Spartans win third straight in Elgin

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By Gary Larsen

Class 2A St. Francis has played a whale of a schedule thus far and the young Spartans have done themselves proud.

Against Class 3A competition, they’ve been tied 1-1 with a pair of highly-touted teams in Huntley and Homewood-Flossmoor before losing to both on late goals. They knocked off Libertyville 4-3 and rolled over Glenbard North on Saturday in a 5-1 win.

“If my team showed up like that every game, we’d give (defending 2A state champion) Wheaton Academy a run for their money,” St. Francis coach Meg Boler said. “I had nothing bad to say on Saturday.”

On Monday, the Spartans had the better of the attack throughout their 3-1 win over St. Edward in a Suburban Christian Conference game in Elgin. And while the sharpness they displayed on Saturday was absent, the Spartans got it done against a St. Ed’s team that defended hard and got a fine performance from its starting goalkeeper.

“We stayed positive, which we’ve gotten a lot better at,” Spartans senior Lauren Kaminky said. “I was happy with how we handled the game because we could have turned on each other really easily.”
 
In a first half of chances gone awry, with shots sent far and wide of net, the Spartans did manage to grab a 1-0 halftime lead on an own-goal by St. Edward.

“At ACC (Aurora Central Catholic) it was the same thing,” Boler said. “Sometimes it’s like there’s a huge sheet of glass covering the net.”

The Spartans continued to apply attacking pressure in the second half, earning numerous corner kicks and flirting with a second goal until junior Taylor Ravlin finally found one to give her side a 2-0 lead.

The Spartans kept at it in the final third, and the sustained effort paid off. “It’s patience and positivity. Just keep going. It’ll go in,” said Ravlin, who pounced on a ball in a crowd and finished on it from 14 yards out.

The key to Ravlin’s goal?  One of my friend’s dad told me that every time I have a shot, think ‘the back of the net’,” Ravlin said.

St. Edward cut the lead in half on a wide-open, long-range rip that fell under the crossbar, just out of reach of Spartans’ senior keeper Kim Gianos. Earlier in the half, Gianos made a sliding stop off her line to save a goal on a St. Ed’s breakaway, and freshman Ally Mastroianni cleared the follow-up effort off the goal line.

Mastroianni filled in for injured fellow freshman Jenna Ditusa on Monday. The Spartans’ attack will get the lion’s share of attention this year but Gianos has played solidly in net and a back line featuring Kaminky, Diana Matusiak, Yasmeen Mahmud has begun to gel.

“Yas (Mahmud) and Di (Matusiak) are fast, so if there’s a run they’ve got it, and our two centers can body people,” Kaminky said. “Jenna (Ditusa) and Ally (Mastroianni) clear everything that comes, and Kim is there to clean up everything.

We do have our little 20-second breakdowns but I think we’re really solid in back. We have each others’ backs, we cover well, and we communicate really well.”

St. Edward stayed within a goal of tying the game until Spartans’ sophomore Sydney Fox crossed a ball in from the left side, and sophomore striker Andi Matichak won a streetfight at the far post against St. Ed’s goalkeeper and a defender.

Matichak netted three goals on Saturday and her goal on Monday gave her squad a more comfortable cushion.

“Syd (Fox) had a couple nice moves up the sidelines,” Boler said. “And when Andi is on, things work up top. On Saturday she came to the ball, posted up, and she was unreal.”

Matichak is essentially a defender with attacking skills. She plays in back for her club team but Boler has trouble bringing herself to play Matichak anywhere but up top.

“Andi and Kaity (Bucaro) are phenomenal forwards, in the way they move the ball and attack up top,” Boler said. “I see Andi with a ball at her feet, creating for us.”

Boler was also happy with the effort Mahmud gave her on Monday, for a team that is slowly finding unity both on and off the field.

“In the beginning of the year we were having trouble coming together as a team,” Ravlin said. “But over time we’ve really gotten to trust one another, and we’ve got each others’ backs.”

“We’ve been playing pretty soccer lately,” Kaminky said. “It’s nice to watch. And even a game like this, knowing we didn’t play our best but knowing the potential we have, it helps a lot to keep us positive.”

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