Schaumburg blanks Bartlett
Monday’s weather represented a climate close to mid-May.
Schaumburg’s offense also resembled mid-spring form, putting up a pair of early goals in a 2-0 victory over Bartlett in the girls soccer season opener for both teams at Streamwood’s Millennium Field.
Sophomore Alexa Ben scored both goals for the Saxons, but the passing and ball movement to set up the two first-half scores was what was really impressive.
“We made quick passes and had good ball movement,” Ben said. “We wanted to put them away early and two goals really helped that.”
Ben scored both of the goals in the first 10 minutes, 53 seconds of the game. The first strike came off a pass from Teagan Eberlee.
Eberlee crossed the ball from right to left, hitting a sprinting Ben, who then crossed the ball back into the net to put up the Saxons’ first goal of the year just 4 minutes, 20 seconds into season.
The Saxons continued their excellent ball movement, with senior Becky Sneddon dribbling around the Hawks’ defense to wind up on the right side of the goal. Sneedon passed the ball to junior Jenna Eaker in front of the goal box.
Eaker tapped the ball over to Ben, who was again streaking in from the left side, and she connected on her second goal of the game giving Schaumburg a 2-0 advantage.
“We talked about (Schaumburg’s speed) before the game,” Hawks’ coach Heather Thomas said. “They were quick on offense last year and they had some returning players. We lost our mark.”
Despite several more shots on goal from the Saxons, Bartlett was able to settle down during the rest of the game. Bartlett goalkeeper Natalia Grodzki finished the game with 9 saves, including making 5 in the second half. During a minute span in the first half, Schaumburg had 3 shots on goal with Grodzki making a tough save on a hard shot from Ben. She then stopped Eaker’s shot attempt before a Saxons’ corner kick nearly landed in the net.
“We weren’t ready in the beginning,” Hawks’ senior Nicole Gobbo said. “We really picked it up in the second half. We started playing together instead of dumping and running.”
Saxons’ goalkeeper Brooke Schocker finished the game with 3 saves, 2 in the first half. Bartlett attempted its lone shot on goal in the second half with 1 minute, 21 seconds left to play on an Ashley Johnson free kick.
Schaumburg finished the second half with 5 shots on goal again having multiple shot attempts during a minute stretch midway through the half.
“To score two goals, especially early in the season, helped us ease into some things on offense,” Saxons’ coach Greg Charvat said. “We had some nice combo passing we used to score that second goal. You don’t normally see that early in the season.”