Girls soccer: ICCP clobbers Noble Street Charter
Even though her team was a massive favorite to win its own Class 1A regional championship, IC Catholic Prep junior Grace Fuller wasn't taking anything for granted Saturday.
Fuller scored on a breakaway just 26 seconds into the match and the host Knights rolled to an 8-3 victory over Noble Street Charter at Plunkett Park in Elmhurst.
IC (18-5) has won four regional titles in the past five years. The Knights will host Francis Parker on Tuesday in a sectional semifinal at Plunkett.
"I was really nervous because there is so much expectation (for us) going far this year," Fuller said. "So just getting one out of the way right away was awesome."
Fuller's goal was just the start of a barrage that saw the Knights score the first 7 goals of the game, 5 of which came in the opening 11 minutes.
Sophomore Olivia Hurt gave IC a 2-0 lead just 63 seconds in when she booted home a cross from Sophie Zanoni.
That was the first of three straight breakaway goals for the Knights. Hurt scored off another Zanoni assist at the 33:57 mark of the first half, and then senior Tessa Langan added a pair of goals 1:23 apart.
"The thing we've been stressing with our girls is (when) you play teams like this, it's easy to try to have individual efforts," IC coach Tom Schergen said. "But we came out of the gate and we looked for each other and we passed the ball, moved the ball around.
"That's what we need to get out of these games. I thought we did a nice job of that in the first 10 minutes."
The Knights hit the Golden Tigers with another double-tap in the 18th minute. Senior Demitra DelFiacco converted a penalty kick and 51 seconds later junior Jalene Pina buried a 19-yard shot to make it 7-0.
Freshman Yeira Caballero, who led Noble Street with 2 goals, answered with a breakaway of her own with 17:06 remaining, but junior Caitlin Curtin volleyed home a corner kick from Langan with 8:27 left to restore the touchdown lead.
That cut the second half to 20 minutes and the Knights cleared their bench.
"We pretty much put the game out of reach very early," Schergen said. "That allowed us to get our starters out of the game and get them rest for Tuesday."
The path to state figures to get tougher quickly for the Knights, who are averaging nearly 6 goals a game during their current eight-game winning streak.
"Tuesday we're playing a very good Francis Parker team," Schergen said. "They have a good history. Their record may not show it, but they play one of the toughest schedules in the state."
But the Knights are peaking at the right time and have broken the school record for wins.
"This year has been the best team," Fuller said. "We've been passing and connecting so much now.
"There is always someone open and our finishing has gotten so much better since the beginning of the year."