Raetzman, Chiero connecting for Conant
Even at less than 100 percent, Courtney Raetzman proved to be too much to handle Wednesday night against visiting Rolling Meadows.
The all-state Conant sophomore was in top form despite being under the weather, striking for 3 goals, to help lead the homeside to a 5-0 victory in a Mid-Suburban League crossover girls soccer match in Hoffman Estates.
The Cougars (3-0-0, 1-0-0) went nearly a half-hour before wiping away the rust they accumulated after a two-week break from competition. They finished strong for the final quarter-hour of the first half by taking a 2-0 lead into the break on goals from Raetzman, and her frontline mate Kaitlin Chiero.
Chiero took advantage of some misfortune along the backline to go under Mustangs (5-3-0, 0-1-0) keeper Emily Haeger at 35 minutes.
"I really think we played nervous at the start, probably from us not having a match for almost two weeks, and just training and playing against each other during that time," said Chiero, who moved into coach Jason Franco's first-11 this season after the club lost starters Alyssa Stylski and Lauren Jason from its fourth-place state team from a year ago.
"It's going to take a little more time for both Courtney and I to get into synch, but it's great playing alongside her, and I know that we will be able to do a good job for our team up top this season," said Chiero.
Chiero sent Raetzman through on the left side just after intermission, then watched her teammate take a deft touch to her left, before going the other way to give the Cougars a 3-goal cushion.
The visitors appeared to find their pace in the early stages when the Cougars struggled to find theirs, as Ann Marie Lynch, Breanna McGuire and Sarah Dolan had the edge in the middle of the park. However, the advantage didn't last long, much to the dismay of head coach Jeff Adkins.
"We haven't had a loss (this) bad since 2002 when we had five girls out with ACL injuries," said Adkins. "I thought for the last 15 minutes of the first half, we had the run of play, and after the break, we were even better, particularly in the back," Franco said, "where we didn't allow (Meadows) much space or possession, especially their top scorer (Alex Partipillo) who had something like 7 goals coming into tonight."
Raetzman would make it 4-0 at 51 minutes with Paige Wentzel recording the helper, before Alyssa Altosino finished things up in the 78th minute. Junior Lindsay Fillingim would earn the shutout.