Girls soccer: Late goal helps St. Viator draw at Buffalo Grove
Mary Ann Castelli's 80th-minute goal denied host Buffalo Grove its first victory of the season as St. Viator's girls soccer team claimed a 1-1 draw Tuesday night at Grant Blaney Stadium.
Last year's Mid-Suburban East champions suffered their second draw of the season against 1 loss when Castelli redirected a Payton McDonnell corner from close range high into the back of the net.
"We had 12 corners tonight, so you had to figure one of them would finally go in," said Lions head coach Mike Taylor, whose club is now 1-0-1 after a season-opening 6-0 victory on the road at Trinity last weekend. "We did some good things tonight, but we still have a long way to go in many areas of our game. All in all, it was a good result against a nice ballclub."
It seemed only fitting that the Castelli/McDonnell combo eventually broke open a stingy Bison back line as the sophomore pairing easily had better than 60 percent of the possession for the visitors on this chilly evening.
"I thought we had most of the play in the first half, and Mary Ann had a really good night throughout," said McDonnell, who ran the Lions' attack from out of the middle, connecting with Castelli on several occasions up the right side. "But we still didn't do a lot of things we need to do, so we'll have to get back to work on that."
St. Viator generated a handful of half-chances in the first half - some of which Bison keeper Zugey Olvera was called into action to save, and a few others that sailed wide of sophomore.
The Buffalo Grove back line led by senior Danielle Allaire spent plenty of time defending during the first period as the Bison attack had trouble generating opportunities.
"We needed to do a much better job of finding each other and possessing, which stopped us from creating any chances in the first half," said Buffalo Grove coach Pat Dudle. "And that's one of the reasons we moved Georgette (Topalis) up top after the break."
That tactical move paid immediate dividends as last year's MSL East player of the year caused all sorts of trouble in the St. Viator end during the early moments of the second half - so much so that an unfortunate hand ball sent the Bison captain to the spot.
Topalis converted her 43rd-minute attempt, and as so often is the case, the side enjoying the run of play suddenly finds itself chasing the lead.
"We lost a little bit when we moved Georgette from her usual spot in the midfield up top, but you saw what she can do in the opponent's end, almost right away," said Dudle.
"It was nice to get that first goal - it's just too bad we couldn't hold on at the end," said Topalis, who will play next fall at Winona State in Minnesota.
The early PK gave the hosts some needed inspiration. Moments later, Courtney Lee went just over the bar with an attempt. And then a Gina Bolis corner into the box was parried away by a well-timed leap into the air by Lions keeper Anna Johnston.
But the pressure from the Bison ended with the Johnston save. And if not for a nice reaction save from Olvera in the 47th minute, the Lions might have equalized.
Allaire, Christina Ruterschmidt and company tightened up along the back as the Lions threw more numbers forward in the final 20 minutes of regulation. And finally, just moments before the final whistle, Castelli drew the Lions even.
"We have a lot of young players and some very speedy outside-mids we have to get more involved during our games," said Topalis.
The Bison next host Nazareth at 4:45 p.m. Thursday. St. Viator welcomes perenial 3A state power Loyola at Heritage Park in Wheeling, also on Thursday.
"We'll get one more game in before spring break," said Taylor. "Then when we come back, we will get back to the business of sorting things out, and putting together a strong lineup and rotation before we get into the Pepsi Tournament."