Jacobs goes 1-1 at St. Francis' Springfest Classic
By Gary Larsen

The weapons are there but it will take some time for this year’s team at Jacobs.

The Golden Eagles have an attacking core that includes Iowa-bound senior Kylie Dennison and veterans Kelly Grady and Payton Berg, but after graduating a slew of seniors from last year’s regional title-winning team the Golden Eagles will need time out on the pitch together to find cohesion.

Coach A.J. Cappello saw his side play a quality half in each of its two games on Wednesday at this year’s Springfest Classic, when the Golden Eagles topped Glenbard West 1-0 in a morning game before falling 3-1 to Burlington Central in the afternoon.

After suffering through the early-season cancellations due to the weather that all teams are dealing with, Tuesday provided Jacobs with only its second and third games of the year.

“It’s just tough because this is only our second day playing outside, but they have to learn how to work with each other and when to step up,” Jacobs coach A.J. Cappello said. “I thought we did a nice job in the second half until (Burlington Central) got the goal today and we played a much better brand of soccer.”

Dennison and Grady are seasoned varsity players, Amanda Pasetes and Amy Rigby will help key the attack on the outside, and Cappello believes that Berg can raise her game the way she did down the stretch last season.

The Golden Eagles will let a trio of goalkeepers sort out the starting role as the season moves forward, in Ellie Samin, Elizabeth Foster, and Klarissa Karmis. This year’s backline features Northern Illinois-bound senior Margaret Rivera, now in her third season as a starting central defender.

“Margaret’s back there and Dani Blanchard is back and she’s rock-solid, and we’ve got a couple of freshmen in Caroline Craig and Cassie Melic that are trying to work their way in and get used to the rate of play,” Cappello said.

Dennison scored the goal in Jacobs’ win over Glenbard West and the Eagles scored against Burlington Central on a Rivera freekick that tied the game in the second half before Central found the net twice thereafter for the win.

“We played a good first half in that game and kind of sat in, in the second game,” Cappello said. “If we played the first half this morning with the second half in this game, we’d have been all right.”

Jacobs went 15-10-3 last year, beating FVC rival Crystal Lake South 4-0 to win its first regional title in seven years, before falling in a shootout to conference rival Huntley in a sectional semifinal game.
Eleven seniors from the 2012 team are now gone but the Eagles have the potential to start scoring goals.

 “We can move the ball pretty well, and I’ve seen some pretty good combination soccer in training. I think we can create some goals,” Cappello said. “Now it’s a matter of taking those practice sessions and putting it out here in the game.”