Scoring woes continue for Red Devils in loss at DG North

By Curt Herron

It was a script that Hinsdale Central coach Skip Begley had unfortunately seen all too often during the current season.

His Red Devils got plenty of good chances during Tuesday's match with Downers Grove North but they were once again unable to finish.

While the host Trojans didn't have as many scoring opportunities, they managed to capitalize on some of the the situations that they had.

As a result, North captured a 2-0 West Suburban Conference Silver Division win over the Red Devils to highlight senior night in Downers Grove.

A bad tone was set for the Red Devils (8-10-1, 2-4) during the opening two minutes of the match when they nearly grabbed the early lead.

With 1:56 elapsed, Molly Gaffney fed the ball to Eryka Hawkins, who promptly was able to connect from close range.

The only problem was that an assistant referee ruled that Central was offside on the play, which disallowed the score.

Central also had four corner kicks during the initial eight minutes of the match, but nothing much good came from those.

Perhaps the best chance came on the last of those tries when Gaffney sent a liner that North keeper Courtney Chamerski trapped next to the post.

Another good chance 12 minutes in went for naught when Mallory Feinstein deflected a shot off the post but no one could knock in the loose ball.

Click to hear Red Devils coach Skip Begley interview

The Trojans (12-7) came to life following that as they got off a series of threatening shots over the next few minutes.

Megan Wesley lined a shot that deflected off of Julia Gesior just before keeper Katie Tarman pushed away a corner kick from Emily Raiman.

Shortly before the midway point in the opening half, Allison Gilbert headed a short shot attempt that was hauled in by Tarman.

North scored the only goal that it would eventually need with 18:41 left before the break when Kierstyn Harrington connected.

Central had another good chance about 10 minutes later when Feinstein sent in a free kick which North's keeper deflected over the net.

So despite having their share of potential scoring opportunities, the Red Devils found themselves trailing 1-0 at the intermission.

And that proved to be a bad sign for a squad which had only scored a total of eight goals during its previous nine matches.

The Red Devils came out firing away at the start of the second half but Chamerski managed to stop everything that came her way.

Kate Shea had a grounder in the opening minute followed a short time later by line drives from Feinstein and Melissa Boduch.

Allison Roberson was stopped on a long free kick before Hawkins was thwarted on another liner a little over 10 minutes into the new half.

There was another flurry of activity which began shortly before the midpoint of the second half when Hawkins sent a header toward the net.

The Trojans had a chance to convert on a corner less than as minute after that but no one was able to get off a clean attempt.

Chamerski stopped a long attempt from Shea shortly before being replaced in the net by Cristina Siddu, who went the rest of the way.

North added an insurance score with 17:42 remaining when Sarah Desai fired off a liner that Tarman got a hand on but couldn't stop.

Click to hear Trojans coach Jason Hunter interview

The Red Devils only had a couple of chances after that as Olivia Trilla sent in a bouncer and Tori Sims grounded a shot toward the net.

Tarman avoided further trouble by coming out of the goal to shut down one effort and later making a diving stop on a shot by Harrington.

Central conclude the regular season with a match at Benet Academy on Thursday and a home game against Wheaton Warrenville South on Saturday.

Then the defending state champions head to the Neuqua Valley Regional for a first-round meeting with Plainfield North next Wednesday.

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