Meadows hangs on against Mundelein
Rolling Meadows got its girls soccer campaign up and running with a 2-1 victory over a gallant Mundelein team Wednesday afternoon.
The hosts held off a young Mundelein team led by first-year head coach and former Mundelein standout Ernie Billitier, who fielded a trio of freshmen in his starting lineup. They included midfielder Michele Chernesky, who did well in her high school debut against Marquette-bound Ann Marie Lynch.
Lynch will run the Mustangs’ attack once again in her final season under coach Mike Drenth, who is also in his first year at the helm.
“Even though it was good to begin the season with a victory, it was also kind of a rough start as we played well for the first 40 minutes but really struggled after the break against (Mundelein), who played hard in the second half against us,” said Drenth, who has a rebuilt back line in front of keeper Ashley Ingolia.
“We had to get through the usual first-game jitters in that first half,” said Billittier, “especially with so many new players, many on the varisty for the first time. But I couldn’t be more pleased with the effort everyone gave, particularly in the second half, and right on through until the end when we were really working very hard.”
The visitors had no answer for the play of Lynch in the middle, nor for the speed of her teammate Maggie Moran up top. The duo continually broke down the Mustangs’ young backline with several well-paced balls over the top finding Moran.
“That’s not really the way we want to play all season, so we’re going to have to get others involved in our attack as we go along,” said Drenth.
Junior Monika Cinch went just over the bar at 12 minutes for the hosts, but two minutes later, Lynch sent a superb ball over the top from the mid-line. And when Moran beat the last defender, Mundelein keeper Cristina Leverde was left with no chance to stop a drive from Moran.
“We got caught a couple of times in the first half by that combination, but our defense did much better in the second half, and both (Chernesky) and another freshman in the middle, Megan Carroll, helped control things for us after the break,” said Billittier.
The Mustangs’ best chance to draw even in the first half came when Nambo and Stephanie Johnson got together to find Hailey Talbot, whose shot forced Ingolia into a save from 16 yards.
The visitors made a strong start after intermission, using a strong wind at their back and the ability to possess the ball to build some much needed confidence. Mundelein put Meadows on its heels until a bit of bad luck struck in the 54th minute when senior Amanda Gunn collected a loose ball in the area and fired just inside the far post to double the lead for the hosts.
“I was beginning to believe we were going to draw even because of the way we were playing before that goal, and although it set us back a little bit, we came back from (it) to get closer and finish strong,” said Billittier.
An unfortunate hand ball sent Kelsey Hiegel to the spot for the visitors, and the senior calmly converted her attempt to bring Mundelein within a goal at 57 minutes. But there were few other scoring chances, even after Billittier pushed Hiegel up top to add numbers.
It appeared for a brief moment Meadows had side found the back of the net when Moran and Sarah Ott got the ball to Lynch in close, but the assistant referee ruled the senior offside.
“There was a significant drop-off in the second half, and we’ll obviously look at ways to correct that, and a few other things,” said Drenth. “But again, it was good to come away with a win to start our season off on a positive note.”