Grens lock horns with Stevenson in a barnburner

CLICK HERE FOR ELK GROVE'S TEAM PAGE

By Dan Santaromita

Elk Grove impressed Stevenson coach Mark Schartner so much that he talked to the Grenadiers after the game to tell them they were the real deal among other compliments.

Both teams displayed some fantastic attacking soccer in a 3-3 draw Tuesday night in a Pepsi Showdown showcase game in Lincolnshire.

The Patriots controlled the early play, culminating in an 11th minute goal on a wonderful shot from Olivia Whalen that found the upper 90. That would be the last time Stevenson would make a dangerous attack on Elk Grove the rest of the half.

Midway through the half, the Grens equalized on a lofted free kick from about 25 yards out by Katie Naughton to help swing momentum, which led to a 3-1 halftime lead.

“I think after my free kick actually, it kind of switched gears and we were like ‘Alright we got this, we can go,’” Naughton said. “So I think that was the start of it and then we kept rolling after that and got some pretty sweet goals.”

Five minutes later freshman Nikki Zaino stayed with the play to take advantage of a miscommunication at the back. She snuck up on the defense and was left with an easy tap in for the go-ahead goal.

In the 32nd minute Zaino was in the act again, this time setting up attack partner Michelle Calmeyn with a cross. Calmeyn drilled a turn-around half volley past Patriots’ keeper Lizzy Sanscrainte (9 saves) for a third Elk Grove goal in the span of 11 minutes.

Zaino doesn’t look like a freshman when she is seamlessly connecting on quick passing with her teammates, especially Calmeyn.

“We’re really close off the field too,” Zaino said. “We just worked really well together and always know where each other are. We were talking out there. We just connected and had a good first half.”

“Her and Michelle have befriended each other and Nikki has kind of hooked onto Michelle’s exuberance and things like that,” Elk Grove coach Dan Klaus said. “Nikki seems to get a lot of first touches on the ball, but then she was getting out-physicaled for that second and third touch. She seems to be responding and standing in a little stronger.”

The final 30 minutes of the first half were phenomenal from Elk Grove. The combination play on the attack made the game fun to watch.

“The girls are doing a nice job of expanding their awareness of finding players and making the next smart play instead of feeling rushed and making any play,” Klaus said. “It was a fun game.”

The undefeated Patriots (2-0-2) were not about to let Elk Grove (4-1-1) come away with a win in their place without a fight and came at the Grens with a strong attacking sense in the second half.

A great through ball set up Kara Ballard for a breakaway goal at 52 minutes to cut the lead to one. Ballard finished high over a charging Melissa Solorio (5 saves).

Klaus moved Naughton, who seemed to make something positive happen any time she was near the ball, back from a holding midfield position to defense just short of the hour mark.

“To see if she could settle things down for us in the back,” Klaus said. “She did and give Stevenson credit. Well-timed runs. Both teams have a lot of speed and their first goal and third goal were nice finishes.”

The Patriots’ third came less than four minutes from the death. Another through ball gave Whalen a chance that she didn’t miss. The junior calmly slotted a low shot off the inside of the far post past Solorio to tie it up and send the Patriots bench into cheers.

Elk Grove was frustrated not to hold onto the win, but it’s a result against a quality opponent that the team can build on.

“Stevenson is very good,” Klaus said. “They go quick from the back to the mid and quick from the mid to the front. They don’t hold the ball too much. They’re very direct. That was a lot of athletic girls on both teams.

“We were down 1-0 and to come back and be up 3-1 was awesome, but then the game is 80 minutes long and we gotta hold off that push that Stevenson made. This is great preparation for next week with conference games.”

The Grens’ first round game of the Pepsi Showdown is Thursday at Libertyville and again on Saturday before a Mid Suburban League clash against Conant next Monday. Naughton called the draw a confidence builder heading into this stretch of games.

“They are a good team and we knew that coming into this game so after this game we know we can play to this level,” the junior standout said. “Going into conference we can keep playing to that level and then hopefully start beating some teams by some pretty big margins.”

“It shows we can work against hard teams,” Zaino added. “Hopefully it will help us beat those harder teams out there in conference games.”