Sabres defeat Dundee-Crown to continue unbeaten streak

 

 

By Curt Herron

It says something about a program's expectations when a coach isn't happy following a win that's his team's fourth in a row and extends an unbeaten stretch to nine matches.

But that's just how Streamwood's Matt Polovin felt on Monday after his squad performed just well enough to capture a 2-1 nonconference home victory over Dundee-Crown.

While the Chargers seemed inspired about the chance to pull off the upset, the Sabres looked flat and were missing the edge which has helped them get off to an 8-2-3 start.

After settling for a 1-1 draw at the break, Streamwood finally capitalized on one of its numerous second half opportunities to move in front for good in the match.

But Polovin realizes that such an effort won't be sufficient as its squad prepares for a tough, hectic finish to the year, starting today with a trip to St. Charles North.

"That was just not our typical soccer at all," Polovin said. "Dundee-Crown was a nice, scrappy team and didn't back down on anything, especially on tackles and on 50-50 balls. They didn't give us a lot of room and the last few weeks we've been used to pretty much dictating the way the game should go.

"In the second half going with the wind we had chance after chance and we just couldn't put anything. In the last eight games we had scored 33 goals and only let up two, so today just wasn't indicative of how we've been playing.

"I know the majority of North's players through club and they're very good group of girls and they're having a great season. We'll be in for a fight against them but I expect us to come out and play better than we did today. There's really no excuses since today was overall just an ugly game for us."

Things seemed to have started out alright for the hosts who grabbed the early lead despite heading into a fairly strong wind at the south end of Millennium Field.

About a quarter of an hour into the match, Tawny Carroll was on the mark on a free kick and connected to give the Sabres the quick advantage over the Chargers.

Dundee-Crown started to utilize the wind to its advantage as the half progressed and finally connected in the 28th minute to assure that there would be some drama.

The Charger score was set up by a pass inside by Krystal Meraz that went to Franki Scarpelli, who fired in a liner to force a tie that continued into the final half.

That was just the second goal that the Sabres had allowed in their last eight matches, with the other score coming a week earlier against Wheeling.

They also allowed a goal to Willowbrook in the match that started the unbeaten streak on April 4. During the last month Streamwood owns a 7-0-2 record.

Although it was a different story in the final 40 minutes due to the wind, the Sabres continued to struggle to get the ball past keeper Isabel Miranda.

Shortly after the break, a try by Yoselin Estrada went wide of the mark and a line drive from Christina Corona bounced off of the crossbar for the hosts.

There were other numerous chances in the first 10 minutes but corner kicks and free kicks from just beyond the box didn't lead to much beside frustration.

Things finally clicked in the 51st minute, when Carroll sent a pass inside to Kim Jimenez, who connected from close-range for her 19th goal of the season.

About a quarter of an hour into the final half Jimenez headed a shot over the net and Nathalie Guindon had one of her few saves about 10 minutes after that.

The Sabres kept up the attack in the late going with Carroll being thwarted on one attempt and then having a corner deflected and another hit the crossbar.

Despite the narrow win and the disappointing performance, the Sabres coach is proud of his squad's recent success and hopes that the good times continue.

"It's been a lot of fun," Polovin said. "Usually when you talk about the Streamwood girls, other teams can't wait to play them since they feel that it's going to be a stats game. But this season we have a good group of girls that listens very well.

"I've been working very hard with the mids and forwards on our speed of play, our movement off the ball, with the ball, overlapping runs and two-touch. we're working a lot with Tawny and Kim to time their runs to get behind defenders and to get a touch.

"We're not blessed with 19 club all-stars, but we have who we have and they're just working hard and listen very well and it shows. The last few week have looked pretty. It's been that way for our boys for a long time but it's something new for our girls."