Eagles tie Bartlett 1-1 in non-conference tilt
By Gary Larsen

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It was played on a Monday, a non-conference game on the first day back from Spring Break, and its starting time was changed on the day of the game.

You could have predicted an out-of-synch, low-energy game coming between host Bartlett and Jacobs, and that’s how the 1-1 tie played out.

“It really did," Jacobs senior Erin Flores said. "I thought we had a good warm-up but five minutes into the game, we just lost it. And I thought it was both teams. I don't know what the vibe was today."

Bartlett senior Jess Cosentino saw things the same way.

"I thought we were working hard and it wasn't a lack of effort," Cosentino said. "But there was a lack of being on your toes and 'let's go'. It didn't look like there was enough heart out there for either team."

Not every game can be a diamond, so both Bartlett (6-3-1) and Jacobs (4-3-1) felt fortunate to come away with a tie instead of a loss. Bartlett’s Nicki Noreen scored off a Nicole Gobbo feed early in the contest, and Cassidy Sherman struck just 19 seconds before halftime to tie the game for Jacobs.

Gobbo centered a pass from the right side towards the goalmouth, where Noreen converged with Eagles’ goalkeeper Alyssa Koeppler eight yards out.

Noreen won the race, and toe-poked the game’s first goal inside the far post at eight minutes.

"We got it up top, we were playing to feet, the forwards were checking back, and we were letting the ball do the work," Bartlett coach Heather Thomas said of her side’s early play.

"We started out quicker than the way we finished. I thought we had some speed to our advantage at the very beginning, so there were some good things happening at the start of the game. We'll take the tie. A win would have been nicer."

Bartlett’s Kendra Videckis intercepted an attempted clear and hit a low shot to Koeppler at 21 minutes, and Sherman sent a head shot into the arms of Bartlett keeper Natalia Grodzki off a Marge Rivera free kick feed two minutes later.

Gobbo centered another pass to Noreen at 25 minutes but Koeppler won the race to the ball, and Grodzki saved a Sherman shot from distance on Jacobs’ next trip up the field. Noreen swept in with Rivera on her hip up the right side but sent her shot wide of the far post at 26 minutes.

Sherman teed up a shot from 23 yards out and sent it inside the post just before halftime.

“I think that goal really kind of took the wind out of our sails,” Thomas said.

Cosentino sent a long free kick high at 49 minutes, and Sherman did the same on a shot attempt at 52 minutes. Jacobs’ Brittney Van Ness sent in a one-hopper to Grodzki at 54 minutes, Bartlett’s Ashley Johnson sent a free kick wide at 57 minutes, and Jacobs’ Lauren Grady worked a ball towards the end line on the left side at 58 minutes, cut it back to her right and fired a shot to Grodzki at 59 minutes.

Lauren Grady put in a blue-collar effort with Bartlett defender Aubrey Czekajlo hounding her throughout the second half.

"Lauren Grady worked her tail off up top, and some of the girls worked hard, but I just don't think we had the energy we needed today," Jacobs coach AJ Cappello said. “We played real energetic Saturday, we were sharp, we were on every ball, and played with great energy and enthusiasm. But today was the polar opposite."

Jacobs posted a 3-0 win over Andrew on Saturday, playing the game they’re aiming to play this season, featuring an aggressive attacking style.

"We connected passes, we went to the goal, and we had high energy in that game," Flores said. "And once we scored the first goal, we scored the second and the third and it kind of brought up our energy."

"We weren't real satisfied with the way we finished out the tournament against St. Francis so we wanted to make sure we came out and had a good result against Andrew," Cappello said. "We played with very high energy and did all the little things we needed to do. We went right at them and to a large extent we took them out of the game. We controlled the run of play for probably 70 of the 80 minutes, and that comes with that consistency of working off the ball, and looking for each other, and getting that consistent work rate out of all eleven girls.

“Today just wasn’t our day. It was a very blah effort.”

Rivera sailed a shot wide at 63 minutes, and five minutes later Bartlett’s Josie Dombrowski nearly got onto the end of a ball Noreen sent towards the post but came up just shy.

The game’s final ten minutes saw better energy. Jacobs’ Marissa Blanchard found a head shot at 72 minutes that Grodzki saved, Sherman went wide on a shot from distance at 74 minutes, and Jacobs had a trio of corner kicks in the waning minutes that went for naught.

After going 4-0 and winning the South Elgin tournament last week, Bartlett is healthier and looking to get continued good work from around the pitch.

"Melissa Gal was tough at outside back today, Nicki and Gobbo had some opportunities up top, Jess and Ashley played tough in the middle," Thomas said. "Some of the girls are playing positions they're not totally comfortable with, but they're playing them well. Aubrey started at outside mid and now she's one of our outside backs, so taking them away from their comfort level has taken some acclimation."

The Hawks are off until April 10 and 11, when they’ll take on Upstate Eight Conference foes East Aurora and Neuqua Valley, respectively.

"We've been working well and we're coming together,” Cosentino said. “We had been relying on our two really fast forwards (Gobbo and Noreen) but now we're working together more as a team.”

Jacobs plays at Grayslake North on Thursday and hosts Libertyville Saturday.

"Our touch was off today and we didn't have the mentality to go, go, go. We need to have the mentality to score," Flores said. "We talk a lot and that's the basis of every game, and we're a good passing team. We have a good team bond and hopefully we'll clean it up for our next game.”