Girls soccer: Kiszkowski, Schaumburg step forward at Hoffman Estates
Dana Kiszkowski's goal just after intermission denied host Hoffman Estates a happy ending to senior night in girls soccer as the Hawks fell 1-0 to visiting Schaumburg at Garber Stadium.
The victory gives the Saxons (6-9-2, 5-4-2) its first winning record in the league in three years, plus it puts the club ahead of its division rival in the final standings.
"There were a lot of great things that came out of tonight," said Schaumburg coach Greg Charvat, whose team raced to the midline at the final whistle to celebrate its victory. "This was an important night for this team, which knew a win gives us a leg up on one of our closest rivals plus our third win in a row while sending us into the postseason on a high note."
After the Hawks honored their six varsity seniors during a well-staged ceremony, they set out in search for a third win in their last four matches. But Schaumburg applies pressure right from the opening whistle.
"We weren't as sharp as we've been of late, but the pace and energy from Christina (Kim) up top might have been the reason for the way Schaumburg came out early on," said Hoffman Estates coach Jeff Bird. "When I saw them play in the first week or two of the season, Greg had (Christina) in the midfield. But his move of her up top to take advantage of her speed on the ball was a very smart move on his part."
Kim and running mate Kiszkowski were targeted by their mates during a strong opening quarter-hour, with both running hard at the Hawks' backline while staying active enough to help keep the Hoffman Estates under pressure. Their presence forced the Hawks' midfield to drop deeper to help defend.
"There wasn't any real connection in the middle for us tonight - there was a big gap between them and our forwards, which is something we've been lacking of late," said Bird.
The visitors managed a few half-chances on Hawks four-year keeper Frankie Van, while her counterpart, Emily Reddy had an easy time of it also - aside from watching teammate Gina D'Orazio take one off the line after Anna Sall and Vanessa Bonilla created a corner for Bella Alansari in the 29th minute.
Kiszkowski headed wide of an open net on a D'Orazio corner just moments into the second period, but the sophomore was later rewarded for her work after she collected a nicely played ball wide down the right side from Alexis Orozco before firing in an angled shot.
"We played with a lot of heart out there tonight - especially our players up top," said Schaumburg center-back Melissa Nava. "We really wanted this game a lot, because it was important for us to finish the regular season with three straight wins and to beat a big rival of ours in the MSL, and on their senior night also."
Nava, Abby Paolicchi, Julia Morales and Briana Orozco were standouts for Schaumburg in front of Reddy. And the Saxons' midfield did its part to slow gifted attacking senior midfielder Ena Sabanagic for most of the evening.
"No. 10 (Sabanagic) is a great player for them in the middle, but we did a good job of neutralizing her, which went a long way in slowing their attack, especially in the second half," said Charvat.
The Hawks (6-9-0, 3-8-0) close out their regular season Saturday when they welcome Dundee-Crown.
"It's tough to see a player like Jennie (Nailor) who I think is the best center-back around, lose her final home game here," said Bird. "And the same goes for Frankie, who is just a marvelous keeper. Both have been with this program four years, and have been a model of consistency, and just great, great leaders all throughout."
Barrington 3, Prospect 0: Soph Spinell scored twice and Maesyn Poidomani also had a goal as the Fillies improved to 10-0 in the MSL and 14-2-1 overall.
Ellie Stodola had a pair of assists, Kayla Schutter had 1 and goalie Sam Schmitz made 3 saves in earning a shutout for MSL West champ Barrington.