Saxons rise above Prospect
On a evening better suited for aquatics, Schaumburg paddled to a 2-1 win over Prospect in a Mid-Suburban League crossover on a miserable Monday night for soccer in Mount Prospect.
Rachael Zolper struck the game-winner at 70 minutes and, along with back-line mates Sam Halter, Bailey McNamara, Devin Ryan and Allie Schmalzer, helped the visitors stay water-tight to help seal a road win and move their record to 7-5-0 (overall) and 2-2-0 in the MSL.
"Coach (Greg Charvat) told us at half-time that it would be a corner that would decide the match tonight because of the conditions," said Zolper.
"I guess he was (half) right because the ball that I scored on did come from the corner."
Melissa Hernandez swept upfield on a nice run and found Becky Sneddon on the right flank. Sneddon raced past her marker to the end line before sending a cross to the spot where a scrum occurred and the opportunistic Zolper slotted past Knights keeper Nicole Risolute.
"Becky's pass knocked around and went off a couple of players and just fell right to me," said Zolper.
"It was night that didn't have a lot of possession or sharp passing," said Chavrat, whose club was coming off a 2-0 loss to a highly respected Naperville Central side on Saturday at the St. Charles East tournament, "but I still thought we created some chances throughout the match and were fortunate to finish on one of those chances when we needed it."
Both sides struggled during the first quarter hour to find their pace as most of the play could be found between the 18-yard lines.
The nagging rain and strong winds didn't appear to bother the Saxons as they tried to get some combination to work together, but the Knights' quartet of Alison Ives, Alexis Glennon, Caroline Aubry and freshman Taylor Smith did well to keep things organized in front of Risolute.
The Saxons opened the scoring at 35 minutes when Rachael Kahan chipped over Risolute to allow Sneddon to one-time a strike at the far post.
As intermission neared and the rain began to intensify, the Knights (2-3-0, 0-3-0) equalized when Jessica Petrovski's shot from the left side slipped through keeper Brooke Schockers' gloves.
Rachel Lenke and Maureen O'Keefe proved to be a dangerous duo for the home side but was unable to break down the visitors' defense in front of Schocker.
"It's not for lack of effort on our part, because we were battling all night and playing hard - but probably not as smart as we can," said Prospect coach Tom Froats. "Credit Schaumburg because they found a way to get the ball into the back of the net when they had to."