Cary-Grove hot on a cold night
In weather conditions better suited for polar bears, the Cary-Grove offense sizzled.
Scoring twice in the first 17 minutes of the game, the Trojans were able to cruise past Hampshire 5-0 in Fox Valley Conference crossover girls soccer action at Cary-Grove's Al Bohrer Field Tuesday night.
"It was a game we could experiment with some things and play some kids in different positions," said Cary-Grove coach Ray Krystal. "Our plan is always to possess the ball and pressure the opponent from the beginning. We did that tonight."
Cary-Grove (5-3-1), which outshot Hampshire 15-0, peppered Whip-Purs' sophomore goalkeeper Catherine Kochanski early and often. With only 2 minutes, 37 seconds elapsed in the game, sophomore forward Carli Petersen got the Trojans on the scoreboard first with a nifty move in the box which resulted in an unassisted goal.
Almost 14 minutes later, Petersen scored her second goal of the evening off a perfectly executed pass from sophomore forward Katie Michie to give the Trojans a two-goal edge.
"On my goals we had good possessions and we really moved the ball well," said Petersen. "I was able to find the openings and get good shots on goal."
The third and final goal of the half for the victorious Trojans came from the leg of Jenni Phillips off a beautiful 30-yard pass from JJ Baily with 12:29 remaining before intermission.
With a much better defensive effort, Hampshire's defense kept the Trojans off the board for the first 31:10 of the second half.
Cary-Grove scored 2 late insurance goals. Phillips tallied her second goal of the game unassisted with 8:50 left. The Trojans scored their final goal of the night on a well-executed corner kick. Genna Sobieszczyk's kick from the left corner landed right in front of the net where Michie was able to kick the ball past Kochanski with 2:56 left.
Kochanski collected 8 saves in the game, 4 in each half.
"We played much better on the defensive end and Catherine played much better in the goal in the second half," said Hampshire coach Sara O' Toole. "We were rocky early on the defensive end and they were able to get some early goals. We just couldn't generate anything on offense the whole night. They have a very good defense, but we have to be quicker starting our offense."