Failure to finish stops Addison Trail

Spring break didn't break a team, but it made it things much more difficult for Addison Trail.

The Blazers, who were missing six girls soccer players, had more scoring opportunities than Ridgewood but couldn't finish any of their chances in a 2-0 loss Thursday in Addison.

"It's our spring break so we have a couple girls in Spain and four others went on a trip to Florida," Blazers coach Sergio Nunez said. "They arrived back yesterday and were supposed to be here today but didn't show up."

Addison Trail (1-5-0) kept the pressure on throughout each half, but its shots were just a bit ill-timed or misdirected.

"We had our chances, but we just couldn't capitalize," Nunez said. "The shots they had weren't on target, so they need to learn to finish a little bit sooner and not take that extra touch."

Ridgewood broke the scoreless game with 11:51 remaining in the first half on a goal from Gab Nardulli.

The Blazers had two solid chances to net the equalizer in the final 90 seconds of the half, but a corner kick chance was thwarted and a shot from Diana Campos-Benitez also was denied.

"Well, we tried to score. We really tried our best and didn't give up," Campos-Benitez said. "I was happy with that most. We kept trying to score, but it was tough."

Ridgewood gave itself a cushion when it added a goal from Justyna Golab with 27:05 left in the second half.

"We outshot them for sure, so that's frustrating," Nunez said. "I think we had a total of 17 shots and they only had 4 or 5, but they scored and we couldn't finish."

The Blazers produced a handful of shots the rest of the way, including a couple from Luz Beidi Dominguez but nothing proved satisfying.

"I don't think this a good time for us. It's not a good way to start the season," she said. "We're A.T. and I feel we're better than this. We're not going to quit. We're going to keep trying until we get to a high level."

Dominguez already recognized a couple keys to how the team can improve.

"We need to communicate more with our teammates and speed up with the ball," she said. "I think that will help us."

Playing short-handed did benefit the team in that it gave kids an opportunity to play more minutes, something that could pay dividends heading into next week's West Suburban Gold opener against Downers Grove South.

"I was able to see what additional skills we need to work on," Nunez said. "We knew it was going to be a close game, but we had no idea we were going to be the ones playing catch-up, and now we have to get ready for a tough one on Tuesday."