Wildcats' comeback falls just short vs. Bartlett

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By Matt Le Cren

West Chicago and Bartlett came into Wednesday’s match with identical records but moving in opposite directions.

That is still the case, though there was plenty of drama before Bartlett held on for a 3-2 victory at the West Chicago Invitational. The Hawks (9-5-3) have now won three straight matches while the Wildcats (8-6-3) have lost three straight.

“We’re finally picking it up,” Bartlett senior forward Nicole Gobbo said. “We changed up our lineup a little bit, so now we have Nicki Noreen up top with me and it’s working really well because now we have a lot of speed up top. We’re working a lot better together and it’s helping our whole team.”

There was a time not too long ago when Bartlett couldn’t buy a goal. But the Hawks have found the back of the net 10 times in their last three outings.

Gobbo led the way against in this contest, recording a goal and two assists as Bartlett did all of its damage in a span of 7:16 to take a 3-0 lead with 15:47 remaining in the opening half. The Northern Illinois signee set up the first goal with a pinpoint pass that split two defenders and sprang Noreen on a breakaway that resulted in a 15-yard finish.

The Hawks made it 2-0 with 17:07 left when defender Lisa Palmer scored her second goal of the season by heading home a Gobbo corner kick. The deluge continued 82 seconds later as Gobbo raced 50 yards up the middle through three West Chicago defenders before sending a 17-yard shot past charging Wildcats goalie Cat Canestrelli.

“Having two quick girls up front helps,” Bartlett coach Heather Thomas said. “I think that there’s a little bit of a cohesiveness going on up top [and] that Nicole and Nicki are working well together right now. Hopefully it continues.”

“We’ve been having a good past couple of games and been working hard at possessing the ball at practice so I think it all paid off,” said Palmer, who now has two goals this season.

Canestrelli, a junior, was promoted from the JV squad to take the place of senior Kelsey Myers, who dislocated her elbow during Monday’s 3-1 loss to Downers Grove North.

Myers, who said she intends to play Thursday against Naperville Central, is a key player for the Wildcats, though none of Bartlett’s goals were the fault of Canestrelli, who made four saves and kept the hosts in it when she forced Gobbo out wide on a breakaway from midfield with 15:05 remaining in the game. Gobbo’s penultimate touch took her wide to the right and her shot hit the outside of the right post.

“I think (Canestrelli) did really good,” West Chicago sophomore Andie Lazzerini said. “She had a few slips but she definitely did really good as far as coming from JV all the way to varsity.”

The Wildcats did well in nearly coming all the way back from the three-goal deficit.

Senior Jessica Quinn scored off an assist from Hannah Spriggs with 2:04 left before intermission and the Wildcats pulled within 3-2 with 24:47 remaining in the second half on a short corner kick in which Meagan Radloff tapped the ball to Bianca Navejas, who made a great move to elude a defender on the end line.

Navejas slid a pass in traffic to Lazzerini, who quickly poked a short shot past Bartlett keeper Natalia Grodzki and just inside the right post for her eighth goal of the season.

“We’ve been practicing that one a lot at practice and it was a great move by Bianca and I was just there at the right place, right time to finish and put it in the back of the net,” Lazzerini said. “We really wanted to win that game. We were kind of slacking in the first half and then in the second half we came to play. The past couple games we’ve been kind of off our game but we came back in the second half which was nice.”

The comeback effort drew praise from Thomas, who had to sweat a little more than she thought she’d have to in the chilly temperatures.

“Credit to the West Chicago team,” Thomas said. “They fought back and it was close until the end, so they definitely kept it an exciting game, a fun game to coach and play and a good game to win.”

The Wildcats might have tied it if not for the play of Palmer, who several times found herself backing up in one-on-one situations with the Eastern Illinois-bound Radloff, who two minutes before Lazzerini’s goal had a 28-yard free kick punched over the crossbar by Bartlett goalie Natalia Grodzki.

Radloff took four of her team’s eight shots but none came in the final 20 minutes as Palmer stopped all of her rushes up the middle.

“I played on a travel team with her all through elementary school and middle school, so I know she’s really good at possessing the ball and cutting, so I just tried staying with her,” Palmer said. “I think I did good. I tried not to stab at the ball. I just tried to contain her as best I could.”

West Chicago coach Cesar Gomez said the Wildcats have been complacent in recent games but have the talent to get back on track.

“We challenged (the Wildcats) a little bit in the second. We said you can play with any team and it worked,” Gomez said. “I think that we’re okay.

“We were in the game. If you lose this kind of game, it’s kind of hard to celebrate a loss like this. But you can celebrate (the fact that), hey, you put effort in and it paid off.”