Girls soccer: Alba's goal lifts Bartlett over West Aurora

The girls on the Bartlett soccer team do not call Mariela Alba by her birth name.

"Junior," Bartlett senior Kaitlin Brohan said when asked who assisted on her second-half goal against West Aurora in the schools' Upstate Eight Conference Valley match Saturday afternoon.

"It's a nickname thing," Alba said.

But Alba was the difference in the Hawks' 2-1 conference victory in Aurora.

The senior scored on a 24-yard free kick 94 seconds into the second half to break a scoreless draw.

"I have been working on free kicks, but they just haven't gone in," Alba said. "It's always a great feeling getting goals. I was trying to get it where the (West Aurora) goalie wasn't. I just hit it real low (into the left-hand corner)."

Bartlett (14-5-1, 3-1) is one victory away from tying the program record for most wins in a season.

"The best (Bartlett) girls team in history (2009) won a regional," Hawks coach Vince DiNuzzo said. "We haven't done that yet. Our focus is the playoffs."

Bartlett was clearly the aggressor for the entire first half.

Brohan had a pair of quality chances after earlier near-misses by Molly O'Malley, Shelley Lyjak, Jenna Dombrowski and Kayla Hare.

Dombrowski had perhaps the best chance with her header from point-blank range off a corner kick.

But the Hawks were unable to solve West Aurora keeper Bailey Ziman. The Blackhawks' junior played admirably throughout the match, ultimately making 10 saves on the afternoon.

"We had a lot of scoring chances on goal," Brohan said.

Alba would have another pair of excellent chances to double the Hawks' lead in the second half. But either Ziman stoned her or her effort went inches wide of the post.

"We were hitting posts and crossbars," DiNuzzo said of the Bartlett attack.

Brohan and Alba would collaborate on the Hawks' second unanswered score in the 69th minute.

Brohan, who had a header bounce innocuously off the crossbar minutes earlier, drilled a 13-yarder into the Blackhawks' net to double the lead.

"I think we can keep winning," Brohan said. "(The Blackhawks) gave it their all, but we stepped up."

Katharine Stephens, whose West Aurora teammates invariably call her "Kat," is the Blackhawks' most lethal offensive threat.

The West Aurora junior had her direct kick in the second half constitute the Blackhawks' best scoring chance.

Stephens made sure her squad was not shut out after her effort sailed high.

Receiving a perfect feed from Riley O'Brien, Stephens scored on a semi-breakaway with 2:01 remaining.

"We played one of our best games overall," Stephens said. "I knew the time was running down. We had to score."

It was Stephens' 16th goal of the year for West Aurora (7-10-1, 1-2-1).