Girls soccer: St. Francis bounces back to beat Bartlett
For the St. Francis girls soccer team and senior returning starter Hannah Rittenhouse, simply coming back from a senior-led Class 2A championship season would have been challenging enough.
Now the Spartans are in Class 3A for this year's state tournament. For Tuesday's regional opener, they faced more adversity when they fell behind after only 30 seconds.
"I was proud of us because we fought back and got back the first goal," said Rittenhouse, a forward to will play at Iowa.
"I think it's very different (this season), but I think it's been a motivation. It's been great playing with new people after losing a lot of seniors, but I think it's no excuse. These girls have come in and stepped up big time and I'm really appreciative of that."
Rittenhouse certainly has helped, too. Her with two goals, including what proved to be the game-winner with 18:53 left, lifted the Spartans past Bartlett 4-2 in the St. Francis regional semifinals at Wheaton College.
St. Francis (7-7-3), the No. 9 seed in the Schaumburg sectional, plays for the regional title at 5 p.m. Friday at Wheaton College against top-seeded St. Charles North (16-1-2), a 6-0 winner over No. 16 Glenbard North Tuesday. A 2018 Class 3A quarterfinalist, the North Stars defeated the Spartans 1-0 back on March 19.
St. Francis junior midfielder Ava Hensley had 1 goal and 2 assists and sophomore outside defender Katherine Lemke had a goal and assist. Lemke provided the key insurance goal with 14:39 left off a cross by Hensley after she kept a cleared ball in the attacking third.
No. 8 Bartlett (7-13-2) received goals by senior defender Paige Bednarke on an early free kick and sophomore Serena Salvato to tie the game 2-2 with 35 minutes left.
"Generally I was pleased," St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said.
"It's been a hard, hard season. We haven't had any home games. We've had about a dozen practices outside. To their credit they've dug in and done some good stuff. Hannah was huge tonight, obviously. You can't teach big, strong and fast."
Last season's leading scorer, Rittenhouse was impressive on the game-winner. She took the ball off a counterattack pass from Hensley and dribbled about 40 yards down the left side of the field before converting near the top of the box.
"She'll be ready whenever," Hensley said. "My main thing is if I get the ball, flick it on and try to counterattack because I know she'll do her job up there."
"I kind of dribbled to the outside and saw the goalie come out and once I saw her come out, I knew I just had to hit it over her head," Rittenhouse said.
The early goal by Bednarke was equally impressive. When a foul resulted in a 45-yard free kick, Bednarke put the ball high into the net just above the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Aubrey Quaranto.
It was the earliest goal Bednarke or first-year coach Vince Revak could recall for the Hawks.
"I've always tried to lead during the season on and off the field. I just had the opportunity (to score)," Bednarke said. "It was a team effort. They all put pressure on (the goal). That was just a great start and we kept fighting until the last minute after that."
Trailing 2-1 at halftime, the Hawks also started the second half aggressively. Salvato tied the game after the Spartans stopped her initial shot. She persevered and converted the rebound.
"It's kind of been the story of our season. We pick and choose when to look like a much more aggressive team and luckily they came out and made it a game at the beginning of the second half. It was great to see that fire," Revak said.
"That (Bednarke goal) was a dream start for us. Unfortunately we couldn't capitalize. It almost was a disservice because we were up and we kind of took our foot off the pedal a little. Still I'll never take a goal away from the beginning of the game."