Downers Grove South tops Palatine

Goals from Autumn Rasmussen and Kelly Stapleton on both sides of the half helped get Downers Grove South back to its winning ways.

The Mustangs notched their first victory in pool play at the 16th Naperville Invite with a 2-0 triumph over Palatine Saturday morning at the Naperville Central venue.

Downers Grove South (8-5-1) then fell to the tourney hosts, 2-0, and was eliminated from the championship bracket.

DGS coach Abby Anderson was cautious in her approach to this tournament breakfast special.

She had watched her club drop a 2-1 decision to crosstown rival Downers Grove North last weekend, exactly one week after playing state power Naperville North right to the edge in a 2-1 defeat.

“I was anxious to see what team would show up today, and after the first 10-15 minutes of (this) match, I still wasn’t too sure which team it was,” she said.

“But the girls really came alive midway through the first half after finally getting comfortable out there, and the effort and energy that we (finally) received was very good. It was one of the big reasons we were able to win.”

The Pirates (3-6-0), who lost their first match in pool play Friday night in a shootout to Naperville Central, started fast but ended slowly to finish 0-2-0 and a place in the consolation bracket.

“We did a great job on Friday of disrupting a very talented Naperville Central team, while creating some good chances for ourselves,” said coach Willie Filian. “And we continued to do so in the first part of this game, but we were unable to continue playing that way, and Downers kind of got the better of us in the second half.”

The Pirates enjoyed their fair share of play, with Michelle Raymond and Kellie Reynolds providing plenty of trouble for the Mustangs in the first quarter hour.

And it was Reynolds who helped fashion the best chance for her club when she roared up the right side before serving to the back post where Carlie Iacula drove her shot over the bar.

After breathing a sigh of relief, the Mustangs’ faithful cheered Rasmussen’s marvelous strike from the right side that ended in the far inside netting.

This was all after the Pirates failed to handle a throw-in and were unable to clear the area following the mistake.

The Mustangs would use the Rasmussen goal to ignite their attack.

During the last 10 minutes of the first half, Stapleton, Nicole Janowiak and Emily Wauer poured forward almost at ease.

“It took us awhile to get going, but once we did, we created a lot of chances, and were in their end for most of the second half,” said Wauer, who was at the center of all good things in the Mustangs’ attack.

Rachel Rhodes saved a Janowiak attempt at 45 minutes.

Later Rhodes’ counterpart, Jamie Furio, would do the same at the back post, hauling in a nicely served freekick from Morgan Radtke.

The Mustangs doubled their lead in the 67th minute on an absolute thunderbolt of a shot from Stapleton.

But the Pirates, who played hard nonetheless, could not pry open DGS in its own end the rest of the way.