Bartlett bombards Larkin 10-1

After going through a rough patch in the middle-to-late part of the season, the Bartlett girls soccer team is finding its stride again.

Games like Tuesday's certainly help.

The Hawks scored 9 first-half goals and dominated Larkin in a 10-1 victory in the Class 3A Larkin regional semifinals at Memorial Field.

"We want to go far in regionals and sectionals this year," Bartlett senior Luisa Desario said. "We have our confidence again and want to come out strong."

The third-seeded Hawks (16-7-1) will play Schaumburg at 6 p.m. Friday for the regional championship. The Saxons downed Hoffman Estates 3-1 in Tuesday's second semifinal. Bartlett has never won a regional title.

"We hit a rut in the middle of the season," Hawks coach Heather Thomas said. "Going into the finals, I think we've got some confidence."

Bartlett's Lisa Palmer got the scoring started Tuesday in the fifth minute. She knocked home Nicole Stevens' cross inside the 6-yard box for a 1-0 lead. In the ninth minute, Trisha Donlon took the ball away from a Larkin defender at the top of the penalty area and scored for a 2-0 lead. Desario increased the lead in the 10th minute with a left-footed strike.

Lauren Stevens scored twice in the first half for the Hawks, who also got first-half goals from Fran Abate, Nicole Gobbo, Haley Videckis and Lauren McNally. McNally added her second goal of the game in the second half.

"We definitely saw some things we need to work on in the next couple of days in practice," Thomas said. "It was nice to see we got a lot of offensive opportunities and we had a lot of girls contribute to the attack."

The 16th-seeded Royals (6-14-2) were missing four senior starters, forcing coach Ken Hall to field a young lineup.

Angie Larson scored 15 minutes into the second half, which was shortened to 20 minutes because of the mercy rule, for Larkin.

"With the team we put out there, they gave the effort. That's all I can ask them," Hall said.

Goalkeeper Anna Goodlove was in a "shooting gallery," according to Hall, and finished with 17 saves.