Girls soccer: Kaneland shuts out Belvidere

Two games and a pair of clean sheets for the Kaneland girls soccer team.

While it didn't match the 10-goal barrage in Wednesday's season-opening win against IMSA, the Knights dominated possession from start to finish and came away with a comfortable 3-0 decision over Belvidere Saturday morning in Maple Park.

Kaneland senior forward Kiandra Powell netted her first 2 goals of the season while senior Gabrielle Cano found the back of the net on a perfect long distance strike to close out the scoring.

The Knights could have easily doubled that output if not for the solid work in goal from Bucs' keeper Maria Aguilar, who made 20 saves and came off her line on numerous occasions to snuff out potential scoring threats.

"We peppered that poor goalie. She made some great saves, so my hats' off to her," credited Kaneland coach Scott Parillo. "I think we just wore them out, which was our plan. On a field this size, it's pretty easy to do. Most teams aren't used to being on a field this wide."

"We made the through balls for us to run on to and that was working well for us today," Powell said. "It's definitely been a good start to the season for us."

After just missing a chance a minute earlier, Powell put Kaneland in front in the 14th minute as Lauren Ortiz delivered a pass over the top and Powell slotted the ball into the left corner.

It appeared that the Knights had doubled their advantage over the Bucs (1-1) in the 26th minute, when Holly Collingbourne scored off an excellent touch pass from Abigail Taylor, but the play was ruled offside.

The Knights produced a handful of quality scoring chances the rest of the half, but settled for a 1-goal advantage.

Parillo instructed his squad to apply high pressure as they took the field in the second half and that advice paid instant dividends.

Kylie Kurz fired a shot that deflected up into the middle of the box and Powell headed it in just 26 second in.

"When we pressure up high it definitely makes more opportunities to score, so that's a good thing for him to tell us constantly," Powell said.

"Pressure - that's been the theme of the season and what we've been working on," Parillo said. "When we're doing our possessions, you've got six seconds to win the ball back."

Last year, the Knights earned an ice cream party for every goal they headed in, so they immediately started calling out for ice cream in hopes of continuing that tradition.

"We get ice cream now," Powell said, giggling.

Parillo also encouraged the team to fire from long range and Cano delivered a booming shot over Aguilar's head from 25 yards out with 11 minutes remaining.

"We finally got one there at the end. It's a shame that they don't listen to me all the time," Parillo joked.

The youthful Knights will make their first road appearance Monday at Hampshire.

"I'm happy with the progress. We have eight new faces on the varsity, including six freshmen, so every chance that we can to get them into a game is going to be beneficial," Parillo said.