Girls soccer: St. Francis advances past Glenbard South
Senior outside left defender Rachel Rahman proved again Tuesday that the St. Francis girls soccer team's powerful offense can strike from anywhere.
Rahman sneaked up on Glenbard South and found herself wide open on the weak side for a cross from McKenzie Douglass, the Spartans' other outside defender, to score the game's first goal with 25:40 left in the first half.
"Actually, it's my first goal of the season - but I do typically make my runs as an outside back," Rahman said.
"It's important that I'm actually there because it pays off for our team. I've had many assists, but this is my first goal."
Glenbard South made the Spartans work before they got rolling in the second half for a 9-0 victory in the Class 2A Glenbard South sectional semifinals in Glen Ellyn.
Top-seeded St. Francis (15-3) will play for the sectional title at 4:30 p.m. Friday against No. 3 St. Ignatius (10-13-2).
St. Francis defeated the Wolfpack 4-1 May 3 in Chicago. The Spartans have won eight straight and have several key returnees from last year's lineup that reached the final eight.
"We had a hard (1-0 regulation) loss in supersectionals and most of us, because we're returning, know the pain and suffering we went through to get there," senior co-captain Bridget Doran said. "We don't want that to happen again."
The Spartans led 2-0 at halftime before opening the second half with a 4-goal barrage led by sophomore leading scorer Kendra Pasquale, who had 3 of them to give her 26 this season. Senior Kate LaMantia was credited for an own goal off senior co-captain Molly Doran's corner kick.
Freshman reserve Jill Ditusa scored twice. Freshman Hanna Rittenhouse and sophomore Claire Hensley also scored.
"I was actually surprised. (Our players) were pretty uptight the first 20, 25 minutes," St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said. "Jill got the second goal, we loosened up some more, but I wouldn't say we played all that particularly well. On top of it, it's hot. This is brutal relative to what they've been playing in the last three months."
The No. 4 Raiders (8-12-2) previously lost at St. Francis 8-0 April 23 yet gave an inspired effort, especially considering the back line was minus senior captain Julia Rausch, who was out with the flu. Five other seniors started.
After a one-year absence Glenbard South captured its sixth regional title in the past seven seasons under new coach Kevin Berner.
"The kids stepped up and they gave us everything they possibly could in the first half (against) an offensive attack that was downwind and we stayed strong," Berner said.
"No reason to hang (our) heads. St. Francis is an incredible team. There's no reason why they can't go pretty far. But I really am proud of our girls for starting the season the way they did and then looking to build and build."
The Spartans' defense also is building into shape. This was their third straight shutout and ninth this season. They've outscored opponents 53-3 during the current winning streak.
The starting defensive line of senior Brooke Roback, Bridget Doran, Rahman and Douglass received helped from Molly Doran and reserves Ellie Pointner, Alex Preusser and Elle Curtis.
"We've put a little more emphasis into (defense) lately, which obviously has helped," Whitlow said.
The Raiders' best chance at starting goalkeeper Tammy Syron came in the 33rd minute when Marly Benner slipped Fiona VanTeylingen's through pass along to Samantha Schutte, who got a direct shot near the central top of the box that Syron saved.
"We started off kind of rough. Once we got into the second half, we settled down, figured out what we needed to do and how we needed to play and we started connecting," Molly Doran said.