Trojans top PR to stay unbeaten
Cary-Grove's mission during the early portion of the 2008 girls soccer season has been simple.
Come out in attack mode, score early and frustrate the opponent.
The Trojans accomplished all those things in ruining Prairie Ridge's season opener with an impressive 6-0 drubbing of the Wolves in a Fox Valley Conference crossover match on a rainy, cold and damp Thursday afternoon in Crystal Lake.
"We want to come out aggressive and get a quick lead in every game," said Cary-Grove coach Ray Krystal. "We have been able to do that for the most part this season. We came out with great focus and played with great intensity from the beginning. The effort was outstanding."
Four-year starter Kelsey Passaglia was the catalyst for the Trojans, who misfired on their first 7 shots of the game.
The senior forward scored with 24:39 left in the first half to give the Trojans an early lead. Cary-Grove (4-0) grabbed a 2-goal cushion when Passaglia scored off a nice feed from Liz Bart with 19:45 left.
Cary-Grove grabbed a 3-0 lead when Passaglia scored her third goal of the game off an assist from Kelli Anderson with 6:23 remaining in the half.
"With the wet weather, there were some strange bounces, "said Passaglia. "I was able to be in the right place. We are doing a good job of getting off to a good lead early. It is a lot better to play with a lead."
Alyssa Jacobucci scored right before the half on a assist by Passaglia to give the Trojans a 4-0 lead at the break.
Brittany Kroening and Anderson scored goals in the second half for the winners.
The dominant Trojans outshot the stunned Wolves 30-1.
Sophomore Kyli Humm registered 12 saves for Prairie Ridge (0-1).
"I could tell in the warm ups it was going to be a long day," said Prairie Ridge coach David O'Leary.
"We were not ready to play. We maybe played 7 minutes of good soccer. Cary-Grove has four or five very good players and has a good team, but we made them look a lot better than they are. This was not a good way to start the season."