Girls soccer notes: Streaks take center stage for Huntley, Elgin Metea Valley
Last year, Huntley gave up three goals in a game twice.
Through May 5, the Red Raiders have allowed just three goals this season in 15 games.
Huntley (12-0-3, 6-0) was looking to remain unbeaten when it traveled to Cary-Grove (5-4-2, 4-2) on Tuesday.
‘We don’t give up a lot and that takes a lot of pressure off and the kids up front can play free,” Huntley coach Matt Lewandowski said. “We’ve done really well to limit teams to even get shots off. We’ve had multiple games where teams haven’t registered a shot.”
The Red Raiders continue to attack opponents.
“We’re athletic and fast and we can put other teams under pressure,” he said. “The girls were really geared up for Prairie Ridge (on April 24) and they started the kickoff and we scored 18 seconds in. It’s kind of like the season with the boys (in 2021) when they went (20-3-2). They had the same mentality to put teams under pressure.”
Not even in his wildest coaching dreams did Lewandowski expect his team to be this stingy defensively, but he was fully aware of the talent they possessed.
“We didn’t quite expect to be in the position of just (allowing) three goals after graduating a lot of good core kids, but we just did our spring signing day and we had eight girls sign and there may be a ninth signing to play in college. And we had five boys sign so it’s the biggest group we’ve had between the boys and girls. They’re playing big roles and have become really good leaders. I think it’s a testament to the kids playing in college and the leadership they’re showing the younger ones.”
Huntley’s signees among the girls include Maddie Cummings (Elmhurst), Bella Fusco (Carthage), Jaci Laramie (Judson), Brooklyn Maxedon (Lewis), Esther Reyes (Augustana), Maddie Rumachik (East Texas Baptist), Katelyn Sandora (Wisconsin-Platteville) and Evelyn Stec (Dubuque).
Snapping Elgin’s streak
South Elgin (9-7-2, 3-0-1) denied Elgin from extending its season-opening unbeaten streak to 16 games, sending the Maroons home with their first loss, a 5-0 decision on April 29.
Nevaeh Gyurko scored twice and Ava Baker, Christina Slovik and Lindy Vidic also scored in the victory. Slovik added a pair of assists while Lucy Tomasi and Avi Hernandez also had assists.
“The girls were excited and looking forward to having an undefeated team come in, especially since it was a division/conference team,” Storm coach Jerzy Skowron said. “And the fact that we not only scored five goals, but were able to get a shutout, was a huge confidence boost for us.”
It’s not one kid leading the way for the Storm.
“We have a bunch leading in different ways,” Skowron said. “Lucy Tomasi is stepping up, trying to make a name for herself in a group of excellent attackers like Nev (Gyurko), Avi (Baker) and Christina (Slovik). We’ve had quite a few shutouts recently, and Ellie (Vidic), Riley (Goetz), Mia (Traver), and Ashley (Gonzalez) have stepped up big time in defensive roles.
Elgin (15-2-1, 2-2) returned to the win column against Proviso East but dropped a 2-0 game to Bartlett (5-4-4, 2-1-1) on May 3.
Collision course of competition
Metea Valley’s 11-game winning streak was snapped on Saturday during the Tournament of Champions in Bettendorf, Ia.
The Mustangs (11-2, 2-0) had quite a week, sending Wheaton Warrenville South to its first loss to win the BodyArmor Sports Series on April 27 after beating Neuqua Valley and Batavia earlier in the week. They also defeated Pleasant Valley, 6-0, in Iowa.
On Tuesday, the Mustangs were scheduled to host Naperville Central (14-1-1, 1-1), which was coming off Monday’s 3-1 victory against Lane Tech to win the Ed Watson Naperville Invitational. The Redhawks handed Barrington (11-1-2) its first loss of the year on Friday in the tourney quarterfinals.