Meadows rebounds, tops host Palatine
In a breathtaking second half of soccer, Rolling Meadows negated an early goal from host Palatine by hitting back with two of their own to defeat the Pirates 2-1 on Monday and move atop the girls soccer standings in the Mid-Suburban East with 9 points.
The visitors overcame a less-than-sparkling first half against their opponents, who’d started well with the speed of Gabby McArtor, and the pace and energy of Kaitlyn Mayer and McKenzie Wiedemann up top against the Mustangs (7-2-0, 3-1-0).
“We’re about to begin a rough part of our schedule, and this is a great way to get started,” said junior Ann Marie Lynch, who was the engine in the Mustangs’ attack all evening long and helped control the midfield. “We have not done very well against (Palatine) since I’ve been here, and tonight we were so flat at the start, but our defense was terrific, and we did a great job of keeping them from being dangerous to finally beat them.”
The Mustangs’ were able to weather one-way traffic in their direction during the first half hour, and if not for the quartet of Alex Partipilo, Maddie Conlin, Amanda Gunn and Vanessa Sanchez, who as a unit have allowed just 3 goals against in 9 matches, the deficit could have at least been doubled before intermission.
McArtor, who had way too much speed for the Mustangs in the early stages, finished nicely past keeper Emily Haeger at 18 minutes. Mayer and Wiedemann helped create the opportunity for the senior striker to put the home side ahead.
“I really felt that was our worse first half of soccer in this season so far, and I made sure to remind the girls of that at the half,” said Mustangs coach Jeff Adkins, who was quick to say that what he saw afterward might have been some of best he has seen. “We met the physical challenge that Palatine always brings (plus) we defended so well in the back, and in the middle, and it was just terrific to watch in (that) second half.”
Shortly after the restart, Jackie Kemph’s equalizer set the tone for the rest of the way. The freshman stopped and turned on a dime before firing her shot just under the bar to bring the Mustangs level in the 50th minute.
Lynch and Maggie Moran, who was dangerous with every touch in the second half, both recorded an assist on the Kemph goal.
“We didn’t do well with (Lynch) all night long,” said Palatine head coach Willie Filian. “She is a well-schooled, technically sound player, who on that sequence leading to their goal did a great job to set up her teammate.”
The goal revved up the Mustangs’ attack, and although they didn’t get anything on frame, the visitors began possessing through Lynch, and on the flanks with Kemph and Mary Collins. Meanwhile, Meadows’ backline stayed composed, even after losing Conlin for awhile after a 50-50 battle sent her to the bench with a nice-sized knot over her eye.
A superb individual effort from Moran put the Mustangs ahead for good when the junior won the ball with a gritty tackle, then beat two defenders before breaking free up the center with an extra burst of speed. Moran finished against Rachel Rhodes to put Meadows ahead at 58 minutes.
“We had so much momentum to start the second half, and it just continued after our 2 goals and kept going until the end,” said Moran.
The Pirates (2-4-1) threw some extra numbers forward as they hoped to draw even in the last 15 minutes, and although the hosts spent most of that time in their opponent’s end, nothing much came from it all. That’s despite an endless supply of deep throws and a handful of free-kick attempts, the best coming from Wiedemann — but none of her teammates were able to get on the other end of in the 68th minute.
“If you’re keeping score, we threw 18 throws-in — and not one of them found its way into the box, where we all know that anything can happen once you get a loose ball near the spot,” said Filian, just moments after the 18th throw ended the match. “Some of what happened tonight which led to our defeat was because of us, but most of it was (what) Rolling Meadows to us, and they clearly deserved their victory.”
Fremd 4, Buffalo Grove 0: The Vikings got 3 goals from Elise Kotsakis in picking up a victory at BG.
Schaumburg 0, Prospect 0: Neither team scored in as goalkeepers Megan McCabe (Prospect) and Tressa Palcheck (Schaumburg) both earned shutouts in Mt. Prospect.
Hoffman Estates 6, Wheeling 0: Mary Pettit scored twice and Tonya Skworch provided 4 assists to power the Hawks in an MSL crossover.
Conant 7, Elk Grove 0: The visiting Cougars claimed a decisive win in MSL crossover play.