Hornets kick off season with decisive victory over Stagg

By Matt Le Cren

Like a lot of teams that have practiced mostly indoors so far this season, Hinsdale South didn’t know what to expect when it took the field for its first game of the season.

But if Friday’s action is any indication, the Hornets are in for a fun spring.

Hinsdale South pounced all over visiting Stagg from the opening whistle and rolled to a 4-1 victory in Darien.

It was the first time the Hornets (1-0) have won their season opener since 2005. They had lost at least their first two matches in each of the previous seven seasons, including an 0-5 start last year.

“This is the third time we’ve been out on the field, second time with balls, so it was a surprise,” said Hinsdale South junior Jessica Koziol, who had a goal and an assist. “We weren’t expecting this.

“I thought we played awesome, especially for having new people on the team. I thought that we had really good chemistry and kept passing to each other.”

Stagg is a team that has traditionally given the Hornets fits, beating them the last two times they’ve met in early-season encounters.

The Chargers (0-1-1) return six starters from a 13-win team and were coming off a 1-1 draw with Lockport, a 2012 sectional finalist.

But it was the Hornets who were the aggressors. When senior midfielder Jessica Mutters launched a 22-yard rocket that went over the crossbar just 55 seconds into the contest, it signaled the beginning of an offensive onslaught that saw Hinsdale South outshoot Stagg 31-3.

Fourteen of those shots came in the first half, but the Hornets had nothing to show for it. Mutters saw four cracks from distance sail wide and had another shot stopped by Stagg goalie Kelly Barbour, who made six of her eight saves before the break.

The hosts finally broke through to score four goals in a 16-minute span in the second half. Sophomore Sarah Leganski opened the scoring with 32:27 remaining when she volleyed in a corner kick from Koziol.

“It took us long enough,” Koziol said.

It didn’t take long for Koziol to increase the lead to 2-0. The junior received a pass from Mutters and drilled a 30-yard shot past Barbour into the lower left corner of the net at the 28:18 mark.

The Chargers appeared to answer when Julia Gawlak scored just 11 seconds later, but Gawlak was ruled offsides on the play.

Given the reprieve, the Hornets continued their onslaught as Cassie Jensen knocked in a cross from Mutters with 23:03 left and Mutters upped the bulge to 4-0 by firing a 25-yard blast inside the right post with 16:55 to go.

For Mutters, the goal came as a relief as she had come up empty on her first nine shots, with each successive attempt coming closer and closer to finding the range.

“We had way too many [missed] opportunities,” Mutters said. “Between [Koziol and me] we were just dying to get that first goal in and once she got hers, I was just hoping that mine would come.

“It was just so frustrating because some of them were so close. I kept saying maybe the next one will [go in].”

Hinsdale South coach Pat Wolf was pleased to see Mutters find the back of the net. The Creighton-signee will be looked on to score plenty of goals this spring after playing club soccer the past two years.

“She finally got one in the second half so that was good,” Wolf said. “I was watching the game thinking back to last year when we played Evanston and then Lincoln-Way and we were competitive in the first half and then just plummeted in the second half.

“It was kind of like a turnaround. We had good chances to score in the first half and then it was nice to come back out and just be strong in the second half.”

Senior Vanessa Niestrom got the win in goal, making one save and losing her shutout bid only when Stagg’s Ann Marie Gal scored on a penalty kick with 9:49 left.

Hinsdale South’s back line of seniors Colleen McPherson and Brenda Maugeri and juniors Elisabetta Bifero and Mary Claire Ladd was solid while Koziol, Mutters, Leganski and senior Kerry Just completely dominated the midfield.

“There’s a good balance and a good mix,” Wolf said. “The freshman we brought up, Madison Cebular, did a nice job out there and I thought the girls in the back did a nice job.

“It was nice we got one [goal] off the corner, too. We’ve been working on that, so that was good.”

The Hornets now get 10 days off between games for Spring Break before hosting Morton to open West Suburban Conference Gold Division play on April 2. Hinsdale South will play its first four games at home.

“We keep saying that this year is our year,” Koziol said. “Hopefully it will be.”