Conant collects another big win
It was all Conant in the second half Wednesday night in Hoffman Estates.
Good thing for the Cougars, too, because Fremd had shown how potent it could be in the first half.
Hailey Andress scored immediately after the break, and the Cougars struck twice more before the hour mark, the second from Kaitlin Chiero at 53 minutes to give the hosts a 3-goal advantage on the way to a convincing 4-2 victory over divison rival Fremd.
“This obviously was a big win for us tonight,” said Conant coach Jason Franco, whose club is in the middle of a rugged four-game stretch. The first two went well — a 1-0 win over Hersey two days ago and this win over Fremd — and the Cougars face Elk Grove and Schaumburg next week.
“Coming in we were concerned about Elise (Kotsakis) and Michelle Mottonen up top, who are easily two of the best at their position,” said Franco, “but I think we did a pretty good job against both of them, with our veterans along the back defending very well as a group throughout the game.”
Kelsey Foss, Kelly Lomas, Kim Trinco, and freshman Drew Wentzel were water-tight in front of keeper Lindsay Fillingim as they endured occasional threats from Fremd’s standouts. And except for a marvelous goal from Mottonen at 37 minutes to draw the visitors even at the time, Conant’s defenders tackled flawlessly and stayed organized.
“I was kind of surprised when we scored our third goal, then our fourth a short time later, but we never let up for a minute throughout the match,” said Paige Wentzel, who opened the scoring at 12 minutes when she ran onto a ball from Courtney Raetzman and drove her shot from the left side past keeper Shannon Norris.
Nicole Obos nearly struck the equalizer well before the Mottonen goal. The sophomore caught up to a well struck corner from Jennifer Freeman, but an alert Chrissy Rosales was in proper position at the back post to clear the would-be goal off the line at 18 minutes.
While Raetzman and Chiero were a constant thorn in the Vikings’ side, it was the Cougars’ midfield which confidently controlled the center of the park, winning first and second balls and using the width of the pitch.
“I really believe we came into tonight too confident, and it ended up costing us,” said Fremd coach Steve Keller.
The Cougars’ sensational second-half effort took flight just seconds after the whistle opened play as Andress fired in a low shot from the right side into the far-side netting, past a diving Norris who had come off her line to challenge.
“I just took a great ball from (Paige) and hit my shot past the keeper,” said a humble Andress, who watched Raetzman add to the lead 10 minutes later after a scrum following a corner.
Chiero made it 4-1 at 53 minutes when, on the turn, she unleashed a nasty left-footer going the other way after she and Raetzman worked some magic to create some space.
Kotsakis and Fillingim collided just inside the box on a 50-50 challenge, which resulted in the Cougars keeper having to leave the match under her own power in the 65th minute. The unmarked leading scorer for the Vikings (3-1-0, 1-1-0) got past back-up Drew Wentzel from 20 yards. The Cougars (6-0-0, 3-0-0) conceded a late goal in the dying stages.
“We all know, and coach (Keller) reminded us afterward, that if we had played with the same intensity and desire that we showed in the last 15 minutes, then maybe the outcome would have been a little different,” said Vikings junior Emily Basten.
“This was a great test for us tonight to see where we’re at,” said Franco, “but we won’t dwell too long on our success tonight with the upcoming schedule that we have ahead of us.”