West Suburban Sports

Early Palatine goals doom Knights in MSL play

By Dan Santaromita

Conceding an early goal can be devastating. Allowing two can feel like game over, especially against a well-organized defensive side like Palatine.

Prospect gave up a pair of goals in the first nine minutes against the visiting Pirates and couldn’t recover, losing 2-1 in a Mid Suburban League crossover Wednesday night.

Before the teams had settled into the match, Palatine had the lead. It took just 31 seconds for an unmarked Gabby McArtor to fire a shot from outside the box that went over the outstretched arms of Prospect goalkeeper Megan McCabe.

“We were back on our heels and we let (McArtor), who our coach told us we need to keep an eye on, have as much time as she needed in the middle and then she got a shot,” a frustrated McCabe said.

Soon after Kaitlyn Mayer’s centering pass gave Julie Johlie an opportunity in front that she wouldn’t miss. Just like that it was 2-0.

“I was uninspired by our effort,” Knights’ coach Tom Froats said. “I think we were prepared, we talked about things we needed to do prior to the match and we just didn’t do it. As a result we dug ourselves a big hole and against a team that is pretty well composed defensively like Palatine it’s going to be difficult to dig back.”

The Knights finally had a stretch of positive play in the last ten minutes of the half and pulled a goal back. Lizzy Robinson finished in front after Jesse Petrovski worked hard to get into the box and give Robinson a shot.

Sara Helwink nearly tied it up before halftime, but her shot from the left side just missed the goal and just missed a couple Knights running on to tap it in.

“I thought Lizzy Robinson, who got the goal in the first half, played hard, played aggressive,” Froats said. “I think we all did at that time. That’s what led to the goal. It was so sporadic that it didn’t really give us much flow to the game.”

McCabe (7 saves) played well in net to keep the Knights within a goal, but they couldn’t create enough up top to get the equalizer.

Froats said the defense isn’t where it needs to be in front of McCabe. The vocal keeper tried to motivate her side, but it wasn’t enough.

“I think it’s decision making,” McCabe said. “Whether we need to step and tackle or drop back and hold and to just keep them in front of us instead of letting them get through us. For some reason we can’t get that.”

The defense had the early lapses against the Pirates, but the Knights have scored one goal in their last three matches. Robinson said it’s a concern, but has an idea of what they need to do to score more.

“Take shots earlier, way earlier,” she said. “It’s like we feel we need to be in the box to shoot, but we have Agnes (Stankiewicz) and a bunch of people that can shoot from way far.”

Freshman Elana Cukurs had a couple productive runs in the second half and could be an integral part of an offensive turn around for Prospect.

After the match, the theme from the Knights was the lack of intensity and energy, especially early on.

“For the Mid Suburban League games, which are always tough, I don’t know that we played with enough effort and energy tonight,” Froats said. “That’s something we need to work on for sure.”

The Knights (2-4-1, 1-3-1) host a tournament this weekend and having a few games will give them an opportunity to sort things out before returning to MSL play.