard feat considering the Lady Waves were playing their offense as tightly as their defense.

“I think we came out a little nervous,” Cogs coach Randy Tate said. “We’re not used to playing these big games and they jumped on us kind of early.”

St. Edward did not come out nearly as early in the second half. Malone went for her game-starting shot again, but missed. However, Brittany Brozek didn’t miss her shot five minutes into the second half, taking the lead to 2-0 thanks to a corner assist from Jordyn Madden.

G-K (11-11-1) scored the second goal as a signal to push ahead harder. The Cogs put pressure on St. Edward’s defense, but the Waves’ defense would not crack, even as senior Kathryn Graff and junior Rachel Harris tried for the corner assist St. Edward got past them.

“It came down to finishing,” G-K’s Graff said. “In soccer you have to get the ball in the net, and they made sure we didn’t.”

Rachel Harris felt the frustration as well. “The was a big difference in the goalie sizes,” she said. “They took advantage of our smaller size.”

In the end, the Cogs felt they were simply outplayed.

“We just couldn’t crack their defense” Tate said, “and that wears you down after awhile.”

“They played really really well,” Harris added. “There’s just no breaking their goalie.”

St. Edward would cement their shutout lead with another goal from Colleen Kerger off a corner kick, with 9:45 left in the game, giving them a 3-0 regional title victory.

It was an emotional way for G-K to end the season. As the girls held each other walking off the field, Harris said it was hard to reconcile the season’s end after the surprises they were able to pull off earlier in the tournament.

“It’s still emotional,” she said. “We went so much farther than anyone thought we would.”

Graff agreed, saying that it will be hard saying goodbye to the team and the five other seniors she’s play with for years, but not without adding, “But at least we left strong.”

Royals earn playoff revenge over rival

Published: May 17, 2009

DeKalb Daily Chronicle

WATERMAN – A year ago, Indian Creek put an early end to Hinckley-Big Rock’s post-season – and on Hinckley’s own home turf.

This year, however, the tables have turned.

Hinckley Big-Rock knocked out the Timberwolves, 3-2, in a windy third match of the Class 1A Indian Creek Regional.

“With this intense rivalry,” Royals coach Paul Taeuber said, “it’s nice to return the favor.”

With the wind at their back, the Royals jumped out early thanks to sophomore Sarah Paver taking advantage of a goal opportunity in the game’s eighth minute.

“I got a breakaway and I was about to pass it,” Paver said, “but I saw I the open shot and went for it.”

Her goal was the only score of the first half, as Indian Creek had to push hard to get the ball on Royal turf. The Timberwolves had to keep pushing even with the wind in their favor for the start of the second half, but eventually broke through in the game’s 50th minute.

Timberwolves senior Taylor Case took advantage of a breakaway to pass to sophomore Gretchen Tyler, who shot from the corner, eliciting a big save from Hinckley-Big Rock goalkeeper Jessica Leifheit.
Indian Creek’s Katie Hunt would have one of her shots knocked down by Leifheit minutes late, but claimed vengeance in the form of a penalty kick with 25 minutes left in the game.

At first, Leifheit easily pounced Hunt’s kick, but when the ref’s called for a redo, because Leifheit had moved before the whistle, Hunt’s shot sailed into the net to tie the game 1-1.

From there, Indian Creek’s swagger seemed to multiply tenfold. But that confidence led to some rough play and yellow cards for the Timberwolves.

The Royals kept steady and took the lead back with 11:34 left in the game, thanks to a shot from senior Bianca Edmeier. Almost two minutes later, after Case was given a yellow card for tripping Hinckley-Big Rock’s Hannah Hildebrand, freshman Katie Hollis extended the Royals’ lead to 3-1.

Tyler scored another goal for the Timberwolves with seven minutes left, but Indian Creek couldn’t overcome Hinckley’s lead.

Taeuber said his team’s drive to beat its rival after tying their regular-season game was the deciding factor.

“Our goal was not to lose focus and let down our determination,” Taeuber said. “I taught them this word, ‘ganas,’ which means ‘desire’ ... and they’ve taken it to heart.”

The Royals now have to face Princeton, who shut out Mendota, 4-0, in Saturday’s opening game, Tuesday for the regional title. Princeton also shut out the Royals earlier this season, 2-0. But that isn’t scaring off the Royals.

