Girls soccer: Filian's 300th win put on hold as Palatine, Elk Grove draw
Palatine girls soccer fans will have to wait another day to celebrate coach Willie Filian's 300th career victory.
The Pirates and visiting Elk Grove played 100 minutes Wednesday night at frigid Chic Anderson Stadium before ending in a 1-1 draw to keep Filian holding at 299 wins.
"We were all hoping to get coach No. 300 last week at the Kinsella Cup against Fremd and to be honest, it's kind of been in the back of all our minds during our last couple of games," said Pirates keeper Amaya Rivera, who is the lone four-year starter on the varsity roster.
"I appreciate what Amaya said, but all I'm thinking about right now is us just getting our third win of the season and nothing else," added Filian.
Filian would become just the 16th coach in IHSA history to win 300 as the Pirates' girls head coach, to go along with over 370 he's recorded in with the boys' program.
Filian promised a few changes in his formation after the Pirates' (2-4-0, 0-2-1) 2-0 loss to rival Fremd last Friday, one of which was the move of center back Melanie Simon into the midfield with the hope of providing more inspiration into a lackluster attack.
"We generated more offense tonight, and created a few more dead ball opportunities and chances on frame, but we struggled a little bit in our first game without Mel (Simon) in the back, but Amaya came to the rescue a few times," said Filian.
Elk Grove, the reigning 2018 Mid-Suburban East champs, has plenty of new faces in its starting 11, many of whom are growing up with each time out, according to its top player, sophomore Alexa Joshi.
"We've come a long way since that first game of the year against Downers Grove South, and although some of our results are not the best we had hoped for, we're playing with so much more confidence, and with a lot of spirit and heart than earlier," said Joshi, an all-MSL selection in her rookie season last spring.
Joshi and her running mate in the middle of the park, freshman Hannah Gryzik, did their share of distributing, creating and running the Grens' (3-6-2, 1-2-1) attack from deep in their own end, or from just inside the mid line.
Joshi was responsible for the opener in the 16th minute when she flew up the right side, crossed into the box, then watched as teammate Aliah Mendez, at the end of her long run up the left side, slotted past Rivera in a crowd.
Back line mates, Lily Duckman and Mariso Mauro would help keep the Pirates under pressure with several terrific balls out of the back into the area, but it was a looping attempt from Katie Talens that nearly doubled the Grens' advantage when the junior rattled the bar.
Senior Ann Lu equalized in the 21st minute when she took an extra touch before bending her angled shot off the tip of keeper Rachel Kandefer's gloves.
Both sides created several deep throws, corners and dead balls opportunities after the break, many of them a result of the strong gusting wind working in favor of each club.
Olivia Radtke sent two quality free kicks in the Elk Grove box only to have both parried away, while on the other end of the park Gryzik's fierce dipping 25-yard effort forced Rivera into action in the 75th minute.
Elk Grove will play its third round game of the PepsiCo Showdown tournament on Thursday at home against Glenbard West, with the Pirates on the road Friday at Conant.