Girls soccer: Xanos nets 4 goals in Huntley's win over Streamwood
If scoring three goals in a match is a hat trick, what do you call a four-goal effort?
That was the question for Huntley after senior Alyssa Xanos found the back of the net four times to lead the Red Raiders to a 9-1 win over Streamwood in the second Huntley Class 3A semifinal contest Wednesday.
The Red Raiders will play South Elgin in the regional final Saturday. The Storm downed McHenry, 5-0 in the first semifinal.
"A quadruple-trick? I don't know," was Xanos' response to the question.
And the four-goal match was not a personal best.
"Actually, last year I scored five goals in a game," Xanos noted.
The senior scored her first goal in what was a 4-goal flurry midway in the first half.
At the 25:57 mark, Xanos beat Sabres goalkeeper Emina Causevic (7 saves) to the ball just outside the goal box and tapped it in. During the next three and half minutes, Huntley scored three more goals, two by Xanos and one by Avery Fitzgerald, for a 4-0 lead.
In the 22nd minute, Savanna Zoellner connected on a 33-yarder.
The Sabres got on the board at the 13:28 mark of the first half. Jasmin Perez headed the ball in on a corner kick by Diana Herrera.
Xanos' fourth tally of the night in the 38th minute gave Huntley a 6-1 lead. Fitzgerald's second goal of the match with 24 seconds left in the half put the Red Raiders up 7-1 at the intermission.
Peyton Scholer widened Huntley's lead to 8-1 in the 53rd minute. Ashley Lovins crossed the ball to Zoellner who was in front of the net. Her shot was deflected to Scholer who knocked the ball in.
Ashley scored the final goal with a minute left in the match.
"I think our energy was up and we were able to make plays and runs," Xanos said about the nine-goal effort. "We tried to keep possession. One of our main forwards is really fast so we can usually play it over the top and she can get to it."
"We moved the ball really well to get those opportunities started," said Huntley coach Matt Lewandowski. "It just worked out in the end for us."
The Red Raiders defense stymied Streamwood (5-12-1) attacks throughout the game. The Sabres' best scoring opportunity in the second half came on a 53-yard Herrera free kick at the 34:51 mark of the frame. Huntley (10-8-2) goalkeeper Jenna Franklin (3 saves) stopped the shot.
"We have a group of six girls on defense that are really hard-nosed, they are real organized and they have good chemistry," Lewandowski said. "Honestly, they do it on their own."