Chicagoland Soccer

Golden Eagles' sister acts continue paying off

By Steve Nemeth

When it came to explaining Jacobs’ 5-1 triumph over Dundee-Crown, Golden Eagles players and coach A.J. Cappello all viewed the team’s chemistry and cohesion as the foundation to their latest success.

Boasting four sets of siblings certainly is a factor in producing the teamwork and unity that has landed the Golden Eagles six wins within the last seven matches as part of a 10-3-0 campaign.

“I think our chemistry has been a real key. We all have good relationships throughout the team and are committed to working hard,” said Lauren Grady, who got things started by finishing a cross from sister Shannon just 5:02 into the contest. That marked the sixth time this season the duo have teamed up for a strike.

“Our team camaraderie definitely makes a difference because we all get along on and off the field,” Shannon Grady echoed. “Plus we take practices seriously and that translates onto the field. That approach is important because we really want to play on our field for sectionals.”

Just a few minutes later, Lauren Grady took another feed and blasted a potential second strike when D-C goalie Ali Sanders’ initial block simply led to a golden opportunity for Mel Duda to emerge from a scramble in front of the Chargers’ net for a 4-yard putback that made it 2-0 just under seven minutes.

Aside from an early cross that was too long, Dundee-Crown’s most direct attempt on goal came just under 12 minutes in when Mallory Fryer --- half of the Chargers’ lone sister act --- nailed a free kick that Eagle goalie Meghan Minogue caught squarely.

The majority of the time the JHS midfield --- including (junior) Cassidy and (soph) Catie Sherman --- dominated play and when Cassidy Sherman caromed a shot off the crossbar, Amy Rigby was on the spot to park the rebound for a 3-0 lead with 18:14 left before intermission.

“Not to take anything away from Jacobs, but I thought the first three goals were more a result of our own mistakes,” Dundee-Crown coach Sebastian Falinski said. “We talked about three keys, winning 50-50 balls, not committing stupid fouls, and being the aggressors. Unfortunately Jacobs did a better job on all of those.”

Although the Golden Eagles tagged Dundee-Crown with its first Fox Valley Conference loss to make both squads 2-1-0 in the loop (the Chargers dipped to 3-6-0 overall) the visitors continued battling and that hustle paid off when Stephanie Letheby opportunistically pounced on a Minogue misplay to make it 3-1 with 5:01 remaining before halftime.

“Coach always stresses following up on shots so I try to do that every time and once I saw she dropped it, I went for it,” Letheby explained. “This was disappointing because when we show up and play our best, we're a much better team. But we've been too inconsistent and that happened again.”

Another Jacobs’’ quick-strike goal happened in the opening four minutes of the second half as Lauren Grady raced to a ball at midfield and then sprinted ahead of a defender for a 1-v-1 with Sanders that produced her team-high eighth goal.

“On both goals I was in the right place at the right time,” Lauren Grady modestly noted. “I’m always excited to score but this was special because they’re one of our biggest rivals.”

Cappello capitalized on the Golden Eagles’ deep bench throughout the contest and in the second half freshman Kelly Grady also saw playing time. Along with junior Lauren and senior Shannon --- who is headed to Iowa’s Clarke College on a soccer scholarship --- Kelly represented the maximum of the five Grady girls to share the field since the youngest at six years old won’t play varsity for some time.

In addition to the Grady trio and the Shermans, the Jacobs roster also includes junior Marissa Blanchard and sophomore Danielle along with the Orjuelas, senior Monica and junior Marcie.

Jacobs’ scoring was capped off with 18:19 still to go when Margaret Rivera’s rocket of a 21-yard direct free kick swerved just right to sail over Sanders’ hands but under the crossbar.

For his part, Cappello was relieved to see the Golden Eagles put Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Glenbrook South in the Pepsi Showdown behind them.

“I was more pleased with the way we came out and played better in the second half. I thought we were a little sluggish in the first half after coming off that loss,” Cappello noted. “Fortunately we’ve got a lot of cohesion and 20 girls who practice hard so that whenever we sub, we don’t skip a beat.”

It’s one of the reasons the Golden Eagles are no longer flying under the radar when it comes to sneaking up on their opposition. Not that fellow FVC members Dundee-Crown or Cary-Grove would overlook Jacobs, but neither will Lake Zurich or regional host Barrington when it comes to the post-season.

When all was said and done, the Golden Eagles amassed a 30-5 advantage in overall shots and a 16-2 edge in on-target tries. For Dundee-Crown the former included two solid scoring chances in the second half when Carolyn Schneider had a fastbreak only to shoot just wide right and then late in the contest when the sophomore’s attempt didn’t dip soon enough only to hit the top of the net.

“On the positive side we had some good services that went unfinished.” Falinski noted. “Early on we had a ball that if it wasn’t a touch too long could’ve put us up 1-0 and maybe it changes everything.”