Palatine produces 4 goals against Rolling Meadows
Two goals on either side of the break and a watertight defense in front of Meghan Ellis proved too much for an undermanned girls soccer team from Rolling Meadows (9-11-2) as No. 9 Palatine (13-8-2) topped the Mustangs 4-0 Tuesday night on a rainy field at Libertyville and advanced into its second straight regional championship match.
The Pirates will meet No. 13 Libertyville on Friday night after the Wildcats shocked No. 1 Hersey in the opening match of the day.
“We really wanted to get back into another regional final this year, and we did so with a really good team effort — and some surprising offense from a team that rarely scores more than one goal a game,” said Pirates midfielder Kaitlyn Burke, who made a big statement in her return to the Pirates’ starting lineup after missing her last four matches.
The senior was a dominant force for the Pirates, winning air possession nearly 100 percent of the time while having the same nearly flawless record on 50-50 and second balls.
“It felt good to be out there playing,” said Burke. “It’s really hard to sit on the bench, so I really wanted to get out there and do the things that I like to do, especially at this time of the season.”
Concerns about marking Burke and her midfield mate McKenzie Wiedemann were no surprise to the No. 8 Mustangs, but Meadows was without their all-state midfield candidate Ann Marie Lynch, who was sidelined with a concussion.
Mustangs head coach Mike Drenth moved his top striker, Maggie Moran (11 goals), into what is usually’s Lynch’s role, asking the senior to handle the dual role of playmaker and defensive midfielder. At times in the early stages, Moran went box-to-box with tremendous speed and pace, keeping the Pirates on edge.
After a nearly one-hour delay due to lightning and stormy weather in the area, Wiedemann gave the Pirates their first goal when she fended off a defender and worked her way to open space before hitting a bending left-footed shot into the far corner in the 24th minute.
Burke quickly made it 2-0 when she met a wonderfully aimed corner from Jillian Gronwick and thumped a header past keeper Ashley Ingolia, who despite allowing 4 goals turned in a strong performance.
The Pirates followed up their strong first 40 minute performance with plenty of one-way traffic during the first quarter hour of the second period, leading to goals from Morgan Radtke and Gina Falato at 58 and 62 minutes. That prompted Palatine coach Willie Filian to begin bringing most of his starters off for good.
Ellis was tested on a few occasions by Moran, who was put through by Vanessa Sanchez midway through the first half, but was ruled offsides by the assistant referee.