Second-half surge helps Boylan past Palatine

Kailey Parnello's second-half double dose of scoring spelled trouble for host Palatine's girls soccer team, which fell to Rockford Boylan 3-1 Saturday afternoon at Chic Anderson Stadium in this annual season opener between these two storied programs.

"We absolutely love coming here and starting our season against Willie because we know he runs a great program, and always has a real competitive team to play (and) I really feel it gives both of us a chance to see what we'll have to get working on going forward," said Boylan coach Mark Couper, who last season watched his club lose a heartbreaker in OT at the supersectionals to eventual state champion Lake Forest.

"It was good to finally get out and play after training for a couple of weeks, and even though we didn't get the result we would have liked, there were several good things for us to point to - and several others we'll have to fix and correct," added Pirates coach Willie Filian, now in his MSL-leading 23rd year in charge.

Neither side was doing themselves justice in a tight opening quarter-hour of play, which included a near strike cleared off the line by the Titans off a close-range attempt from freshman Anja Jacobsen and some clever work from the Titans' dangerous all-state striker Taylor Howe.

But at 18 minutes, the Pirates' best freshman of the bunch, Sarah Clancy, was brought down in the box, sending teammate Kaitlin Conklin to the spot. The senior calmly directed her PK into the back of the net to give the home side the early advantage.

Howe was the lone player for the Titans to enjoy some occasional territorial dominance as the Pirates did well defending in their own end, beginning with a high percentage of success on 50-50 balls.

"You always know when you play Palatine that they will win balls in the middle and put a lot of pressure on you as soon as you have the ball, and that's exactly what they did today, especially in that first half when we did little in their half," said Couper.

"It's when we stopped defending and pressuring the ball that Boylan started to do give us trouble in our end," said Palatine senior Carly Iacullo, who takes over the role of defensive captain for Morgan Radtke, who was a two-time all-MSL player and all-area performer for Filian.

"It's a big adjustment for Carly this year, but she's a quick learner, and will do just fine back there for us," Filian said.

The Pirates opened the second period brightly, forcing Boylan keeper Amanda Black to turn away Samantha Malak, who was put through by Clancy, before Kellie Reynolds fired wide of Black after a wonderful helper from Mackenzie Filian set the senior free up the right side.

But a lack of defensive pressure soon caught up to the Pirates.

Parnello drew the visitors even when she collected a loose ball in the area, then turned to get herself enough time and space to fire in the equalizer at 51 minutes. Two minutes later, the junior was at it again, giving the Titans the lead for good when a breakdown in the Pirates' end allowed the striker to redirect her shot past Francesca Falato after an initial save by the sophomore keeper spilled a rebound onto the foot of an opportunistic Parnello.

"We didn't do much in that first half, thanks in part to some great work by Palatine, but we're pretty fit as a team, and we showed some character coming back from a goal down. And it seemed that first one from Parnello really got everyone going," said Couper.

The rookie duo of Clancy and Alexis Saa helped put Malak through, and if not for a fearless save from Black, the Pirates would have gotten even in the 68th minute.

Filian played with three forwards, and two along the back in the final six minutes of regulation as the Pirates went searching for the equalizer. But as it did so, Palatine conceded a final goal two minutes from time by Leigha Crowder to seal the Boylan victory.

"Those three blunders in our own end led to goals for Boylan, so it was a good lesson to learn, especially for our new players, as they try to learn and understand how they have to play at this level in order to compete," said Filian.

"We were missing a handful of players today for various reasons, but that also gave us a chance to see others perform against a quality opponent, so overall, it was a good day on several levels - except for the result."