Dzialo's girls are getting used to new system, coach

As head of the boys soccer program at Jacobs High School for the past seven seasons, coach Jim Dzialo might not have known exactly what to expect on the girls end entering his first year as head coach, but he did come in with a philosophy.

"Girls are different than boys," Dzialo said. "Whatever works with the guys, do the opposite."

Following an 0-3 start, the Golden Eagles are taking shape, and despite an extremely difficult schedule early this year, they have put together 5 victories.

Now 5-10 overall, Jacobs sits at 3-1 in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division action, and a title or title share is certainly not out of reach.

What remains to be seen is if you do the opposite with the girls, is the end result the same?

If so, the Golden Eagles might just be getting started.

Dzialo and the boys team concluded the 2007 season on quite a tear. After going 7-15 in the regular season, Jacobs (the No. 17 seed among 18 teams) surprised everybody beating the Fox Valley Conference Fox Division champions Prairie Ridge in the postseason.

Even more surprising was their next postseason victory which came against the unbeaten, No. 2 ranked team (Daily Herald Top 20) in St. Viator, advancing them to the sectional semifinals at Lake Zurich where they finally fell 3-0 to Palatine.

"We are starting to see more of a system here," said Dzialo. "We had a great weekend at the Boylan Tournament.

"Competing in these tough tournaments makes for better local play."

Already, the Golden Eagles have taken part in the Boylan Tournament as well as the Pepsi Showdown.

"These girls are resilient," Dzialo said. "They'll come around, and I do believe that they will do something special by the end of the year."

Jewel of the Niles: While the Elgin girls soccer team still awaits its first win at 0-5-1, senior forward Lizzy Niles has made history at Elgin High School.

With 20 goals last year, a mid-game strike against Streamwood Tuesday night gave her 46 career goals, which surpasses Elgin's prior goal leader and Lizzy's sister, Sarah, on the all-time chart.

"Lizzy is a tough kid, and I know she was excited to set the record," said Elgin coach Dave Borg.

"She has been an excellent leader, and has played all over the field for us."

The Maroons have been plagued by injury since opening day, so much so that Borg notes there isn't a girl on the roster that hasn't played at least three different positions this year.

"We're improving and it is the right time to show improvements," Borg said.

Despite the recent struggles, morale remains high at Elgin top to bottom.

Along with Niles, stopper Giselle Bruskewitz continues to push forward.

"Giselle always feels like we have a chance to win," said Borg. "She has played every second of every game. She never stops, and she never complains."

Bruskewitz is joined in the back by another team anchor Alex Smith at sweeper.

"Alex has about 20 to 25 slide tackles this year," Borg noted. "She could play with the guys any day.

"We would be nothing without those two."

Longtime assistant coach John McCreery will retire at the conclusion of this season.

A part of both Elgin's girls and boys programs since 1997, this will be McCreery's final season on the sidelines. He will continue to coach and recruit however.

"I hate to see John go," said Borg. "Not only is the guy one of my best friends, but he has always been next to me on the sidelines.

"He has done more for Elgin soccer than anybody I can remember."

Showing improvements, Elgin will enter the Elk Grove regional as the No. 17 seed and is slated to face the No. 16 seeded Maine East on Friday, May 9 as part of the Streamwood sectional.

"We're going in there looking to win that one," said Borg. "The girls will be ready. They are ready for all of these games.

"There is a ton of character here, and truth be told, I wouldn't trade this team for a state championship roster. I wouldn't trade them for anything."

The host with the most: Hosting the Streamwood sectional, the Sabres enter postseason play with the No. 9 seed, the highest seed head coach Matt Polovin has ever seen the team earn.

At 5-7-3 overall and 2-3-1 in Upstate Eight Conference action, Streamwood continues to challenge opponents through hard work and resilience.

Sophomore Violet Sanchez currently leads offensive efforts with 8 goals as an outside left midfielder. Forward Alanah Thompson has recorded 6 goals and 8 assists.

"Violet and Alanah are doing a great job for us," said Polovin.

Geena Boris (4 goals) is another playmaker for Streamwood.

"Geena is excellent at creating opportunities for the team," Polovin said. "We have a lot more scoring threats on the field this year."

In the back, Jenny Kaeseberg anchors the defense.

"The girls are really starting to progress defensively," Polovin said. "All around, we are playing better quality soccer."

The Sabres will set up opposite the No. 8 seed in regional host Elk Grove.

"Elk Grove is a good matchup for us," said Polovin. "They are a solid team, but I think that we can take them."

Also competing in the Streamwood sectional will be area teams Larkin, South Elgin, Dundee-Crown, Huntley, Burlington Central and Jacobs.

Both Larkin and South Elgin will open postseason action in the Larkin regional, while Dundee-Crown (No. 14 seed) will face Lake Park (No. 4 seed) in the Lake Park regional.

South Elgin (No. 15) will face the No. 2 seed in Conant at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14. Larkin will follow at 6:30 p.m. against Schaumburg.

"We have played and beaten Schaumburg in the past which is nice," said Royals coach Ken Hall. "We're a different team this year so anything can happen.

"I know that we have to play better than we've been playing to be successful in the post season."

Dundee-Crown will play at 5 p.m. on May 14.

At Jacobs regional: The Jacobs regional will boast a bevy of talent including Huntley as the seed leader at No. 3. The Red Raiders currently ride a 14-0 overall record, 5-0 in Fox Valley Conference Fox Division play, and are ranked at No. 18 in the Daily Herald Top 20.

Huntley has tallied 11 shutouts while scoring 59 goals.

The Red Raiders will kick of the postseason on Wednesday, May 18 against Jacobs (No. 13 seed) at 5 p.m. followed by Rolling Meadows against Burlington Central (No. 10) at 7 p.m.

After an 0-5 start, the Rockets have won 5 straight to battle back to the .500 mark at 6-6 overall. They also remain in contention for the Big Northern East title at 3-0 in BNE matches.

Their most recent win came via a 5-0 conclusion versus Marengo.

Top dogs: Hampshire owns the No. 1 seed in Class A action at the Stillman Valley sectional having made back-to-back trips to state and showing continued success at 6-3-1 this year.

"So far this season, I would say we have seen glimpses of what could be a very good team," said Whip-Pur coach Patrick O'Brien. "We still need to work on finishing up front."

According to O'Brien Alex Field and Kelsey Burke have been the strong-hands of the roster thus far, as well as the entire defense.

"Our defense is giving up less than a handful of shots a game," O'Brien said.

The Whip-Purs will begin the postseason on May 12 against either Rockford Christian Life (No. 9 seed) or Keith School, which holds the No. 8 seed.

"We have so many games in a short period of time, so we have not started to think about sectionals yet," said O'Brien. "We are definitely looking forward to the challenge of the postseason."

At 6-2-1, St. Edward features the No. 1 seed of the Westminster Christian sectional. The Green Wave will go up against either Chicago Waldorf or Luther North, the No. 9 and No. 8 seeds respectively, on May 13 at 4:30 p.m.

Also competing in the Warriors' sectional will be host Westminster Christian (No. 5 seed) and the No. 2 seeded Elgin Academy.

Goal oriented: With 16 goals and a dozen assists, Cary-Grove's Lindsay Passaglia is not only the area's goal-leader, but she is also the current point leader.

Passaglia has racked up goals, assists or both in all but one game this season.

She has only been stumped in a recent 2-1 loss to Chatham-Glenwood at the Prospect Tournament, which was not only the Trojans' only loss of the year, but also the only game in which they have surrendered a goal.

Freshman Aimee Wronski of Huntley is right behind Passaglia with 15 goals and 4 assists.