Wrap: Huntley, CL South notch regional wins

Ten seconds into the second half of opening action at the Class AA Jacobs girls soccer regional Wednesday, Huntley would make a game-changing decision that would stump regional host Jacobs for the duration.

To the Golden Eagles, it was a miscue.

For Huntley, it was a calculated and thought out effort perfectly executed. An effort that would lead the Red Raiders to a 3-0 victory.

Knotted at 0-0 after the first 40 minutes of action, the Huntley offense found Kaylee O'Brien cruising down the sideline toward the Jacobs net right off the opening kick.

After clearing the ball of several Jacobs defenders, O'Brien fired off a shot that deflected off the one remaining defender for Jacobs and into the back of the net to give Huntley a 1-0 lead.

"That was a set play," said Huntley coach Kris Grabner. "We have scored on it three times before. When you convert on a goal like that, ten seconds into the second half, it gives the team a boost of energy."

Mission accomplished.

Jacobs, which had prevented the Red Raiders from converting the entire first half, was shaken.

"That first goal hurt," said Jacobs coach Jim Dzialo. "But, we wanted to go into halftime 0-0 and we did that. I was proud of our girls."

As fans bellowed for an insurance knock, Huntley's Taylor Henning-Fletter complied. Following a steal near the Jacobs net, she turned and sent a rocket hooking from the sideline and over an airborne Alyssa Barnard (9 saves).

With 7 minutes left to play, Jacobs' Leah Straub gave Alyse Williams a clean shove out of bounds. The result was a free kick.

Despite being at least 18 out on the diagonal, and roughly 30 yards out from the net, Williams noticed the Jacobs keeper off line, and decided to take a shot. She connected to make it 3-0 Huntley (19-1).

"It was exciting," said Williams. "I had nerves all day. After getting pushed out, I took my time, relaxed and decided to take the shot."

Sara Hoffman was in goal for Huntley, which plays Rolling Meadows for the regional title on Saturday, racking up 3 saves en route to the team's 16th shutout of the year.

CL South 1, Cary-Grove 0: The defensive numbers are absolutely staggering.

In 240 minutes of regulation play, the stifling Crystal Lake South defense held the prolific Cary-Grove offense without a goal.

The Gators got a goal from Karley Mecko along with outstanding work in the goal from Jessica Taldone as No. 11 seed South knocked off fifth-seeded Cary-Grove 1-0 in a first-round game of the Class AA Crystal Lake South regional at Ken Bruhn Field Wednesday night.

"Our defense has been outstanding in all three games against Cary-Grove," said Crystal Lake South coach Anne Santucci. "We make sure all their players are covered."

The Gators (13-6) will play fourth seed Stevenson for the regional championship Friday at 6 p.m. Stevenson defeated Crystal Lake Central 4-0 Wednesday.

After 30 minutes of scoreless soccer, the Gators tallied the only goal of the game.

Set up by a perfect feed by Ashley Ross, Mecko broke through the Trojan defense and blasted a shot past goalie Alex Holland with 10 minutes left in the first half.

Mecko also scored the only goal in last week's win against the Trojans (15-3).

"Coach always tells me not to think so much and use my instincts," said Mecko. "Ashley did a great job of digging the ball out and she created a great opportunity for Karley. I was just in the right place at the right time. Our defense was just amazing. They gave a great effort. Against a team like Cary-Grove, you have to take advantage of every opportunity. This win was much tougher than the last time we played them."

Cary-Grove's best chance of the game came with 5:24 remaining when Kelli Anderson cranked a shot from 10 yards out off a corner kick. South goalie Jessica Taldone leaped high and punched the ball away from the goal.

"They took advantage of their opportunities and we didn't," said Cary-Grove coach Ray Krystal. "We both have different styles and we just couldn't get the ball in the goal. I have one word to describe this season and that is proud. These girls conducted themselves with class and integrity. I am very proud of them."

-- Dave Hess

Lake Park 1, Dundee-Crown 0: As far as familiarity goes in postseason soccer, the Lake Park Lancers had to consider themselves lucky Wednesday evening in Roselle.

Not only was Lake Park hosting its own girls regional, the Lancers also squared off against Dundee-Crown -- a team they defeated just four days prior.

While the Lancers had more difficulty this go-round against Dundee-Crown, Lake Park still pulled out a victory, this time a 1-0 nail-biter that went scoreless until the 73rd minute.

Despite having quality scoring opportunities time and time again, Lake Park (14-6-3) failed to find the back of the net. It wasn't until Jenna Aloia's well-placed shot off Rachel McMahon's free kick found the back of the Chargers' net that the Lancers finally capitalized.

