By Darryl Mellema

There was a sense at halftime that Hinsdale South might be able to get back into its game against Warren in the Pepsi Showdown.

The Hornets trailed 2-0 but those goals came in a two-minute blitz. And late in the half, Hinsdale South began to attack and put pressure on Warren's goal.

Those hopes disappeared seconds into the second half when Jackie Luka scored for Warren to make the score 3-0 and to put the match effectively beyond the Hornets. Hinsdale South lost 6-0 In its final match in Pepsi Showdown play.

“I told the girls at halftime that they had to forget those first couple of goals,” Hinsdale South coach Pat Wolf said. “I told them that they were hanging in there, playing hard and we had our chances to score. They took advantage of their chances.”

Although Wolf was disappointed in the two quick strikes in the first half, it was the opening goal of the second half that he wished he could get back.

“We need to learn from some of those things because we've given some of those away this season,” Wolf said. “It is a learning process. I thought we would have a little more in the second half. But the first half, it was a game.”

Warren scored its four second-half goals in the first 20 minutes of play. The final quarter of the match was a procession toward the final whistle with the final result long-decided.

“Once they got that third goal, it's hard to stay motivated,” Wolf said. “But that's a learning process as well. You keep playing and keep getting better in every game. We showed some good things in the first half that we never got back to in the second half.”

As the match progressed, Warren passed the ball around and made Hinsdale South chase them. By the end of the 80 minutes, possession time heavily favored the winners.

“It is tough,” Hinsdale South's Brittany Noble said. “We played hard but it's unfortunately a loss.”

Even in the first half, Warren had spells in which it dominated possession, though that was at times balanced by Hinsdale South pressure.

“This game, we learned we need to stay on our marks,” Noble said. “That's pretty much why we lost this game, we didn't stay on our marks.”

“I knew they would be a good team seeing who they had played,” Wolf said. “And we're banged up and we're just shallow of players to get out there. (Warren) had some nice players.”

Hinsdale South (2-6) gets Monday to practice before visiting Leyden on Tuesday evening. The Hornets finised 2-2 in Pepsi Showdown play.

“I love this tournament,” Wolf said. “Every year, you play your conference games, which I like. And every year, you play certain teams because you get a comfort level. But this year in this tournament, we played all teams we hadn't played before. It's hard to get those games on your schedule. It's nice to see those teams from outside your area.”

Hinsdale South's match took place on one of the smallest fields at Schaumburg's Olympic Park, the site of the tournament. While the field was artificially surfaced and therefore better than most grass pitches this spring, the dimensions were tiny, meaning the ball was forever going out of bounds. Neither team was able to sustain a flow for any length of time with the number of throw-ins, goal kicks and corner kicks.

“It is small,” Noble said. “We're used to playing on a much larger field, so it was a bit of a change. But it's definitely less running.”