Strong 2nd half sends Hilltoppers past Addison Trail
By Gary Larsen

Coming off of a hard-fought West Suburban Silver loss to York on Tuesday, Glenbard West needed to show resilience when the Hilltoppers bused over to Addison Trail for a Thursday game.

It took them a half, but they located that resiliency in an eventual 5-1 win.

“I hope this gives us confidence,” West junior Zoe Pearson said. “We have potential offensively, and I think after a game like this it can give our players confidence to not be afraid to take it themselves, and go when you have a chance.”

Glenbard West did the lion’s share of attacking through 40 minutes but only had one goal to show for it.

Courtney Dugan reached the endline on the left side twice early on, and Pearson did the same at 10 minutes but served wide. The Hilltoppers struck first at 16 minutes when Caroline Trant ran down a through-ball up the gut and fired on Blazers keeper Devin Fruzyna.

Fruzyna made a fine initial stop but Dugan crashed the net and cleaned up the deflection.

From there to halftime, however, Fruzyna kept the sheet clean. Pearson, Mia Pagliuco, Alex Levin, and Abby Ohrnstein all found dangerous space in the first 40 minutes but the Blazers remained within one goal of tying the game.

“We didn’t necessarily make the right decisions in the first half. We couldn’t get a rhythm going,” Hilltoppers coach Maciek Kusmierz said. “We simplified the game in the second half, played it early, and played it quick, and we were able to break through a few times.”

Pearson believes that her side’s pre-game preparation routine may be in need of an energy drink.

“We came out slow,” she said. “I think we need to push ourselves in the warmup a little more and give more effort, because you can see at the beginning of a lot of our games that we’ve started slow.”

The second half was a different story, as the Hilltoppers (3-7-2) found better offensive flow. Trant scored twice and West got goals from Levin and Pearson as they controlled the action in the second half. Fruzyna made a handful of exceptional saves in the second half, or it might have been worse for the Blazers.

For Pearson, the goal she netted after halftime was her thid of the season. “I was pressing the defensive line and Rachel Rolinski sent a beautiful ball straight through,” Pearson said. “I was able to run in front of a defender, get a few touches, and get a shot.”

West keeper Caroline Leland posted the team’s third shutout of the season, with the starting backline of Alyssa Cantore, Kate Strieker, Ilham Hussaini, and Abigail Murphy staying mindful of the Blazers’ counters throughout the contest.

Wins have been hard to come by for this year’s Hilltoppers but it hasn’t been for a lack of quality defense played, with Leland and Kylie Paul both seeing time in net this year.

“They’ve worked so hard,” Pearson said of her team’s defense. “In eleven games we gave up eleven goals, so one goal per game is very good. We’re definitely proud of our defense.”

The Hilltoppers play at WSS rival Lyons Township Monday before hitting the road again for a game at WSS foe Downers Grove North on Tuesday.

 “Coming off a tough game against York on Tuesday, we wanted to approach today’s game the right way and keep the intensity, but we didn’t quite get there in the first half,” Kusmierz said. “But we picked it up in the second half and got in the flow, and created some chances.”