Late Gierman goal nets Huskies Win No. 1
By Gary Larsen

 

Hersey managed a feat that hadn't been done in nearly 240 minutes worth of soccer, and it gave the Huskies a 1-0 win over host Carmel on Saturday.

Hersey (1-1-1) sophomore Lauren Gierman became the first player in three games to put a goal in net against Carmel (2-1), in third-round play of Carmel’s annual quad in Mundelein.

“That’s the best we’ve played so far this season,” Hersey coach Brad Abel said. “We’ve gotten better in each of our three games here, and that’s all I can ask for.

“It was a nice win for us. Carmel is a tough team with a lot of speed, and this was the most complete 80 minutes that we’ve played. There’s a lot to work on but so far, this was our best game.”

Gierman changed a game seemingly destined for a scoreless draw when she got onto the end of a Casey Weyhrich cross from the right side in the 76th minute and buried a shot that gave her side its first win of the young season.

“We played well,” Gierman said. “We had a lot of corner kicks, we took a lot of shots, and that was our best game so far.”

Every bit as important as the Huskies ability to apply pressure was the performance of their back line of Olivia Stasiuk, Emily Moody, Kayla Knauss, Sara Magnuson in front of a steady performance by keeper Morgan Harris.

“Their back line was excellent,” Carmel coach John Halloran said. “Every time it looked like we might be able to break them down they had a second defender right there. They played flat and they did it well.”

Along with University of Illinois-bound Meegan Johnston, Carmel’s Kate Murphy and Sadie Jung provide creativity for this year’s Corsairs, to go with the finishing promise of trio Elizabeth Bream, Ashley Orth, and St. Norbert-bound Shannon Jung.

But on Saturday, Carmel’s attack barely got a good look on net.

“We’ve got some new players back there and I thought we played well (defensively) today,” said Stasiuk, Hersey’s senior leader in back.

“(Stasiuk) was our player of the year last year,” Abel said. “She’s our anchor back there. But as a unit they were very compact today. We did a much better job today of staying more compact and absorbing. And Morgan Harris has been out of the game for a couple of years and I can’t say enough about the job she’s doing for us in net. She made a great save against Prairie Ridge for us on Thursday (in a 0-0 tie).”

Hersey’s Casey Weyhrich sent a shot high on a Megan Boyle feed mid-way through the first half as the Huskies reached the end line a handful of times in the first half.  Gierman dribbled to the 18 with a defender on her hip and fired high at 29 minutes.

Carmel had a pair of corner kicks late in the first half that went for naught, but offensively the Corsairs struggled to find dangerous space to launch a quality shot on frame.

“We struggled all game to break pressure and we didn’t do enough to hold the ball and alleviate pressure on our defense,” Halloran said. “In the first 15 minutes of the second half we were playing well but then it kind of fell apart.”

Hersey nearly went up 1-0 at 45 minutes on a shot from distance that Carmel keeper Katie Larson tipped over the crossbar.

“That shot was probably a goal against ninety percent of the keepers out there,” Halloran said. “She did the same thing against Prairie Ridge on Wednesday. She judges it well. She knew she wasn’t going to catch it so she put her hand across her body and pushed it wide.”

Johnston fought hard in the second half to find a shot or a seam to exploit in Hersey’s back line, but it never came. Carmel had a corner kick at 58 minutes that Harris swatted away.

Gierman raced up the right side and crossed to Emily Custer at 60 minutes but Larson beat Custer to the ball. Carmel’s Elizabeth Bream sent a low-rolling shot to Harris at 62 minutes, and Boyle earned another Hersey corner with a shot that went off a Carmel defender at 63 minutes.

Nicole Pietro went wide with a shot at 65 minutes for the Huskies, and Gierman sent a head shot just wide of the post a minute later. Carmel’s Katie Sandecki nearly pulled the trigger on a shot in close but Harris pounced on it to thwart the chance at 74 minutes.

Gierman’s goal capped a good day for a Hersey attack that will keep trying to find its footing, with junior midfielder Meg Cerniglia now gone for the season after an injury suffered in the first minute of the Huskies’ first game of the season.

“We’ve got Lauren Gierman and she’s a natural forward, and then Megan Boyle and Nicole Pietro in the middle are workhorses,” Abel said. “I thought (Pietro)and Nicole Gierman had a great game, and our reserves gave us some quality minutes as well.

“Amy Kappelman stepped in really nicely on the outside for us, and a freshman in Jessica Schmidt played well. We don’t have superstars but we have solid role players that know their responsibilities.”

After Gierman’s goal, Magnuson helped thwart a few final dangerous near-chances from Carmel down the stretch.

Carmel will have to shrug off Saturday’s loss and get ready for a pair of away games at Warren and East Suburban Catholic Conference rival Marist in the coming week. The Corsairs shouldn’t have a problem shrugging off the goal scored against them by Hersey, with a rock-solid back line led by Northern Iowa-bound central defender Sarah McHugh.

McHugh’s size and athleticism set her apart on a girls’ high school soccer field this season.

“She was dominating all game, she was dominating on Thursday, and she was dominating on Wednesday,” Halloran said. “She’s obviously a big part of what we’re doing this year.”

With Larson in net and McHugh in front of her, Carmel doesn’t plan on giving up too many goals this year. Colleen Foley and Maggie Karich add strength in back, and midfielder Kate Jung filled in for missing starting defender Bri Carlson Saturday.

The Corsairs started the season with a 4-0 win over Prairie Ridge and a 1-0 win over Lake Forest before their loss to Hersey.

The Huskies launch into Mid Suburban League play on the road this week, at Fremd on Wednesay and at Schaumburg on Friday.