Cougars stay unbeaten in MSL showdown at Elk Grove

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By Dan Santaromita
Photo courtesy of Nancy Deters

Put another notch on Conant’s belt.

After beating Mid Suburban League contenders Hersey and Fremd last week, the Cougars added Elk Grove to their list of impressive wins with a 3-0 result on the road Monday night.

Hailey Andress scored off a corner in the first half and Kaitlin Chiero and Courtney Raetzman added second half goals to seal the win.

“Elk Grove is a good team,” Conant coach Jason Franco said. “It was a fight for the first 55-60 minutes and then that second goal kind of put us in the driver seat. I think we did a good job. The surface is tough. They’re a good defensive team. It’s not easy to come out here and win. A lot of teams are going to struggle here.”

After a good opening from the Grenadiers (5-3-1, 1-2), Conant (7-0, 4-0) gradually started to control the play. Midway through the first half a Raetzman run down the right side created a corner for Paige Wentzel to take. Andress got on the end of it and Elk Grove goalkeeper Melissa Solorio (10 saves) got a hand on it, but wasn’t able to keep it out of the net.

“We got a little fortunate,” Franco said. “We kind of snuck it in near post. I don’t think the goalie was really ready and our girl kind of shouldered it in, but that was big.”

Grens’ coach Dan Klaus said the opening goal set a negative tone for his team despite a positive start.

Chrissy Rosales headed a ball a few minutes after that seemed sure to score at the far post, but somehow a diving Solorio was able to knock it down and gather off the line.

Elk Grove was able to get in the attacking third, but had few major threats on Lindsay Fillingim (3 saves) thanks to great work from Conant’s defensive line.

Centerbacks Kelly Lomas and Kelsey Foss contained Grens’ forward Michelle Calmeyn and didn’t allow Katie Naughton’s free kicks into the area to cause any problems.

“We just made it hard for them to look up and hit a long ball and then we dropped back in and we looked to clear it and made sure (Calmeyn) didn’t win the ball,” Foss said.

“They played very well,” Franco said of his defenders. “I know Michelle is a heck of a player. She’s got a lot of goals. I thought they played well and they’ve been playing well.”

The Grens were missing senior midfielder Carin Fearing, who got hurt last week against Libertyville.

“We miss her athleticism and her work rate,” Klaus said. “That kind of stuff. She does a good job helping us go forward.”

With Elk Grove pushing for the equalizer, Conant was finally able to add the insurance goal in the 65th minute. Raetzman dazzled the defense with some fancy dribbling and eventually fed strike partner Chiero in the box. Chiero finished with a low shot and deflated Elk Grove’s hopes of a comeback.

Six minutes later after a failed clearance, Raetzman pounced on the loose ball and scored from point blank range.

“It still wasn’t in the bag until we got the next one,” Franco said. “They were tired and we got a little bit more depth maybe and it showed. We’re going to need it because we’ve got Schaumburg on Wednesday.”

Conant’s tough defense has only given up four goals this year, but thanks to Raetzman and Chiero up top, the Cougars have scored three or more goals in six of their seven games.

“It’s a big relief knowing that we don’t have to work hard for nothing,” Lomas said. “They’ve been doing really well at scoring early so it takes a lot of pressure off of us, giving us a little leeway.”

With Conant’s murderer’s row stretch of conference games concluding against the Saxons, the Cougars are hoping to repeat the formula.

“They’re a big rivalry so we know they’re going to be after us as much as we’re after them so it’s going to be a hard-fought, physical game,” Lomas said of the upcoming Schaumburg clash. “We’re usually not as physical so hopefully we come out hard for that game and just get as excited as this game.”