Truhlar scores four goals as Cougars blank Tigers

By David Allen

While it may have a dream game, it is not something that Alex Truhlar spends her spare time thinking about.

The senior midfielder scored all the goals of a 4-0 Plainfield South victory Saturday in a non-conference match at Joliet West. She connected in various ways from all over the field.

“It’s definitely not something I think about,” Truhlar said. “I think about school or how I can work to get better at soccer, but not this because it’s so rare for it to happen. Maybe I did it when I was little but not at the high school or club level.”

Truhlar scored five goals last year as she came back from a knee and leg injury.

It wasn’t just Truhlar who was dominant as the Cougars controlled the pace and ball throughout and outshot West 15-2.

The matches have been few and far between for South but it didn’t show any rust despite being outside for only the fourth time.

In only their second match of the season, and first in more than a week, it didn’t take long for the 2-0 Cougars to look sharp with the ball and Truhlar scored twice in span of 80 seconds early in the match.

“We really haven’t been outside much and our first match was on a sloppy field,” Truhlar said. “So we thought it was important to handle the ball well and make good passes. We did that. We worked hard and passed the ball around real well.”

They started pressuring the West defense with good ball handling about four minutes into the match and spent much of the rest of the first half on the host's side of the field.

Kelsey Pruett, Abby Banks and Lexus Rose controlled the game with good ball movement that kept pressure on the Tigers. Banks and Rose got shots off after maneuvering past the West defense.

“We were pretty good today, that’s what we were looking for,” South coach Dave Brown said. “We moved the ball well, we were aggressive and, other than maybe a 10-minute span where Joliet was able to move the ball, we controlled the game.”

Truhlar got behind the Tiger defense and had a beat on a long pass from Rose. She and West goalie San MacInnes arrived at the ball on the goal line at nearly identical times.

After having her feet taken out from underneath her, Truhlar was awarded a penalty kick 11:20 into the match. She went low and to the left of MacInnes on the PK for the first goal.

“I like to keep it low,” Truhlar said. “I tried to read the goalie and see what side she’s going to go to.”

One minute and 20 seconds later, Truhlar sidestepped an aggressive MacInnes to the goalie’s left, kept control of the ball and punched it into an empty net.

“I stepped around so the goalie wouldn’t interfere with me again and I was able to control the ball,” said Truhlar, who was assisted by Rose on the goal.

The Cougars continued the pressure for most of the rest of the first half. Pruett worked hard for two good scoring opportunities and one went wide and one was stopped. She tracked down a long pass from defender Ashley McClendon on the first shot.

With the offense dominating the ball, McClendon and the defense was able to cheat up, which helped the Cougars dominate and keep the play on the offensive side of the field.

“We want to see that,” Brown said. “We want all of our players to get involved and look to keep the pressure on the other team.”

Mayra Flores was spot on with a header off a corner kick but it was stopped.

Junior keeper Tabby Ortiz was threatened only once in the first half. She dropped a free kick then had to fall on it under pressure, barely beating a rushing West player.

Alexis Mele was stopped on a breakaway and a strong rebound attempt with a diving stop.

Truhlar took advantage of an aggressive West keeper and caught her out of position 8:20 into the second half. She went high into the right corner of the net from 25 yards for a 3-0 lead. Banks was credited with an assist.

Then with 23:12 left, Truhlar converted a breakaway, off another Rose assist, to make it 4-0. This time she went high and wide to an empty left side of the net.

“She found different ways to score and to pressure the goalie,” Brown said. “She took advantage and found the openings in the net.

“She’s a club player and has played soccer her whole life. Last year, she was just trying to come back healthy. This year, she’s been really working hard to getting to where she wants to be.”