Wrap: Larkin registers win over Storm

An eight-day stretch that saw the Larkin girls soccer team get dominated by three of the top teams in the state ended Monday.

On Tuesday, the Royals used a little of what they learned from those teams.

Larkin used a lot of combination play in its attack, scored less than 5 minutes into the match and went on to defeat South Elgin 4-1 at Memorial Field.

"We came out, played hard and tried to get back into a groove," Larkin's Alyssa Burns said. "I sat out a little bit of the Waubonsie game and I saw what they were doing. I tried to send balls into the corners and do what they do."

The Royals (6-11-3, 3-5-1 Upstate Eight) lost to Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley and St. Charles North by a combined score of 17-3. Waubonsie is the defending state champion and has not lost since the 2006 season. STC North hung tough with Waubonsie before losing 1-0 for its only UEC loss. Neuqua, which lost both Waubonsie and STC North, is capable of beating anyone it steps onto the field against.

"What those teams do so well is move without the ball. That's something we struggle with," Royals coach Ken Hall said. "We had some great combination play today. I think playing them helped a little bit because we saw how combination play worked against us."

Holly Capello gave Larkin the early lead, scoring on a deflection off a Morgan Smith shot that hit a South Elgin defender.

The lead increased to 2-0 in the 15th minute as Burns ran onto a ball from Smith and scored.

As Larkin celebrated senior night, it seemed fitting that the only two seniors -- Capello and Burns -- on the roster scored.

"Rachel (Neukom) texted me and asked me what I wanted most today. I said I wanted to win," Burns said. "We definitely made it happen. Good defense. Good offense. I'm pretty happy with how we played."

Smith added a goal 5:15 into the second half off a long ball from Jacqulin Goodlove. Lyzzette Solano gave the Royals a 4-0 lead with 15:19 remaining in the game.

The Storm (4-14-1) had 12 shots on goal, but managed to beat Royals goalkeeper Anna Goodlove just once. Monserrath Bustamante scored wtih 6:34 remaining in the game as South Elgin avoided the shutout.

"Offensively if we were able to put away some of our shots that we had, we could have won this game," Storm coach Tiffany Disher said. "Whenever they got their few breakaways, we had a falling out of support on defense."

Burlington Central 1, Hampshire 0: Hampshire-Burlington Central Part II was pretty much a replay of their first meeting.

Erica Heissler scored midway through the second half to give the Rockets a 1-0 Big Northern East girls soccer victory in Hampshire Tuesday.

Like the teams' first meeting in Burlington three weeks ago, this one was a tight, defensive affair that featured only 4 shots on goal. The Rockets won that game by the same score.

Those 1-0 scores are becoming a bit monotonous for the Whip-Purs.

"We're just not scoring," said Hampshire coach Pat O'Brien. "It's not just this game, it's every game. I've never seen so many 1-0 games. They've been this way in probably the last 11 or 12 games."

Central coach Mike Gecan was only slightly less frustrated.

"Great teams know how to win when they're having bad games," he said. "That's exactly what happened today. My team really didn't get a lot of opportunities, which we've been destroying lately."

The first half was scoreless, with Hampshire (12-6-2, 3-3-1) getting the only 2 solid scoring opportunities. Christine Schumacher's shot squirted past Rocket goalkeeper Kim DeRaedt, but hit the upright. Minutes later, Alex Field's shot sailed just high and clanged off the football crossbar.

Neither team had a scoring chance early in the second half. Then the Rockets (9-7-1, 4-1) struck from out of nowhere. Briana Conran fed a long ball to Heissler, who banged it home from about 20 yards away.

"It was a great ball," said Heissler. "It went right to the (penalty kick) spot, and I volleyed it in."

Hampshire pushed the ball ahead aggressively in the late going and had a couple of chances to tie the game, but couldn't find the back of the net. Kelsey Burke missed wide right, and DeRaedt stopped Field from long range.

Alexa Heinrich was in the net for Hampshire.

-- Allen Oshinski

Johnsburg 2, Prairie Ridge 1: In the Fox Valley (Fox) the Wolves fell to Johnsburg after a scoreless second half. Megan Biner scored Prairie Ridge's only goal in the first half unassisted. Kyli Humm was in goal with 4 saves.

Cary-Grove 5, Woodstock 0: The Trojans (15-1, 9-0) shut out Woodstock in the Fox Valley (Valley). Taylor Mahoney scored the first goal on an assist from Kelsey Passaglia for C-G. Liz Bart and Allie Simon also scored in the first half. Sally Taschaian and Brittney Kroening controlled the second half of play each scoring a goal. A.J. Wilhelm and Passaglia also collected an assist.

Rockford Christian 4, Elgin Academy 3: The Hilltoppers (9-8) fell in nonconference action to Rockford Christian. Lauren Steimle led the way for EA scoring all 3 of the Hilltoppers goals. Steimle was assisted on two of the goals by teammates Kate Burnham and Allison Clark. Bianca Swegler was in goal for Elgin Academy tallying 11 saves.

Jacobs 1, Dundee-Crown 0: The Chargers (5-12-3, 3-7) fell to Jacobs (7-12, 6-3) in overtime in the FVC Valley. Markie Rhan scored the game- winning goal off an assist from Jessica Perrone. Alyssa Barnard was in goal for the Golden Eagles with 4 saves while Deanna Libricz collected 8 saves for DC.

Bartlett 7, Elgin 0: The Hawks (10-4-2, 5-4-1) defeated Elgin in the Upstate Eight Conference. Fran Abate scored the first goal of the game to put Bartlett in the lead early. Abate scored again while teammates Abbi Palmer, Luisa Desario, Sam Barone, Jackie Mandoske, and Lauren Stevens all added single goals for the Hawks. Sam Barone, Becca Cronin, Abbi Palmer, Rachel Irwin and Nicole Stevens each picked up an assist. Erin Zaideman was in goal for the Hawks.

Grayslake Central 3, Huntley 2: The Red Raiders (18-1, 9-1) outshot Grayslake Central 27-4 including 5 balls off the crossbar or posts but were unable to regain the lead in overtime falling in the Fox Valley (Fox) for the first time this season. Taylor Henning-Fletter scored the only first half goal on an assist from Kristina Barreto. Ashley Williams then came back to tie the game up scoring unassisted. Sarah Hoffman and Kaytlyn Owens split time in the net recording 1 save.