Grens top Maine South 1-0 in season opener
By Dan Santaromita

 

Kelli Hubly and Katie Naughton have been standouts in the Elk Grove program for years, but haven’t had a deep run in the playoffs. Not yet at least.

The senior duo is hoping to change that this year and passed the first test of the season with a 1-0 win over Maine South in Park Ridge Tuesday night. Hubly scored the game’s lone goal in the 69th minute.

Hubly’s speed, which played a key role in the goal, and skill on the ball paired with Naughton’s ability in dead ball situations give the Grens a variety of ways to score. On top of that the Grens lost just two players from last year’s team that went 10-7-5.

That has the Grens thinking big.

“Senior year, state, a fairy tale,” Naughton said with a laugh.

Naughton, a Notre Dame recruit, anchored the back line in a game that featured much of the expected sloppiness in midfield from an early season game. Neither team registered many shots on goal in the first half.

“I think this was our first game out on the big field,” Naughton said. “We just gotta adjust better, but I think overall opening it up we’ll definitely catch our stride.”

Elk Grove went from training indoors with a futsal, which bounces less, to heading onto Maine South’s turf and struggled with the adjustment.

“We had a lot of technical errors,” EG coach Dan Klaus said. “We haven’t seen a lot of bouncing balls. I don’t think we dealt with those well, whether it was running through them or striking them.”

Hubly, a Kentucky recruit, made a number of long runs of 30 yards or more to pressure the Hawks’ defense and create shooting opportunities on Maine South goalkeeper Emily O’Grady (8 saves).

The play opened up in the second half for both sides and Hubly took advantage. 10 minutes into the second half she made a run from midfield and made up about 10 yards on a defender to win a long ball and get a shot off from inside the box, but it went right to O’Grady.

Later in the half the Hawks created a chance in front off a cross, but Melissa Solorio (7 saves) made an impressive close range save.

Finally all of Hubly’s hard work paid off with the senior forward starting and finishing the break. Hubly won a ball in her own half and dribbled around a Hawk player to start a three-on-two basketball like fast break. Hubly sent the ball wide to Stephanie Solis, one of the two newcomers to the team, who gave Hubly a return pass near the box.

From there Hubly’s speed gave her the angle to get around the defender and have a clear shot on goal, which she finished low into the far post.

“I’ve been practicing sprint work because I feel like for our team that will be a big difference with us, just getting out and spreading the field and making those runs,” Hubly said. “Then like maybe me making a run down and Nikki (Zaino) getting in or Jill (Zelek) getting in. We can always play the small games, but it also helps to have a variety of long balls and short balls.”

Zaino, Zelek and Solis joined Hubly on the attack throughout the game. With so much returning experience the Grens are a very deep team, something Klaus plans to utilize.

“I tried to get everyone in and sub a little bit more,” Klaus said.

On defense, Naughton plays center back and is flanked by Emily Wary and Lindsey Vaccarino. Rachel Pruim also had a key sliding tackle to break up a Hawks’ attack late in the first half.

Kelly Naughton, Sarah Stram and Pruim give the Grens a trio of three-year varsity midfielders to go with junior Danielle Czyzewski and sophomore Kelly Regan. Freshman Alexis Olague, described as ‘really strong’ by Katie Naughton, also saw time in midfield.

Having so much of last year’s team returning gives the Grens a tight team dynamic.

“It’s way better than last year because last year was us getting to know each other and now that we know each other it’s a lot better,” Hubly said. “It shows on the field too.”

Next up for the Grens is a trip to Dundee-Crown on Friday.