Jourdan can’t save Glenbard South
Glenbard South senior goalkeeper Dana Jourdan couldn’t do much more to keep her team in its match against Fenwick during Wednesday’s Class 2A Riverside-Brookfield sectional semifinal.
Jourdan rejected several shots from close proximity, but the Friars still poked two goals past her in the first half, as well as an insurance goal in the second half to prevail 3-1.
“She gave us a chance, which is all you can ask for,” Raiders coach Glen Eggert said, “She had a really good match really, she was fantastic, but we played with way too much fear in that first half.”
Fenwick (17-5-4) dominated opening 40 minutes and constantly was putting the pressure on Jourdan and the Glenbard South defense. Eventually the Friars broke through in the final 20 minutes of the half as Bridget Hillsman set up Caroline Murphy with a goal and minutes later Hillsman scored off a Jackie Mannion feed to make it 2-0.
“It looked like it was going to be a lot closer than we expected because their keeper kept turning away our shots,” Fenwick coach Robert Watson said. “She must’ve turned away five or six shots in the first half from not really far away. We had the possession and shots but just couldn’t put the ball away, and sometimes that happens.”
Glenbard South (9-10-2) finally began turning things around a bit in the second half.
“They dominated us physically in the first half and that’s a fear issue,” Eggert said. “They were playing everything in limited touches, putting balls behind us and running onto them. You pay a price if you don’t cut that off at the source by pressuring the ball. In the second half we were more determined to get the ball.”
Senior Stephanie Schmieder lofted a beautiful 35-yard shot past Fenwick goalkeeper Jesse Cwik to pull the Raiders to within 2-1 in the second half, but the Raiders couldn’t deliver the equalizer.
Ultimately, the Friars put the game away when Cali Pyzdrowski collected a feed from Emily McGann and sent it past Jourdan to make it a 2-goal advantage with less than 20 minutes remaining.
“It’s tough, (Fenwick) physically ran through everything and it’s difficult to match that intensity,” Eggert said. “But I’m proud of how the girls rebounded from that in the second half.”
The Raiders will graduate six seniors, including Jourdan and Dani Pitaro.
“They’ll be missed, but I’m excited for our young players,” Eggert said. “We kept a group of four freshmen and they proved it was a good move, so there’s a good future here, and these seniors left us in a better place than we were when they got here. That’s all you can ask from them.”