Heads-up Faber propels Libertyville to victory

Jess Faber’s first goal of the season just might be one to remember for a long time.

During the 46th minute Thursday, Faber was on the receiving end of an Allie Roeber cross — and Faber finished the play with her first scoring header.

That was that in the scoring department, and Libertyville went on to shut out visiting Marian Central 1-0 in the opening round of the Huntley Invite in Libertyville.

The Wildcats play the second leg of the Invite at Burlington Central at 4 p.m. today and have two games at Huntley on Saturday.

“I saw Allie (Roeber) lift her head up and I was like yes,” said Faber, who stands 5-feet-1½. “We were able to make eye contact. It really was more Allie, because she made the pass.

“I made the run, but she made it happen against the grain and played the ball in. I just wanted to pound the ball into the back of the net.”

The Wildcats (2-0) received an outstanding effort from their back line — which consisted of Val VanRoeyen, Katie Swift and Colleen O’Connor.

Wildcats’ keeper Natalie LaPlant earned her fist shutout and made a couple of saves.

The Wildcats are still trying to get their game on track.

“We were solid in back,” said Wildcats coach Scott Schinto. “I thought we were a little unorganized in the midfield and up front. We scored a great goal. It’s our second game and we have room for improvement.

“Right now we are raw, unorganized and we will get better. I don’t think it was anything that (Marian Central) did defensively. When we did what we were supposed to do, we were able to score.”

Marian Central (0-1) expected a good matchup.

“We knew that they were going to be strong,” said Marian Central coach Kristian Rockall. “We just stayed in good defensive shape and never let them play the ball in.

“We just got beat by a great header. I thought we had a good solid defense. It was a good competitive game.”