ICCP capitalizes against Montini
IC Catholic Prep forwards Tessa Langan and Olivia Hurt didn't have any scoring chances during the first 20 minutes of Saturday's nonconference girls soccer game with visiting Montini.
But when the opportunities came, they capitalized.
Langan scored on the Knights' first shot of the match and Hurt did likewise on the fourth as IC knocked off the Broncos 3-0 at Plunkett Park in Elmhurst.
It was the fifth consecutive win for the Knights (6-1), who are nearly halfway to their win total of 2016, when they finished 13-11.
"We knew coming into this year, based on how we finished last year and what we had coming in, that we had the potential to be pretty good," IC coach Tom Schergen said. "I just didn't know how long it would take for the jelling process to take place.
"I'm pleasantly surprised that it has come together a lot quicker than we anticipated."
The Knights absorbed an early splurge by the Broncos (1-4-1), who took the first 7 shots of the game, though only 2 were on frame.
IC broke through when Grace Fuller lofted a ball over the defense to Tess Langan, who coolly finished off the breakaway with a shot inside the left post with 19:32 left in the first half.
Hurt, a sophomore, did the same thing 10 minutes later, though on a play that was not as clear cut.
Hurt received the ball on the left wing as a 3-on-2 advantage materialized. She had two teammates available in the middle as she cut in toward the Montini penalty area.
Rather than pass, Hurt saw the defender anticipating a dish and opted to keep it herself. She patiently fired a shot inside the left post for a 2-0 lead.
"Grace (Fuller) and Kaitlyn Grady had a lot of good feeds to me and I was able to make the moves around the player and beat the goalie and score that first goal," Hurt said. "I was going to keep going down the side, but I saw that there was space in the middle and she wasn't pressuring me, so I decided to just go to the goal."
Hurt has been racking up goals at an impressive pace. She bagged 22 last year as a freshman and has 9 so far this spring, helping the Knights outscore their opponents 27-6.
"She really knows how to move the ball and she's really good at looking up and looking at where to go," IC senior defender Liz Maloney said. "A lot of strikers just go to the goal, but she looks around and goes around the player. She takes her time and she's patient."
Maloney teamed with her sophomore sister, Suzy Maloney, freshman Annie Guinan and senior Tess Reardon to hold the Broncos to just 2 shots in the final 60 minutes en route to IC's third shutout in the past four games.
Hurt finished the scoring when she converted a short rebound at the 27:34 mark of the second half after Montini goalkeeper Emily Crotty made a diving stop on Grady.
"They're a really good team, but I think we're probably just as good," Montini coach Sue Brown said. "We just had a couple of mistakes and they just took care of the breakaways."