St. Francis defeats Elk Grove
St. Francis coach Jim Winslow used the word "special" on more than one occasion when referring to talented sophomore Kendra Pasquale after Tuesday's girls soccer game against Elk Grove.
Nobody could blame him after what he's seen her do so far in high school games, including a highlight reel of plays against the Grenadiers. St. Francis won 3-1 after Pasquale scored twice and set up her team's other goal with a tremendous assist.
"Kenny (Pasquale) is special. She's special and the best part about her is as good as she is she works her tail off," Winslow said after his star's efforts helped the team to a 3-0 start to the season. "She competes like crazy. In practice she's the same way."
Against Elk Grove, Pasquale controlled a long free kick from teammate Bridget Doran in traffic and poked a short shot into the net for a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the match. After the visitors tied the score, Pasquale scored on a penalty for a 2-1 lead at the half and then used a ton of athleticism and talent to set up freshman Hanna Rittenhouse on the only goal of the second half.
On that clinching score Pasquale chased down the ball with a 25-yard sprint into the left corner and then managed to snatch the ball and send a cross out front where Rittenhouse was more than ready to bury it, giving the newcomer a goal in all three games so far this spring.
"I believe in going hard to every ball there is and not really taking breaks," said Pasquale, who just missed a hat trick when her back-heel deflection off a cross was stopped by goalie Rachel Kandefer in the second half. "The ball was there so I thought I could get to it so I kind of went for it. It's nice when it pays off."
The Spartans were missing a pair of key attackers not yet back from spring break and were a little rusty early on after the break, but they still flashed plenty of skill while controlling the play and limiting the Grenadiers' opportunities on offense.
Spartans goalkeeper Tammy Syron only needed to make one save to pick up the win, but Elk Grove did tie the score at 1-1 when Kelly Walter lobbed a perfectly placed 30-yard shot just under the crossbar with 20:28 left in the first half.
But Pasquale converted the penalty kick five minutes later, and St. Francis was on its way to a 3-1 win.
"We haven't been together for a little bit because of spring break," said Pasquale, who has 5 goals already. "In the beginning we were frazzled, we hadn't been together in a while, but then we settled in and we were back in our groove."
The Spartans' roster includes several freshmen and sophomores, including freshmen Rittenhouse, who has 3 goals, and Erin Peck, who has 2 goals in two games.
"We moved the ball around pretty well today," Rittenhouse said. "We build up as a team and took it to the goal. We're feeling pretty good about how we've played so far for sure."
Elk Grove coach Dan Klaus was impressed with Pasquale's play but felt his team's defense could have done a better job on the Spartans' first two goals.
"Their third goal was pretty," he said. "But their first two are things hopefully we can clean up. They had some pace and they had some girls who weren't afraid to hit it from a distance. But this is very good preparation for us for Conant on Saturday."