Rolling Meadows continues to make gains

The continued improvement from an inexperienced Rolling Meadows girls soccer team was evident Wednesday as the Mustangs (3-7-1, 3-3-0, 9 points) defeated visiting Hoffman Estates 2-0 on the turf at Robert Hoese Field in Mid-Suburban League play.

Goals on either side of the break from senior Mary Collins and freshman Katerine Perille boosted the hopes for a mid-table finish in the MSL from the Mustangs, which has recorded two shutouts in its last three league matches.

"It wasn't always pretty, but it means a lot to earn a win in the MSL at any time, and it also goes a long way in the development of our team - not only this season, but for the future," said Meadows coach Mike Drenth, who has regularly opened with seven freshmen in his lineup.

"There's a lot of freshmen on this team with talent," said Meadows senior Sarah Ott, who along with Kemph has helped solidify the back line in front of rookie keeper Kelsey Nallon. "So it's up to Allie, Mary and myself to set a good example for the younger players while showing the leadership a team this young will need.

"It was a big deal for this program to beat Fremd (1-0) two weeks ago, and hopefully a win like that will go a long way in the growth of this team."

The Hawks (0-6-0) opened sharply, but in the end failed to find a way to get into the back of the net despite a handful of quality opportunities.

"It's kind of the same old story for us," said Hawks coach Ralph Tooren. "We possess and knock the ball around really well, and get our attack up and running, but cannot find a way to be dangerous in the final third. It's not for a lack of effort, but we just do not seem to play with enough urgency when we get into our opponent's end, so we up wasting all of that good stuff we've started."

The visitors opened playing a high, tight line along the back, which in 10 minutes appeared to slow the Mustangs as they targeted Collins and Perille.

Collins, a four-year veteran who was recently moved up top, showed her desire and will to succeed when, after watching Jennifer Nailor parry a sure goal out of the area, scored 60 seconds later with the help of freshman Madeline Rebsamen.

The Hawks flashed some entertaining soccer of their own after conceding the opening goal. With Ale Alonso at the hub of the Hawks' most creative moments, teammates Tara Jablonski, Sharon Lopez, Michelle Montes De Oca, and freshman striker Natalie Nagrant proved to be troublesome for Meadows.

"Ale has made tremendous strides in her game since last season and has given us exactly what we're looking for in the middle of the park," said Tooren.

Perille continued to show her value when her wonderfully driven strike from the right side found its way into the far inside netting at 55 minutes to double the advantage.

With the freshman duo of Claire Preissing and Natale D'Souza beginning to tighten the Mustangs' grip in the middle, Tooren pushed defender Jessica Miller up top, along with Montes De Oca to join forces with Nagrant. That's when the Hawks enjoyed their best moments of the evening.

With a great individual effort, Nagrant shed her defender and somehow unleashed a low, hard shot that forced Nallon into a save in the 65th minute.

Anna Sall had a strong shot on frame from the right side, but once again, Nallon confidently pulled in the 25-yard strike.

"We had to try something to generate more from our attack, and it probably wasn't fair to those three to just throw that at them without really practicing for it. But they did very well for the 15 minutes we went with that formation," said Tooren.

"Again, it was a good win against another up-and-coming club in the MSL," said Drenth, "but we'll have to be at our best this Friday when we go to Buffalo Grove."

Hersey 1, Palatine 0: Sara Magunson's goal assisted by Jessica Schmidt helped the Huskies improved to 13-4 overall as Morgan Harris made 7 saves to earn her 12th shutout of the season.

Conant 9, Wheeling 0: Leach Celarke (4 goals), Emily Mazurek (2) and Bianca Madonia (2) led the way as the Cougars rolled and Haley Anderson picked up a shutout.

Elk Grove 1, Schaumburg 0: Nikki Zaino's free-kick goal was the difference as the Grens edged the Saxons and Melissa Solorio earned a shutout win.

Fremd 1, Prospect 0 (OT): The Vikings used a goal in extra time to edge the Knights.