Girls soccer: Huntley stays undefeated with seventh straight shutout win

Kate Sandora and her fellow Huntley defenders faced a tough task heading into this season.

Not only did the Red Raiders need to find a way to continue playing lockdown defense after limiting teams to .8 goals per match and shutting out 10 teams last season. But Huntley defenders had to learn how to do it without a few key graduating starters.

Sixteen matches into the season, it‘s fair to say they’ve accomplished their task. Huntley has become one of the state’s best defenses, having only allowed three goals all season.

The Red Raiders showed how dominant they can be once again Tuesday, this time locking down Cary-Grove in a 2-0 win. They picked up their seventh straight shutout win and stayed undefeated, earning their best start to a season since 2008.

“It‘s really exciting being able to work together as a team,” Sandora, a senior, said. “I feel like this year we’ve been very strong and we have a lot of potential ahead of us.”

Huntley (13-0-3, 7-0) put together another team performance to keep pace at the top of the Fox Valley Conference standings. After creating a few strong scoring chances in the first 20 minutes of the match, a chance occurrence helped the Red Raiders take the lead.

Senior Bella Fusco crossed the ball across the net from just outside of the box. The ball bounced around in front of the net until it landed in front of senior Maddie Cummings, who tapped it in with 18:03 left in the first half.

“I just saw the cross coming from the side,” Cummings said. “So I tried to get in by the goalie because she kept rebounding it. Then I got a lucky left foot touch on there to get it in.”

Cummings didn’t need luck to earn her second goal. She fought off a Trojan for the ball near the top of the box and then snuck it into the corner of the net to make it 2-0 with 23:14 left in the match.

Huntley finished the match with nine shots on goal while junior goalkeeper Ashlyn Grabs made four saves in net.

The two goals were more than enough for Huntley’s defense. The Red Raiders picked up their 11th shutout of the season and haven’t allowed a goal in FVC action.

Sandora felt this defense had potential to do something special toward the end of last season. She started playing more alongside seniors Jaci Laramie and Evelyn Stec and sophomore Avery Suess and the four started to build a bond during the rest of last year.

That growth continued during the offseason. Grabs and a pair of defenders, sophomore Aubrey Brown and freshman Nyla Reuda, joined the mix and Huntley quickly put up results to start the season.

It also opened things up for a talent offensive frontline.

“It sets you free a little bit to take risks and run hard,” Huntley coach Matt Lewandowski said of the defense. “You have the ability to get people into places where they’re not characteristically at. So just knowing that that‘s back there kind of gives you comfort.”

C-G (5-5-2, 4-3) didn’t not score from a lack of trying. The Trojans put up strong threats and even created some close scoring chances.

But like many teams this season, the Trojans couldn’t find a way to put a final touch on the ball in order to score.

“That was our goal, was to come out hard and to put pressure on, to force mistakes, to frustrate them, and we definitely did that,” Trojans coach Anne Santucci said. “If we had found our feet and found those gaps, it could have been an entirely different.”

Huntley kept its one match lead over Crystal Lake Central in the FVC standings after the Tigers beat Jacobs on Tuesday night. The Red Raiders end their FVC slate with matches against Dundee-Crown and Burlington Central on Thursday and Tuesday, May 13, respectively.

They’ll win a least a share of the FVC title if they beat the Chargers. Huntley can win an outright title Thursday if it wins and the Tigers lose to Prairie Ridge.

The Red Raiders have allowed themselves to enjoy parts of their historic start. But they know there’s more work left to be done.

“There will be some harder games as we continue through conference and go into regionals,” Sandora said. “But we’re just gonna stay strong, keep working for each other.”