Redhawks win their pool, advance in Naperville Invite
By Matt Le Cren

 

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Naperville Central freshman Alison Kincaide picked a great time – and a great way – to score the first goal of her career Friday night.

The memorable play came when Meredith McEniff’s 25-yard shot hit the crossbar and bounced toward the middle of the Downers Grove South penalty area.

Downers South’s star defender, Jess Pikul, went to clear the ball but Kincaide hustled in and won the challenge before scoring on a short shot with 5:55 remaining to lift the host Redhawks to a 2-1 victory at the Naperville Invitational.

The win allowed Naperville Central to clinch its pool and advance to next Thursday’s tournament quarterfinals.

“That was a great finish that she had and you know what’s great about the game is that she had one earlier and she didn’t get much on it,” Naperville Central coach Ed Watson said. “She kind of scuffed it and it spun to the goalkeeper a real easy one. And I’m so happy for her that she got another opportunity and she made it count the second time.”

The diminutive Kincaide is much smaller than Pikul, who usually wins every 50/50 ball that comes her way as the anchor of one of the top defenses around. So how did Kincaide get the ball away from the more experienced senior?

“I don’t really know,” Kincaide said. “I guess it just kind of bounced funny and then I got to it. I was probably at the top of the box (when McEniff’s shot hit the crossbar) and then (Pikul) was in front of me and then I had to run it to get the rebound.

“It’s really exciting. I’m pretty happy.”

It was just the latest step in the faster-than-expected rise of Kincaide, who started the year on the JV team before being elevated to varsity. Now she’s in the starting lineup and turning heads with her gutsy play.

“For being a little kid, she’s a physical player,” Watson said. “She uses her body well and I think it surprises some people. They just look at her and [think] ‘oh, we’re going to be able to push her around,’ and there’s some preemptive strikes going on with her in terms of being physical.”

That has endeared Kincaide to her teammates.

“Everyone loves Alison,” sophomore midfielder Grace Orndorff said. “She’s literally one of our favorite people on the team. She’s so nice. She’s really good for a freshman, good all-around, so everyone was so happy for her to score that game-winner.”

Kincaide’s goal completed an impressive comeback by the Redhawks (13-1-1), who had to rally from a 1-0 second-half deficit in order to extend their winning streak to six games.

Downers South (7-3-3) had grabbed the lead 97 seconds into the second half when Pikul drilled a 37-yard free kick from the right wing into the upper left corner of the net. Naperville Central goalie Jill D’Amico, who made six saves, got a hand on it but was unable to stop it.

“That was a great goal,” Watson said. “That was an all-state goalkeeper that couldn’t get to the ball because of where it was placed. It was too high and it was hit with such pace, so it was a great goal for them.”

But it wasn’t the end for Naperville Central, which fought back and tied the game when Veronica Ellis scored on a shot from the top of the box with 25:06 remaining. Katherine Short assisted on the play, which ended a skein of frustration that saw Orndorff hit the right post with a shot and Maddie Thompson strike the underside of the crossbar with a 15-yard attempt.

“Hitting the post is always frustrating, but at the same time it just shows that you have to keep working because you know it can come,” Orndorff said. “You know that if you keep doing the same thing you’ve been doing it’s going to go in eventually.”

Indeed, it seemed as though luck finally sided with the Redhawks because of their persistence; they took 23 shots, including 14 after intermission.

“I look at the game as a game of opportunities,” Watson said. “I would say that we probably should have had four (goals) in the first half. Grace should have had three herself. I like the way the girls settled down and played after the [Downers South] goal was scored.”

Watson was especially pleased to see that both goals came through the run of play and not the restarts from which the Redhawks normally get most of their production from.

“I don’t want to say it because I know I’ll jinx us, but we’ve actually been scoring in more than just our restart ways,” Watson said. “It was a nice team win tonight. I thought our girls hung tough.’

Orndorff, who did an excellent job of putting pressure on the Mustangs’ defense, which had allowed eight goals in its first 12 games, played a key role in the rally.

“I think it just shows our versatility as a team,” Orndorff said. “It’s always good that we’ve been able to score on dead balls and we’ve really been making use of that this season, but being able to score in the run of play just shows how good our team can be in all situations.”

Kincaide said the reason for the comeback was simple.

“I guess we just knew that we had to pick up the intensity and then we started getting more shots and then they went in,” she said.

Not enough shots went in for the Mustangs, who had some quality chances of their own. Sarrah Ludwig, Flo Beshiri and Emily Wauer all sent shots over the bar, two of which came from traffic inside the box, and D’Amico punched a couple of dangerous free kicks out of harm’s way.

Downers South’s final chance to equalize came with 1:35 left when Pikul had a 35-yard free kick. She sent the ball into the box and Kelly Stapleton got a head on it in front of the left post but sent it wide.

“The kids played hard,” Downers South coach Barry Jacobson said. “We just have to continue to get better and try to get some things happening offensively.

“We figured it would be a defensive game, but we made mistakes down the stretch. We’ve kind of done that all year and we’ve got to correct that.”

But Watson gave kudos to the Mustangs for their effort.

“They’re a good team. Every team has something they’re really good at it, and they’re the best team in the air that we’ve played this year,” Watson said. “I say that because we’re pretty good in the air and Meredith McEniff and Maddie Thompson do a great job of challenging and winning and today they couldn’t do anything.

“Ludwig is just a head taller than they are and they’ve got [Jessica] Bronke and Pikul. The girls were saying, ‘these girls are so tall.’ Certainly they played that way.”