Girls soccer: Kaneland shuts out Hampshire

Emma Ball was virtually a solitary figure for much her 71-plus minutes spent on the Kaneland girls soccer field Monday afternoon.

The Knights' keeper did not have to make a single save as the overwhelming majority of the action came on the Hampshire side of the field.

Kaneland senior captain Holly Collingbourne, destined for NAIA Marion University in Indianapolis next year, had the last of her 3 goals on a brilliant free kick with exactly 17 minutes to play.

The score initiated the soccer equivalent of the slaughter rule in halving the remainder of the time in the Knights' 7-0 nonconference victory in Maple Park.

Kaneland (3-0) has outscored its opposition 22-1 after its first three matches.

It was the season debut for the Whip-Purs (0-1).

"After (the Whips' player) fouled me, I just had the mentality that I was going to score," Collingbourne said of her indefensible shot to the upper-left corner from 22 yards out. "I think my last (hat track) was my freshman year, so it's been a while. I was happy about that."

The Knights thoroughly dominated the first half, but could not dent the goal as Hampshire keeper Christine Abihudi was forced to make 9 saves on the Knights' 22 shots over the opening 40 minutes.

But it all changed when Abby Taylor and Rachael Lutter collaborated on a corner kick for the opening score.

"If you score off a corner, it can be very disheartening to the other team," Kaneland coach Scott Parillo said.

The Knights' players more than backed up the notion by finding the net six more times.

"We just work really well as a team," said Paige Guyton, another senior captain for Kaneland. "We have good chemistry. We just knew we had to get the ball to the goal."

Collingbourne, off an awkward angle, had an unassisted goal before halftime to give Kaneland a 2-0 lead at the break.

The second half soon turned nightmarish for the Whips when Lauren Ortiz fooled their defense with a goal from long range.

A capricious wind did Hampshire no help on the unexpected score.

Abbie Lomahan had her lone goal for the Knights off a gorgeous feed from Vanessa Theobald.

"She gave me a very nice assist," the sophomore midfielder said. "All I had to do was tap it in."

Lindsey Pankala scored the fifth Knights' goal, receiving some redemption after missing an empty-netter in the opening half.

Collingbourne then had back-to-back goals to account for the final scores.

"We knew Kaneland was going to be good," Hampshire coach Colin Brice said. "This is only our second day outside. There were some positive things that we did defensively and offensively."

"They're much improved from last year," Parillo said of the Whips.