Wrap: Spartans score off set pieces
St. Francis had yet to score from a dead ball this season.
Although enjoying a stellar season, getting the ball in the net off of a free or corner kick just hadn't been there.
Unfortunately for St. Edward, St. Francis picked Wednesday to establish their dead ball plays. The Spartans scored 2 of their 3 goals from set pieces, including a massive momentum-shifting goal in the second half to take a 3-2 Suburban Catholic Conference girls soccer game in Elgin.
"We did really well with our dead balls," Spartans coach Tim Dailey said.
It all started with junior midfielder Samm Mammoser. The junior's corner kick allowed Molly Coyle to get the go ahead goal with 15:50 remaining, just 3 minutes, 8 seconds after St. Edward (6-3-1, 2-2) had tied the game at 2.
Mammoser's pass to Coyle gave St. Francis (9-3, 2-0) the final push to hold off St. Edward. Mammoser used a first-half free-kick pass to Crossley Simmons to pick up the Spartans' first goal from a dead ball with 3:27 left in the first half. Simmons' goal tied the game at 1 after the Green Wave had scored in the game's first 10 minutes.
"St. Edward was always there," Mammoser said. "We knew that Montini beat Marian Central last night, so anyone could win the conference. We wanted to win."
The dead ball was not just favoring St. Francis.
Senior midfielder Bianca Ramirez looked like she had the tying goal with 3:23 left in the game, but Spartans' goalie Kate Dorman made a leaping punch to knock the ball out of the net and preserve the win.
St. Edward was feeling pretty confident after Colleen Kerger tied the game on a free kick with 18:58 left to play. Kerger's kick came seconds after Brittany Brozek had driven the length of the field and made a tough shot on goal.
"We felt like we had the adrenaline rush," said Brozek, who had an assist to sophomore Kristi Kuczora in the first half. "We were evenly matched throughout the whole game. They tied it and we tied it. We felt like we could (win)."
St. Francis took a 2-1 lead when Simmons nailed her second goal of the game just 4 minutes, 41 seconds into the second half.
St. Edward was playing without starting outside midfielders Shelby Shepherd, who injured her knee against Indian Creek, and Maggie Duggan, who was out with an illness. Missing two starters, threw off the Green Wave's rotations.
"We played really well," St. Edward coach Tim Brieger said. "I thought that we had a couple of other shots, but we were really gassed not having the two outside mids."
-- Matt Stacionis
Baseball
Wheaton North 5, Glenbard North 4:ŒJack DeAno improved to 4-0 and Matt Palackdharry went 3-for-4 as the Falcons (12-4, 7-1) won in the DuPage Valley Conference.
Neuqua Valley 10, Lake Park 6:ŒThe Wildcats (13-3, 9-1) won their sixth straight Upstate Eight Conference game, ending a six-game winning streak by Lake Park (10-5, 6-3), which received 4 RBI from Mario Fearon. Kyle Mener hit a pinch-hit home run for Neuqua Valley while Jason David (3-1) pitched 6 innings to earn the win.
Glenbard South 6, DeKalb 5:ŒWith the Barbs having 2 runs in and the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the seventh, Glenbard South (11-7, 8-3) hung on for the Western Sun Conference victory when Doug Anderson coaxed a double play and a strikeout to earn the save for winning pitcher David Suffern (3-3). Joe Biagini went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI.
Softball
WW South 1, Naperville Central 0:ŒAshley DiLeonardi singled in Casey Stelletello with one out in the bottom of the seventh, lifting the Tigers.
Winning pitcher Virginia McAndrews struck out nine for WW South (10-8, 3-2 DuPage Valley Conference), as did Natalie Wunderlich for Naperville Central.
West Chicago 5, Wheaton North 0: Mary Connolly (10-3) struck out nine and went 2-for-3 with 2 runs batted in for West Chicago (10-4, 3-1 DuPage Valley Conference). Linnea Detrick went 2-for-3 and scored 2 runs and Chrissie Rovtar 2-for-3 with 2 RBI.