Hawks blank Mustangs but not pleased with showing

By Darryl Mellema

There was something about the way Bartlett passed the ball at times on Tuesday night that was marvelous to behold.

The Hawks moved the ball seamlessly from side to side, probing to find gaps in Metea Valley's defense.

Especially late in the second half, Bartlett was incredibly fluid and pinned the host Mustangs into their own penalty area.

But when the game ended, Bartlett only had a 1-0 win to show for its occasional dominance.

While that was enough to send the visitors home happy and with a 2-0 record for the season, it wasn't enough to leave them truly satisfied with their collective performance.

"I'm happy for the result," Bartlett coach Ben Beary said. "I'm not satisfied with the result. The second half, we were expecting to come out with even more energy than the first half.

"I've got to hand it to Metea. They're on their home field and they came out and we weren't ready to match it. It's a good test for us this early in the season."

The goal came from defender Brett Dini, who pushed forward on a free kick 17 minutes into the opening half.

That free kick was nicely situated, about 22 yards just to the right of the net at the top of the penalty area.

Carmelo Abate took that free kick and sent it to the left post, where Bartlett sweeper Joey Morgan met the ball and headed off the right post.

The ball rebounded to Dini who headed home his second goal in as many games this season.

"That's one of our strengths, when we push up our defenders for set plays," Dini said. "We practice our set plays."

Despite the game plan to move defenders forward on corner kicks and free kicks, it's still pleasing for defenders when they put the ball in the net and even more so when those goals end up winning games.

"This is my senior year and I'm just living in a dream right now scoring," Dini said.

Dini's role as a central defender was important from that point on, especially because the Hawks were unable to score any more goals. Metea Valley (2-3) remained a threat all game through quick counterattacks.

"We always had to be ready for that quick fast break," Dini said. "They had a couple of quick forwards and they knew how to play to them well, to send it into space. We had to be on our toes and ready."

The interplay between midfield and the forwards picked up from the moment the goal was scored and never slowed until halftime.

Fabio Aiello was at the heart of many of those moves, linking with players like Abate and Charlie Sordini in midfield and forwards such as Eric Kennebeck.

"In practice, we always practice 'pass-move, pass-move,'" Aiello said. "We always want to give options. When we bring it to our game, teams have to keep with us."

That pressure continued into the early minutes of the second half, when Kennebeck shot over the crossbar.

But increasingly, the Hawks' attacks broke down, which began to allow Metea Valley a way back into the contest.

"We had a lot of good chances to get that second goal," Aiello said. "If we had gotten that second goal, this game would have been over. But we kept our composure and won this game."

While the schedule has been relaxed as far as games played, that is about to change in a significant way.

The Hawks' next match is next Tuesday, a 6 p.m. match at powerhouse New Trier that opens Bartlett's play in this year's Pepsi Showdown.