Kaneland gets the best of rival Rosary

For a team that acknowledges that it's never had much luck at Rosary's soccer field, Kaneland's girls soccer team took advantage of a bit of fortune on Saturday to score its first goal against the Royals.

But there was nothing fluky about the way the Knights handled the rest of the game - or most of the minutes preceding Courtney Diddell's opener in the third minute of the second half. Kaneland pressured, created chances and scored two more goals to earn a 3-0 victory in a match that served as both the regular season Knights-Royals match but for the teams' West Aurora Invitational matchup as well.

"To say that I hate this place would not be accurate because it's a very nice school with very nice people here," Kaneland coach Scott Parillo said. "But we don't have luck on this field. The ball bounced our way today, and we're happy about it."

Rosary (3-2) had chances despite Kaneland's overall dominance. Quincy Kellett hit a volleyed shot over the cross bar with a quarter-hour left in the first half. Moments later, Kellett put an Anna Sheen corner kick over the crossbar as well. Julianne Hutchison had a solid shot saved early in the second half, moments after Diddell scored.

But it remained for the Knights outside midfielder to send a shot from the right wing that bobbled on the field and eventually found its way into the net. Saturday's result means Kaneland (6-2) finished second in this year's West Aurora Invitational.

Shortly after Diddell scored, Hutchison came close to scoring in a match that suddenly swung from end to end. But the Knights scored from a pair of corner kicks two minutes apart to make the ultimate outcome inevitable.

Madison Jurcenko took both corner kicks and on each, work by Lauren Ortiz in the middle of the goalmouth was key. And each time, the ball came to Kiandra Powell, who scored from inside the penalty area.

"Against this team, it's always a great feeling, because we have such a great rivalry, both in the regular season and in the postseason," Powell said. "It's always a huge game to come out and win. I don't really know how to describe it."

The shift toward more effective play on corner kicks came from Parillo's halftime talk with his team. The Knights had a stronger presence in front of goal through those early minutes of the second half, and were able to turn pressure into goals.

"We talked about getting some bodies in the box to see what happens, and 'boom-boom.'" Parillo said.

From Rosary's perspective, the inability to adjust and clear those chances proved costly, though once the scoring flurry finished, the Royals continued their ultimately unsuccessful search for goals, mostly through Hutchison and Kellett.

"We created the opportunities," Rosary coach Brian Frank said. "Obviously, we didn't finish. Their goalie made a couple of nice saves against us and sometimes the ball bounces strange sometimes. They finished theirs and we didn't finish ours."

Powell was a nuisance all match for Rosary's defense as the ball moved into and through the penalty area.

Kaneland and Rosary are solid rivals in recent years, a fact that shone in the physical play by both teams. That level of play is exactly what both coaches mentioned is necessary as they prepare for next month's IHSA playoffs.

Kaneland has won games against Rosary, including two regular season victories in 2014. But playoff success has eluded the Knights, who have lost to the Royals in four of the last five IHSA tournaments. The Class 2A assignments were announced this year, and the Knights and Royals are again in the same regional.

"Odds are that we are going to meet each other again," Frank said. "We have had a history against each other and the games have always been close and well-fought. Today was no exception."

Despite the loss, Frank said his team can move forward positively from the result as its regular season continues.

"Our last match, on Wednesday against Aurora West, was not our best game," Frank said. "I'm very happy with the improvement today. They were holding their positions and man-marking better and moving to the ball better. It's not the result we wanted, but it sets us in the right direction."

In addition to West Aurora tournament matches against East Aurora and Rosary, Kaneland faced DeKalb and Sycamore - and ended 3-1 from the four-match gauntlet.

"We did not have an easy schedule this week," Parillo said. "We had Sycamore yesterday and then Rosary today and we were 3-1, which is really good. Obviously, we wish we were 4-0. But Sycamore's a quality team and we played them yesterday, and they finished one off in the wind."

If Friday's match against Sycamore had intensity as it was a conference contest, Saturday's exhibited 80 minutes of end-to-end intensity as well.

"This is a tournament game, but it's like a pre-regional and it just builds up," Powell said.