“It will be intense,” Paver said, “but we can beat them.”

For five IC senors, the loss to their rival spells the end of a high school career. Timberwolves’ (6-8-4) coach Don Hunt said it is going to be difficult to replace the seniors – Case, Hunt, Benay Larson, Lindsay Richarson and Laura Tuma.

“It’s going to be hard to lose these seniors,” Hunt said. “They gave me a lot in the four years they’ve been in the program. It’s going to be hard to replace any one of them.”

Geneva girls soccer falls in opener

Published: March 24, 2009

Kane County Chronicle

GENEVA – It wasn't just the sky that was overcast for the Geneva girls soccer team's season opener. The Vikings' spirits were also on the gloomy side by the end of the game, a 2-0 loss to Plainfield Central.

Geneva suffered from an early-season lack of focus and organization. In her first game as Vikings head coach, Megan Owens was direct in her concerns. 

"You could tell it was our first game," she said. "We did not play well."

The Vikings (0-1) started off strong by maintaining possession of the ball and keeping it in the Wildcats' territory. But some strong passing allowed Brigid Hanley to break through and score the game's first goal, 19 minutes in. 

Ten minutes later, Hanley scored her team's second goal, this time after receiving a penalty kick.

The Vikings kept the Wildcats out of their half of the field for much of the game. They also kept them scoreless in the second half. But Owens says the early missteps cost Geneva dearly in terms of morale and intensity.

"We got down early and we didn't recover from it," she said. "It would have been a much different game if we had stayed with our marks in the first half."

But even as the defense tightened up after the goals, the Vikings could not capitalize on the other end. Every time momentum shifted to their side, Plainfield Central's defense was there to cut it down. Several shots the Vikings did take ended up flying over the net.

"I just think we need to do a better job possessing the ball in the middle and working it to the outsides," senior midfielder Emily Hinchman said. "We need to possess the ball instead of kicking it."

Junior defender Stephanie Davison helped keep the ball out of Geneva's half, but echoed her coach's and Hinchman's call for focus. 

"We need to take our opportunities and shoot when we have the shots," Davison said.

Still, both players stressed that a part of the loss comes from first-game jitters for a young team.

"I think that we all need to get used to this level of soccer and I think that once we do that our intensity will get a lot better," Hinchman said.

She added that after a poor start to the season, the Vikings now know what they need to do to start scoring goals, and they hope to prove that Wednesday, in their second game at home against Wheaton Academy.

East soccer wins in own tourney

Published: September 28, 2008

Kane County Chronicle

ST. CHARLES – The final game of the St. Charles East Varsity Soccer Invite Saturday proved to be a sub-standard one for the host Saints.

Nonetheless, East came away with a 1-0 victory against Burlington Central, thanks to sophomore Johnny Bren’s goal in the 36th minute of play.

Saints coach Paul Jennison was critical of his team’s performance, saying “It wasn’t pretty, but we got the win.”

Most of the game was played in the defensive end for the Rockets (4-8-1), which Burlington Central senior goalkeeper Kyle DeRaedt called “an intense atmosphere.”

The goalkeeper was put on alert all game and finished with 13 saves.

“We know St. Charles is a great team,” DeRaedt said. “Our defense did good trying to hold them back.”

Jennison, however, through that his Saints (6-4-3) did not perform as well as he would have liked, despite the win. Several scoring opportunities were squandered by too much set-up and shots that sailed out of bounds.

“We didn’t really get started,” Jennison said. “We were nowhere near the level we could play at.”

Still, despite some tense moments in the second half, the Saints’ defense largely managed to keep the play out of their end, forcing several moments during which the Rockets had all their players scrambling defensively.

As an indication of the occasionally physical play, Rockets junior Charles Fletcher had to be helped off the field because of an injury in the fourth minute. He returned early in the second half.

East used the day to give its goalkeepers equal playing time. Eric Meesenberg needed only one save in the first half, while Andrew Belanger had two in the second, thanks to an intensified Rockets rally down the field.

The Saints hope to take the momentum from the win toward their upcoming match at home against Elgin on Tuesday.

In other tournament action on Saturday, Kaneland (7-7-1) lost to Plainfield South, 5-0. The Knights played their eighth game in a 10-day span.