Bartlett blanks South Elgin

The speed up top for the Bartlett girls soccer team had a perfect matchup Saturday afternoon.

The flat back four South Elgin plays allowed the Hawks to play the ball over the top and run onto it to create numerous scoring chances.

Nikki Noreen took advantage, scoring twice in the first 18 minutes, propelling Bartlett to a 4-0 Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division victory at South Elgin Stadium.

“(South Elgin) playing a flat back four, if we just dumped it past with the speed of me and (Nicole) Gobbo, we can usually get up there,” Noreen said.

Gobbo ran down a long pass and passed onto Noreen, who took the ball away from a Storm defender who broke up the pass. Noreen dribbled into the penalty area and beat South Elgin goalkeeper Jourdan Valkner with 23:49 remaining in the first half.

Noreen added her second goal 1:42 later. The junior ran onto a long ball from Gobbo. Valkner, who finished with 5 saves, got a piece of Noreen’s shot but it still found the net for a 2-0 lead.

“We’re blessed with speed up top,” Hawks coach Heather Thomas said. “Whenever we can use that to our advantage, I think it would be silly for us not too.”

Ashley Johnson made it 3-0 on a free kick from 23 yards out with 10:16 left in the first half.

The Hawks (11-5-1, 2-2-1) got another breakaway goal less than 2 minutes into the second half. This time Josie Dombrowski found Gobbo over the top. Valkner again got a hand on the shot, but not enough to keep it out, as Bartlett took a 4-0 lead.

“I think the Bartlett Hawks came out with more heart today,” said South Elgin coach Tiffany Disher, whose team fell to 9-9-1, 1-5. “We were concerned with silly things like senior day activities and didn’t seem to start playing until the second half. So the first half was a lot of kick ball, not our style of play.”

Natalia Grodzki earned the shutout by making 4 saves. Her best save came with 12:45 remaining in the first half. The Storm’s Janette Salas squeezed a pass in the penalty area to Savanah Uvegas. Grodzki made a diving save to keep it 2-0 at the time. Less than 2 minutes later Johnson scored.

“Natalia is having a tremendous season,” Thomas said. “She saves us when we have to. She’s making those game-changing saves.”