Girls soccer: Crystal Lake South topples Hampshire
Perfectly executed.
From a direct kick 30 yards out, Megan Langdon's perfectly placed pass to Maggie Rimer resulted in what turned out to be the winning goal in Crystal Lake South's 3-1 Fox Valley Conference victory over Hampshire Thursday afternoon in Crystal Lake.
The score was knotted at 1 when Rimer's goal gave the Gators a 2-1 advantage and the lead for good with 14:10 remaining in the contest.
"Megan has great accuracy with her passing and she put the ball in the perfect spot," said Rimer. "All I had to do was put my foot out and the ball went in the net. That goal gave us the momentum we needed. Hampshire played with more intensity in the first half than we did. We matched their intensity in the second half."
Crystal Lake South coach Jay Mueller was impressed with the execution of the go-ahead goal.
"That was an incredible ball by Megan and a great touch to feet by Maggie," said Mueller, "We haven't really worked on that play but Megan and Maggie executed it perfectly."
Emma Chudik, who scored 2 goals in the game, tallied an insurance goal off an assist by Lilli Sisler with 5:10 left in the game to give the Gators (3-1, 1-0) a 2-goal advantage.
Sisler also assisted on Chudik's first half goal.
"Lilli gave me great passes and I was in the right place at the right time on both goals," said Chudik. "This was a good win to start conference play."
Mueller realizes Chudik is an important cog in the Gators' offensive scheme.
"Emma is an important person for us," said the Gator coach. "She knows how to find the net."
Chudik gave the Gators a 1-0 lead with 21:04 left in the first half.
Hampshire (0-2, 0-1) knotted the game at 1 as Cara Dulaca converted a penalty kick with 7:55 left in the first half.
South outshot the Whip-Purs 13-4 and 9-0 in the second half.
Hampshire goalie Livia Lamarca collected 10 saves in the game.
"We gave great effort and played with great intensity," said Hampshire goalie Javier Rojo. "We have made massive improvement so far this season. Today was a good step forward for our program against a very good South team."
South keeper Julia Martin collected 3 saves for the winners.
"Hampshire really surprised us in the first half and outworked us," said Mueller. "We were sloppy and lacked intensity. We emphasized being more aggressive in the second half. We got more scoring opportunities in the second half and were more aggressive and played with much more intensity. We played with more composure. Our passing was much better and we got better quality shots. It was a good win against a much improved Hampshire team."