Hampshire plays to a frozen tie
The bigger the flurries got on Wednesday afternoon, the more the offenses from Hampshire and Harlem's girls soccer teams seemed to remain froze in their tracks.
The cold, wind and eventual snow eventually led to the officials calling the nonconference soccer match between the two teams to end Hampshire's home opener in a 0-0 tie.
Despite several offensive opportunities in the second half, the waterlogged field prevented either team from even recording a shot before the teams and officials decided to call it a game 15 minutes into the second half.
“It was pretty hard,” Hampshire midfielder Emily Zeller said. “My feet were frozen. It was pretty hard to run.”
Despite later struggles with the field conditions, Hampshire (0-0-2) did find itself with some key scoring positions in the first half.
Zeller lined up from a free kick against a Harlem wall comprised of nearly all players on the field. Zeller attempted to kick around the wall to set up a scoring play, but the Huskies (0-0-1) collapsed on outnumbered Hampshire and the play never really went any further.
After breaking up the play, Hampshire did not get another scoring chance in the game.
“It never materialized,” Whip-Purs' coach Patrick O'Brien said. “It's different finishing in the gym than it is out here. We tried to set (a play) up and get something going.”
Natalie Strarrenburg was the first to give Hampshire an opportunity to get a goal when she attempted a cross after sprinting past the Harlem defense.
The cross went just wide and was quickly scooped up by Harlem goalkeeper Hannah Sendele. The Huskie goalkeeper finished the game with 4 saves, all in the first half.
Hampshire goalie Alex Dumoulin finished with both of her saves in the first half as well, but the closest chance Harlem had to a goal was prevented by the goal post.
Harlem had a breakaway on goal, but could not convert a wide-open shot when the ball bounced off the goal post and back into the feet of a Hampshire defender with 16:36 left in the first half. The would also be the last time that the Huskies would have a scoring opportunity.
The rest of the game, both teams struggled to simply move the ball across the soggy field.
“This field retains so much water,” O'Brien said. “The girls were going down and their gloves were getting wet and then getting cold. Some girls had no feeling whatsoever. There wasn't anything in the second half.”
Softball
Elgin 9, CL Central 6: Elgin scored 7 runs in the fourth inning then held on to beat Crystal Lake Central in nonconference action. Hannah Perryman hit a grand slam home run and had 5 RBI for the Maroons (2-1). She was also the winning pitcher, striking out 10 with 5 walks and 8 hits allowed. Jennifer Fulton was 2-for-2 with an RBI for Elgin and Monica Stockman had a double.
Boys volleyball
St. Francis d. Bartlett: Russell Martin had 13 kills, 6 blocks, 2 aces and 15 digs but Bartlett (1-1) came up short in a 25-19, 25-21 nonconference loss. Dan Esmail had 15 assists for the Hawks, while David Upp added 5 kills, 2 blocks and 10 digs.
John Radtke contributed to this report