Youthful Hawks blank Larkin to claim fifth straight victory

 

 

By Curt Herron

There's a good possibility that Bartlett has the most youthful soccer team of any in Illinois this season.

After all, the Hawks have no seniors and just one junior, keeper Amanda Lozada, on their 19-player roster.

And while it might be difficult to prove that, one things seems pretty clear about Heather Thomas's squad.

They certainly have not been performing like a team that has very little experience at the varsity level.

Bartlett has responded to a 1-3 start by winning five straight matches as well as seven of its last eight.

Four of the victories in their current streak have been shutouts, including their last three performances.

The most-recent win was a 3-0 triumph over U-46 rival Larkin on Monday at Millennium Field in Streamwood.

Bartlett was led by goals from Josie Dombrowski, Mariah Martinez and Kaitlin Brohan, who added an assist.

Junior Alba contributed two assists and joined Toria Tomasek, Shannon Brohan and Jamie Kenna on defense.

"A concern that we had at the beginning of the season was our experience," Thomas said. "But at this point I think that the girls have proved themselves. Although they are for the most part a freshman and sophomore group, they've done a good job for the majority of the season and I'm very pleased.

"In every game things get a little better and the girls get a little more comfortable with each other and start to learn one anothers' patterns. We're getting into the offensive third and making opportunities and holding our own defensively. It's just been so fun to watch them progress so quickly.

"I like that these girls are persistent. They play for 75 to 80 minutes and the never give up, always are supporting each other and stay positive, which is a good thing to see from your players."

In the most recent victory, Bartlett controlled the possession and rarely allowed the Royals to threaten.

For most of the way, Kenna was at sweeper, Alba played stopper and Tomasek and Shannon Brohan were inside.

"Jamie is our sweeper, which is a significant role to play as a freshman," Thomas said. "Toria and Shannon are in front of her and our stopper is another freshman, Junior. They've all so gracefully kind of took over their roles as defenders and have done a pretty good job cohesively as a unit."

The Hawks moved ahead in the ninth minute when Alba sent a fine pass to Dombrowski, who made a short try.

Bartlett kept up a steady attack but keeper Alejandra Villagomez made some good stops to keep it close.

Shelly Lyjak and Jenna Noesen were denied while Dombrowski had one corner deflected and another cleared.

The hosts scored in the 19th minute when Martinez put in a rebound of a deflected try by Kaitlin Brohan.

Late in the half, an Alba corner kick to Karina Briones was thwarted, as was a short shot by Haley Coor.

Bartlett made it 3-0 in the 44th minute when Alba directed a corner to Kaitlin Brohan, who headed it in.

"We're getting used to how everyone plays so now it's easier for us to know where other players are going to be at and you know that they're going to be there," Alba said. "We were down after losing our first two games but then we won our third game and that boosted us.

"That win gave us confidence that we could play together. At practices, we mix up with people who didn't know each other and we worked on passing. What really helped was our coaches had us do a juggling circle where if you don't call the ball, you don't know you'll get it.

"I like how our players seem to know that if you want to take the ball forward that you can and that if you lose it that they'll be there to get the ball back."

Noesen and Kaitlin Brohan were denied during the next dozen minutes, as was Martinez a short time later.

Melissa Mershon, Coor, Briones and Nicole Berg all saw attempts get halted during the final 10 minutes.

Julia Janowiak and Jess Wittmayer subbed in late on defense while Lozada encountered no threats in goal.

"At the beginning of the year we weren't used to playing with one another and we were a young team so we weren't used to the high school atmosphere," Tomasek said. "But now we're clicking together and understanding each other better and having a lot of fun, too.

"We have a lot of good freshman and the girls who have come up from the JV are really good and the captains have helped to get the new players prepared. We all want to help one another to do our best. We are coming together as a team and also connecting better.

"I love the positive attitude on this team. If we get scored on we bring each other up and we're ready to go back and get another goal."

Bartlett looks for some revenge when it meets another U-46 rival, South Elgin, on Thursday in Streamwood.

The Storm won 2-0 on March 27 in a match that determined who would play in the South Elgin Invite finals.