Hartman's 2 goals fuel Carmel come-from-behind win over St. Viator
Anna Hartman inspired Carmel Catholic to come back twice to beat host St. Viator Wednesday in an important East Suburban Catholic girls soccer match in Arlington Heights.
Hartman and her teammates overcame a 2-0 deficit to the Lions by equalizing before intermission - then scoring the last 3 goals to claim a 5-3 victory.
"We practiced for the first time this season on grass yesterday, then came out real slow (and) found ourselves chasing two goals to a team that was playing with way more energy than us," said Hartman, who together with Emily Fix bagged four of the Corsairs' goals. "Getting back even before the break really turned this game around for us."
The win pushed Carmel to 7-4-1 overall and 3-1 in ESCC action.
"The first 20-25 minutes was all St. Viator," said Carmel coach Stephanie Kile, whose team plays at Vernon Hills Saturday.
"We didn't play well at all, but I am so proud of the way we fought and hung in there despite giving up their first goals. It was a very good all-around effort from the girls."
Emillie Doersching gave the home side an early lead when she converted her spot-kick in the 13th minute - and when the visitors failed to clear a corner out of the area, Evelyn Urbaniak made them pay with her blast that went just under the bar at 18 minutes.
"We had a great game plan in place, and got the start we wanted with those two goals in the first 20 minutes, but when we got away from our tactical plan (is) when they put two in before the half to change the game around in their favor," Lions coach Byron DeLeon explained.
The Corsairs pulled one back after Emily Fix was brought down in the box, and the junior calmly steered in her spot-kick just after the half-hour.
Fix drew her club back level when she collected a Hartman ball from the end line when she tricked her way free before firing past St. Viator keeper Kyli Ziebka.
"We had a lot of momentum going into the break, and we didn't let (them) taking the lead again bother us," Hartman said. "We stayed strong and never gave up."
The Lions (5-2-3, 3-1-2) went back in front in the 46th minute thanks to Gabriella Letto's lovely chip over keeper Lisete Astudillo, but the 1-goal advantage was short lived.
Hartman netted the first of her two with a marvelous solo effort that saw her draw Ziebka far off her line with some wonderful trickery before hitting the far inside netting from in close.
The third PK of the day was converted by Hartman in the 68th minute to put the visitors in the lead for good with Maddie Nikolai putting the finishing touches on the day with her clinical one-timer 6 minutes from time.
"Our back line tightened up its play in the second half," Kile said. "(They) had some trouble keeping Emily (Fix) and Hartman under control, and I thought that Grace Harvey had a great game on both sides of the ball for us."
St. Viator will travel to Burlington, Iowa, for its annual visit there where they will play three games in two days.