Girls soccer: Palatine, Huntley play to a draw

In soccer, it's all about creating opportunities, then finishing them.

The opportunities to finish on Saturday for Palatine were endless, particularly in the first half yet the Pirates put just one into the back of the net, costing them in the end.

Avery Fitzgerald's unstoppable strike in the 65th minute would save visiting Huntley (1-0-1) from a likely defeat, and give the Red Raiders a hard-fought 1-1 draw Saturday at Chic Anderson Stadium in Palatine.

"Let's face it - Palatine dominated things, especially in the first half, and could have easily put another two or three into the back of the net on us," admitted Huntley head coach Kris Grabner.

"Fortunately for us, they didn't and in this sport, it's not always who is the better team on a particular day. But we hung in there and got ourselves a goal to get back even, and for a young team, that's a very good thing."

Grabner is in the midst of a bit of a rebuild after losing several key parts to a 2016 club which finished fourth at the Class 3A state tourney a year ago, including his all-everything striker Taryn Jakubowski, who went on to play at Creighton University this fall.

"Oh yeah, this an almost a brand new team we have," said captain Sam Heustis, who along with her teammate Tayah Owens are the only two back from the Red Raiders' starting lineup from the state series.

"We have a ways to go but once we sort some things out, we'll be just fine. It's just going to take while."

For a veteran bunch from the Pirates, taking awhile to sort things out is not an option at this point.

"When you don't put a team away, this is the result you get," said a disappointed Mackenzie Filian, who along with her sister Kacie, as well as Sarah Clancy, were masterful in the middle of the park, particularly in the first half when the trio won the air war, in addition to nearly every 50-50 ball, and tackle that came their way.

"It's what Palatine does so well, and we were not even close to what those three did out there to us, at least in the second half, we went into those 50-50's with a little energy and effort in the challenge," said Grabner.

With the better part of 85 percent of the play in the visitors end during the first period, the chances for the Pirates (1-1-1) would continue to fall its way, and if not for a pair of wonderful reaction saves from Abbey Brown, the Red Raiders would have been chasing three goals instead of just one.

The Huntley keeper stopped a snapshot blast from Clancy off a corner in the 8th minute, then would deny the junior 10 minutes later when a ball would spill free inside the box.

Mackenzie Filian would go wide with her left-footed attempt just aftewards, as would another from Marissa Giaviano just before Huntley sophomore Hannah Scholer parried a dangerous ball from Carolyn Soukup out of the box.

Soukup would turn provider for Kacie Filian in the 31st minute when her well-placed corner ended up on the foot of Samantha Malak, who, instead of playing the ball back into the mix, carried to the left of Brown, before unloading a wicked 25-yard blast the other way.

It was more of the same after the break with the home side keeping their guests under pressure, but a handful of half chances failed to double the Pirates' advantage.

"We created our only goal almost from nothing but some good work in the middle before getting the ball to Avery, who did the rest," said Grabner.

The sophomore forward buried her right-footed cracker after drawing Pirates keeper Amaya Rivera off her line, who correctly came out in an attempt to cut the angle on the 65th minute shot.

"Our midfield did a good job of winning balls, and just being scrappy to control things, and we did a lot of the right things in this game but if this was a game played later in the season, there wouldn't be enough time to fix it all," opined Filian.

"Some of the girls might not agree right now because of the result, but there were several positives to take from this game," offered assistant Charlie Gries, who took over for head coach Willie Filian.

"We created a lot of chances, Kacie, Sarah and Mackenzie absolutely controlled the middle of the park for us, and (Carolyn) Soukup kept everything safe and clean for us in the back."

"The team isn't happy right now, but that's OK because they will all have a chance to change that this Thursday when we go play Maine South."