Hawks hope to learn from tough stretch of recent matches

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By Darryl Mellema

There is no way to underestimate the educational process Bartlett's soccer players have gone through recently by playing the top teams in the Upstate Eight Conference.

And there is also no way to lessen the grumpy mood the Hawks were in as they left the field after Tuesday’s 3-0 loss at St. Charles North.

The match was against quality opposition to be sure, but some of the players walking off the field for Bartlett (8-5, 2-3) had that stern-faced determination that the result wasn't what they had hoped for.

"It makes us learn we have to play together," Bartlett defender Lisa Palmer said. "There was a lot of kick ball and we have to play to feet.

"It also showed that we're all pretty tired out there but we just have to push through that."

After nullifying North (7-0, 6-0) for most of the first half, the Hawks fell behind in somewhat controversial circumstances.

Leah DeMoss sent an incisive pass to Paige Dusek, who scored with just 3:47 left in the opening half.

But Hawks coach Heather Thomas and assistant Sarah Marks both felt the goal shouldn't have counted.

"There were two fouls," Thomas said. "Both linesmen waved their flags. That's why I freaked out. We didn't help ourselves, don't get me wrong."

In discussions with the referee after the ball hit the back of the net, the referee showed Marks a red card.

Dusek then doubled the North Stars' lead two minutes later when she took another DeMoss pass and scored with one minute left in the half.

Bartlett has run a tough stretch of games in the past two weeks.

From a 7-2 record, the Hawks have lost to conference powers Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley and St. Charles North, in addition to a defeat by Batavia. The team's lone win in the last five games was against Lake Park.

"We've had three tough games in a row," Palmer said. "We all just try to keep our heads up and approach one game at a time.

"We go out and try to play with our hearts. It didn't happen tonight, but there's always the next game."

By contrast, Bartlett's next there conference games are against Larkin, Streamwood and South Elgin – a run of games that is broken by the Hawks' annual tournament at Millenium Field.

The first of this next string of games is Thursday at Larkin.

"We've hit top teams in the conference," Thomas said. "Hopefully Thursday we'll kind of get ourselves back on track a little bit and get that win column going again."

The Hawks are sure to use the one day they have to prepare for Larkin to their best advantage.

"We need to go to practice and work on controlling our passing," Palmer said. "We need to put this game behind us and go on to the next game."

Defensively, Bartlett stayed compact through much of the contest and limited St. Charles North's chances.

"It was a fairly defensive game today so walking away 3-0, I'm proud of them," Thomas said. "(Lisa) Palmer did a great job in the back. Rachel (Irwin) did a good job in the back.

"And our outside defenders, Jess (Cosentino) and Ashley (Johnson) both a really good job of staying tight and staying tight and being aggressive and physical and matching them one-for-one."

Having just faced one quick team in Waubonsie Valley, Bartlett had to adjust once again to another team that had tremendous team speed.

When the North Stars attacked, they did so with great pace and urgency.

"I think they're faster than Waubonsie," Thomas said of St. Charles North. "I think they're a little bit quicker and they attack with more numbers.

"So they're a little bit tougher to defend, and I don't mean to take anything away from Waubonsie. I just think (St. Charles North) attacks with greater numbers."

Offensively, the Hawks struggled. In the four losses in the last two weeks, Bartlett has scored once.

That pattern continued against North, where Trisha Donlon came as close as any of her teammates when she sent a shot wide with six minutes to play.

Moments after that, the North Stars scored their third goal with DeMoss working well in the middle of the field, then playing the ball to Alyssa Peterson, who crossed for DeMoss to had into goal.

"Offensively, we still have some things to work on, like checking back to the ball," Thomas said.

"It's hard because we didn't transition as a group. It's hard when you don't get the whole team up and at them and it's two forwards against their four defenders."

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