Girls soccer: Fast start sends Sycamore past Kaneland
The third time did not prove to be the charm for the Kaneland soccer team.
Instead, three turned out to be a thorn in the Knights' side.
No. 1 seed Sycamore scored three times in a three-minute flurry early in the first half Friday and were never threatened from there, winning the Class 2A Sycamore regional championship over the Knights, 4-0.
After going 0-1-1 against the Spartans this year, fourth-seeded Kaneland (11-8-2) was hoping it would be a different story in the regional final.
Instead, the Spartans got going early with quick goals by Saydie Holland, Jenna Lewey and Taylor Meier.
"Turning the ball over in the middle of the field," Kaneland coach Scott Parillo said. "Something we talked about yesterday not letting happen because that's what they are good at. They did it. They played well. Give Sycamore the credit. We just didn't have it in the first half."
Twelve minutes into the game, Kaneland keeper Emma Ball came out and tried to gather a ball. The wet ball slipped away from her grasp, and Holland got control and fired into an empty net for a 1-0 lead.
Moments later, the Spartans (18-1-4) drew a penalty kick, and Lewey converted by going to Ball's left.
Kaneland tried to answer with pressure in Sycamore's end, but a turnover led to Lewey in possession going the other way, and her through ball hit Meier in stride. Meier's shot found the same left corner of the net as Lewey's for a 3-0 lead with 24:40 left in the half.
"Momentum is a powerful thing," Sycamore coach Dave Lichamer said. "We caught them down a little bit. The first five minutes after you score you want to go right back at them. You saw the outcome."
After scoring 3 goals in 160 minutes against Kaneland this year, the Spartans had 3 on the board in 15 minutes.
"When we had chances in front of the goal we put it in this time," Lichamer said. "Last time we played Kaneland we had some trouble with that. We had some other opportunities besides the ones that went in. We did a very nice job today."
Kaneland didn't have many scoring chances until seven minutes remained in the first half when Holly Collingbourne sent a corner to Sophie Ottoson whose shot was saved.
Ball saved a point-blank attempt by the Spartans in the final seconds of the first half to keep Kaneland within 3-0 at half, but the Knights never got much going in the second half as their season came to an end.
"It's tough to get out of that hole against a solid team," Parillo said.
"We battled injuries all year. Could never get the full team together from the get-go. I'm proud of the girls. A lot of underclassmen. When you miss some of your key players for long stretches, it hurts. We'll bounce back."
Sycamore, who scored its final goal on Holland's header from Callahan Carl's corner with 10 minutes left, will play Saturday's winner between Freeport and Rockford Boylan at the Hampshire sectional. Freeport handed the Spartans their only loss.