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Girls soccer: Mundelein battles to draw with Evanston

Raena Bennett has been a tough defender for Mundelein's girls soccer team for the last three years. She's earned praise for technical ability.

Her efforts were on display again Saturday, as the Mustangs earned a 0-0 draw against host Evanston, which entered the nonconference match with a 1-0 record.

"I just say 'Never dive.' " said Barrett, who plays the right-back spot for the Mustangs. "I was taught to watch (the offensive player's) hips. You want to see which way they're turning and watch for their fake. I tend not to stab. I just shuffle my feet and have one foot ahead of the other. I just try to force them to dribble the ball outside."

Mundelein's defensive effort also included the play of Amy Richards, Hadlee Linane and Molly Mishler. Keeper Lexi Pawlowski made 10 stops for the shutout.

"We're a strong team defensively, but this year it's all about goals, goals, goals," Barrett said. "Evanston was a good team. It was more of a defensive game."

Mundelein (1-0-1) was also coming off a season-opening win, as the Mustangs beat Crystal Lake Central 3-0 on the road earlier in the week.

That's two games, two shutouts.

"We're learning a lot," Mundelein midfielder Kelly Grove said. "(Evanston) plays through the middle but then they drive a lot more going forward. It's pretty hard to defend against them. It was tough going against them because they put together some good connecting passes."

For Mundelein, getting the draw wasn't all that bad since the Mustangs have lost some close matches to Evanston the last few years.

"It was a good tie," Mundelein coach Ernie Billittier said. "We graduated a lot of players from last year. We have a new team this year. In my (four) years of coaching, we've never gotten a (good) result against Evanston. Even though it's not a win, it's early in the year and before conference. It's important that our group understands that we can compete against a top team. We knew that Evanston was a very, very good team. It's good for us to find our identity."

Mundelein's defense might be a step ahead of its offense. The unit did well to keep Evanston off the scoreboard.

Evanston goalkeeper Sheridan Cleave made 3 saves.

"I'm not happy with the (tie), but the effort was good," Evanston coach Maurizio Grillo said. "(Mundelein) was good and closed every possible gap. They were extremely well-coached. It was a learning experience for us. In the future, we have to break a team like Mundelein and score goals."

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