Mathis helps spark Mundelein’s offense

Over the last couple of games, the Mundelein girls soccer team has been lacking an offensive spark.

So, the Mustangs made a recent change by moving sweeper Nathalie Mathis up top to try to generate additional offense.

She played forward for the second straight game Saturday.

“It was a little shaky at first, getting used to the different moving around and communicating,” Mathis said. “It’s all good, though, because my team has helped me out, telling me where to go. It’s always fun to attack and take some shots. Our team has been getting a lot of possessions, but we’re not finding ways to finish.”

Mathis’ third goal of the spring was Mundelein’s only tally Saturday morning in4-1 loss to St. Ignatius in a consolation game of the Pepsi Showdown at Olympic Park in Schaumburg.

“We played with some energy in the first 10 minutes of the second half getting that goal,” Mustangs coach Dave Ekstrom said. “Then we just ran out of gas. I’m not sure if it was mental focus or something else. We didn’t have the effort we needed.”

Mathis tied the game for Mundelein (5-2-1, 1-2) after taking a pass from Ashley Begrowicz in the 43rd minute.

But the Wolfpack (6-4-2) engineered an outburst of 3 goals in seven minutes.

Noreen Walsh scored twice, netting goals in the 69th and 73rd minutes, and Ginny Somers knocked in the other goal three minutes later.

“The girls decided to pick it up,” said St. Ignatius coach Rob Stassen. “All the girls pulled up their socks and played hard.

“For the first time in a while we had speed on defense and skill with the one touch in the middle instead of playing the outside.”