Streamwood blanks Elgin
The best revenge for getting taken down is getting back up and making the opposition pay.
Streamwood's Kimberly Jimenez did that Tuesday.
Jimenez was fouled hard, earning Elgin's Makena Heffernan her second yellow card, with 16:47 remaining in the first half. Jimenez left the field for a few minutes with an injured left leg. The sophomore returned a couple minutes later and scored her second goal of the match with 12:07 left before halftime and the Sabres went on to beat the Maroons, 4-0, in an Upstate Eight Conference girls soccet match at Memorial Field.
“I felt pretty good since (the foul) was pretty bad,” Jimenez said about scoring the second goal. “She went through pretty hard.”
Jimenez gave the Sabres (4-9-1, 1-3-1) a 1-0 lead just 30 seconds before she was injured. She took a feed from Stephanie Brown and streaked down field alone. Elgin goalkeeper Kayla Rodriguez, who finished with 7 saves, came out outside the penalty area, but Jimenez chipped the ball over Rodriguez and into the net.
“It's definitely her speed,” Sabres coach Chelsea Lloyd said of Jimenez, who constantly streaked past Elgin defenders. “She likes to burn past and if she can put (the shots) in the corners, we're good to go.”
About the only thing that went wrong for Jimenez, other than the hard knock, was not getting the hat trick. Jimenez had at least four more chances to score that third goal, but was wide each time.
“I've got to keep focusing on the corners. I keep aiming it to the goalie,” Jimenez said.
Erika Delgado and Amy Tyszkiewicz added second-half goals for the Sabres.
The Maroons (0-10, 0-4) already had a short bench before Heffernan was sidelined with the two yellow cards, earning a red card, and had players out of position. Elgin had as many shots on goals (two) as it did players being asked to prom over the public address system.
“We struggling,” Elgin coach Sarah Marks said. “They are nervous to make mistakes and that's our biggest problem. I tell them that I'd rather them make a mistake 100 percent than just do it halfway. They're scared to make a mistake so they're not aggressive to the goal.”