Cougars can't overcome early deficit against Grenadiers

By Mike Garofola

Elk Grove finally saw its fortunes turn in its favor Monday night after holding off a fierce comeback bid by MSL West-leading Conant to claim a well-deserved 2-1 victory in Hoffman Estates.

As a result of the win, the Grenadiers also earned and a spot alongside Hersey in the race for a divsional title in the MSL East.

The Grens delivered a wonderful first-half performance, highlighted by goals from Michelle Calmeyn and Kelli Hubly.

Then they withstood a pulsating final quarter hour comeback from Conant to earn an important conference victory, and the two points which come along with its success.

"We've had an interesting season so far, in that we've lost two matches literally in the final 30 seconds of regulation (Cary-Grove and Stevenson) and (in) all five of our losses, we've fallen short by just one goal," began Elk Grove head coach Dan Klaus.

"So to come out of this match tonight with a (one-goal) victory, was really something else for us."

Calmeyn and Hubly and her midfield mates threatened to make life difficult for the homeside right from the very beginning.

The Grens' leading goal-scorer, Calmeyn, put immediate pressure on the Cougars (6-2-0) while Hubly, Carin Fearing, Rachel Pruim and Anne Klancnik set the tone in the middle with a work ethic that challenged the division leaders.

"We started really flat tonight, and it took us awhile to get into playing the way that we are capable of," offered Conant midfielder Chrissy Rosales, who found herself defending far more than usual in the center of the park.

"It was a real team effort tonight, especially in the first half, which had to have been our best (half) of soccer this season," said Calmeyn.

An early sequence saw Kaitlin Chiero's diagonal ball to the left side in search of Alyssa Rawleigh swept up by Grens keeper Nicole Ricci - who challenged quickly off her line.

On the other end, her counterpart, Lindsay Fillingim do the same with Hubly providing a floating cross.

After each side were done testing each other, the run of play swung towards the Grens (5-5-2), who would produce several chances as they gained their stride with each touch.

"We knew how much we needed to win tonight and playing as well as we did (especially ) in that first-half helped give us the confidence we needed," said Hubly.

The visitors, now going forward more than the hosts, did so with help from their backline, where all-star Katie Naughton would either help build the attack from the Grens' own third.

She also provided several well-aimed freekicks that forced Fillingim or her teammates Kelsey Foss and Hailey Andress to clear in front of the onrushing Calmeyn.

If Naughton wasn't involved, both Lindsey Vaccarino or Emily Wary were, as the duo tackled with zest or went forward to add numbers to the Grens' attack.

"(Their) outside backs impressed me tonight," admitted Conant head coach Jason Franco, who welcomed back all-state sophomore Courtney Raetzman, who had been sidelined since April 7 after suffering an ankle injury in the Cougars' 1-0 loss to Barrington.

Franco figured Raetzman was at about 80 percent after bringing on his best player at 14 minutes, however there were times when she looked much better than most others by flashing some of her trademark ball wizardry and express lane speed to help energize the Cougars' attack when it was most needed.

Calmeyn gave the visitors the lead at 30 minutes when she fired past Fillingim, then after Jillian Zelek would quickly track-back to clear a free-kick from Foss that bounced favorably in the Cougars' direction and at Ricci, the Grens would strike again.

Hubly positioned herself so well on a perfect Prium corner that all the sophomore would have to do was to thump her header into the back of the net to make it 2-0.

"Elk Grove is too good of a side to give them a two-goal lead," bemoaned Franco.

The Grens broke out of the break just as strong as they had finished the last quarter hour of play in the first-half, and a Foss block of a Calmelyn drive in close, followed by several enterprising runs and carries from Hubly, looked to eventually pry open the Cougars for another goal.

But the Cougars would show great composure, and in the process, and would finally take charge with Raetzman, Sammi van de Linde, Sam Armando, Rosales and Hailey Andress, from out of the back on the right side, all delivering their own moments of special play to turn up the speed of play two-fold.

Chiero would bring her club back into the fray with a blockbuster of a goal at 68 minutes, after Armando provided the helper.

The junior would collect, spin from her marker and unload a cracker into the top half of the net from 16 yards.

"Just a great goal by Chiero, and one that Nicole (Ricci) who was near flawless for us tonight, had absolutely no chance to save," said Klaus.

Chiero's fifth of the season awoke the Cougars' faithful, and would help make the rest of regulation a delight to watch for fans from both sides as all were swept up by the swiftness of the Conant attacks and superb defending by the Grens, who were swarmed as the homeside looked to equalize.

Armando would hit the side netting with her strike, a pair of Foss freekicks came into play, with Andress having a go at Ricci in the 80th minute before the horn sounded.

"We feel that we can play and compete with Hersey for the top spot in the MSL East, but we've got to continue to play well and win matches that we (should) win in order to keep pace," said Klaus, whose club is even with Hersey with seven points after its victory.

For Conant, Monday's match begins its toughest trek of the season, with seven matches in 12 days, including Neuqua Valley on Wednesday, in the opening round of pool play at the Naperville Invite.

"We'll see how it goes against Neuqua," said Franco. "We're looking forward to playing (them) as it is a good measuring stick for us going forward.

"If we can get Brenna (Fitzgerald) back and gain another playmaker in the middle, and get everyone healthy, we should be ready for a good run come the end of the season."

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