Lake Park coach John Gouriotis admittedly felt a bit panicky as the Lancers kept missing out on scoring chances but felt his team was playing well enough to get one by Chargers goalkeeper Deanna Libricz.

"It's one of those things. It's that time of the year where things aren't for free," Gouriotis said. "You've got to earn everything you get, and Dundee-Crown came out to play. Give them all the credit in the world."

With Lake Park constantly attacking Dundee-Crown's defense, Libricz had to make several clutch saves, especially in the second half. Her performance drew high praise from Chargers coach Sebastian Falinski.

"I told the girls that she almost resembled God back there," said Falinski, whose team finished 5-14-3. "She was out of her mind. She was on every ball, every chance. She kept us in there by making smart decisions."

-- Matthew McClarey

Schaumburg 4, Larkin 0: Sometimes a mishit is good enough to get the job done.

Rachael Zolper's "shot" Wednesday certainly did.

Zolper's tough-angle goal 14:40 into Wednesday's Class AA Larkin Regional semifinal gave the Saxons the early lead and Schaumburg went on to defeat the host Royals, 4-0, at Memorial Field in Elgin.

"I guess you can say that (it was shot)," a laughing Zolper said. "It was more meant to be a cross. I was trying to play to the far post so someone could head it in."

Zolper took a feed from Rachael Kahan and dribbled toward the end line in Larkin's penalty area. Just a couple of shots before the end line Zolper's attempted cross went toward the near post instead of the far post and surprised Royals goalkeeper Anna Goodlove, who could not get to the ball in time to keep it out of the net.

The victory sends the seventh-seeded Saxons (7-6-4) into the regional championship match against No. 2 Conant, an 8-1 winner over South Elgin, at 6 p.m. Saturday. Conant defeated Schaumburg by a goal earlier in the season.

Schaumburg put Wednesday's match away with three goals in a 14-minute span in the second half.

Kahan added the Saxons' second goal 11:47 into the second half. The sophomore controlled a bouncing ball in the Royals' penalty area and fired a right-footed blast past Goodlove, who finished with 7 saves. Kahan added another goal with 19:57 remaining off a cross from Sarah Maine.

Schaumburg freshman Elizabeth Tapia finished the scoring with a 30-yard shot that caught Goodlove off her line with 14:34 left.

Larkin (6-13-3) struggled to create any scoring opportunities and managed only 2 shots on goal, neither of which forced Saxons goalkeeper Maggie Kostecki to make a difficult save.

"They outplayed us in the midfield and we couldn't get balls up top," Royals coach Ken Hall said. "You're not going to score if you can't get shots on goal."

-- Brian Schaumburg

Elk Grove 5, Streamwood 2:ŒStreamwood's season came to a close in Class 4A Elk Grove regional semifinal play with this 5-2 loss to the host Grenadiers. Alanah Thompson scored both goals for Streamwood, one on an assist from Geena Boris that forged a 2-2 halftime tie, and another unassisted. However, the Grens struck for 3 second-half goals against the Streamwood defense to advance. Pearl Patel finished with 7 saves in the net for the Sabres (6-13-4).

Glenbard West 1, Bartlett 0:ŒHost Bartlett allowed a goal in the 77th minute and the Hilltoppers went on to defeat the Hawks 1-0 in a Class AA regional semifinal. Erin Zaidman made 10 saves for the Hawks, who finished their season with a record of 10-5-2.

Meadows 2, Burlington Central 0: The Rolling Meadows girls soccer team showed the meaning of perseverance as they opened play at the Class AA Jacobs girls soccer regional Wednesday night.

Being involved in a bus accident en route to the post-season opener might have slowed the Mustangs' arrival time, but it didn't slow their game down a bit.

When all was said and done, Rolling Meadows (9-7-3) earned the 2-0 victory over Burlington Central (11-8-1) and a bid to Saturday night's regional title game against Huntley.

The Mustangs came out firing, more than doubling Burlington Central's shot-on-goal efforts in the first half.

There was one problem, Rocket goalkeeper Kim DeRaedt.

"At the half, I just told our girls they had to finish," said Mustangs coach Jeff Adkins.

And finish they did.

It wasn't until the second half, with 36 minutes left to play, that the Mustangs would break the seal.

Alex Partipilo battled through a sea of Rocket jerseys and pushed a shot beyond a diving DeRaedt to make it 1-0 Meadows.

Just four minutes later, Taylor Fritz got inside the box long enough to tap in an insurance goal.

Impenetrable the entire first half, DeRaedt (13 saves) stopped a bevy of early attempts making a number of acrobatic halts.

"Kim made one save that I have been waiting to see all season," said BC coach Michael Gecan. We just couldn't crack the flat four line offensively."

-- Jen LaPorte