Girls soccer: Kaneland blanks Rosary to make it 4-0
Kaneland was as unkind to Rosary as the conditions were trying Wednesday afternoon in Maple Park.
Despite the Knights squandering several outstanding scoring chances in the schools' nonconference girls soccer match, the members of Kaneland certainly deserved their extended spring break.
The Knights are unscored upon after four matches this season after thoroughly dominating the Royals 4-0.
Kaneland (4-0) will not return to action until early next month after Kiandra Powell, Holly Collingbourne, Paige Guyton and Taylor Zitkus fueled the Knights' latest one-sided match.
The Knights enjoyed a commanding 25-shot advantage in offensive opportunities as the Royals were forced to play on their side of the field for virtually the entire match.
“We got the ball to our middles and were able to get wide,” said Powell, who assisted Collinbourne on the lone first-half goal before scoring back-to-back Kaneland goals in the second half. “We started off kind of slow but picked it up.”
Rosary (0-3) was more than fortunate to trail by a mere goal at the intermission.
The Knights' Powell and Ashley Crotteau both hits posts in the opening half, and Rosary narrowly avoided three golden Kaneland opportunities off corner kicks and its unrelenting aggressive play deep inside Royals' territory.
The Royals also received admirable play from their keeper, Julia Isaacs, who lunged and maneuvered herself into stopping 11 Kaneland shots.
The Knights' penchant for near-misses continued early in the second half, but the floodgates finally opened.
Powell chipped in Zitkus' wondrous feed in the 52nd minute to double the Knights' advantage.
The senior midfielder then scored off another Zitkus pass minutes later.
“The games are going to get tougher,” Kaneland coach Scott Parillo said. “It's not going to stay like this.”
But the Kaneland girls continued to attack with abandon.
Guyton, nursing an Achilles' injury, capped the scoring off Zitkus' third consecutive assist with a little more than 10 minutes to play.
“It was really exciting to get that first goal (of the season),” the third-year varsity member said. “It was a good way to break the ice.”
Rosary, on the other hand, had innumerable issues on its offensive end.
The Knights' Emily Chapman had few issues in registering her fourth straight shutout to start the season.
Rosary senior Caroline Mahey had her free kick misfire in the first half; the Royals' lone shot on goal, a quality chance by forward Gabriella Wagoner, was snared by Chapman in the waning moments of the match.
“It was her third save of the year,” Parillo said of the Knights' complete mastery to open the season.
“The second half was rough,” Rosary coach Janice Eddington said. “I thought the first half we did pretty well.”