Conant's opening-night polish too much for Gators

By Gary Larsen

Having a home field of artificial turf can come in particularly handy in the opening week of a spring soccer season.

Conant has been practicing on its turf field for more than a week and it showed on Monday, as the Cougars’ cohesive attack kept visiting Crystal Lake South in defensive mode for much of the night.
 
Playing in a season-opening game one week before the first official day of spring, the Cougars won 4-0 over the Gators on a sub-40 degree winter’s night in Hoffman Estates.

“I knew we’d do well but I didn’t think we’d connect as well as we did,” Conant senior co-captain Kelly Lomas said. “We have lots to improve on but it was a good start.

“I think this year more than last year we’re looking more to possess, doing a lot more passing to the middle and switching the field to the other side. We know it benefits the team a lot more than just kicking it long, or trying to be physical. We’re better when we play soccer and connect.”

A Conant team with nearly every player back from last year’s 12-6-3 campaign started fast. The Cougars’ Drew Wentzel sent a ball ahead to Sammie Van de Linde, who took the ball to the end line on the left side and served it near post, where Kaitlin Chiero buried it to the back netting just four minutes into the game.

Chiero struck again in the game’s 12th minute, taking a through-ball from Hailey Andress in the penalty area, taking a touch around charging Gators keeper Elizabeth Quinn, and calmly depositing her second goal into an empty net.

Team co-captain Courtney Raetzman put her side up 3-0 before halftime, taking a few touches along the top of the penalty area from right to left before ripping a left-footed shot to the back netting, 26 minutes in.

Quinn – a team captain for South along with Kali Loescher, Karli Schumaker, Vivian Qian, and Ellen Brunner – knows it will take her side a little time to make up for the graduation of its entire back line from last season.

“I just think we need to stay with our marks a little bit more and we’re still meshing as a team,” Quinn said. “We have to mesh and that’s what I’m looking forward to. We have three new people in the back and it will just take a little time to adjust. But we’ll get there.”

Crystal Lake South fought the good fight on Monday but it’s tough for any team to come back from a 3-0 deficit on a frigid opening night in March.

“Definitely. I think the mental part of the game is the biggest factor,” Raetzman said. “I hope we can keep scoring and finishing on our chances.”

Conant coach Jason Franco was happy with the way his girls connected passes and attacked in building a 3-0 lead.

“We were only inside for one day. We’ve been able to practice out here every day since last Monday,” Franco said. “We were used to the turf and used to the space more than they were, but that’s a good start for us.”

Crystal Lake South went 17-8-2 last season and coach Brian Allen knew coming into this season that his team would be aiming to find itself early on.

“We tried some different formations and we’re still trying to find our identity,” Allen said. “We’ve only been outside once but that’s no excuse. We’ve got to connect better and figure out if we’re clearing or playing to feet. The spacing was a big issue for us tonight. Two passes and they were through so we’ve got to shore up some of those gaps between our mids and forwards, and between our backs and mids.

“They were smooth. Their outside backs getting forward caused us problems early on and we were a little disorganized in the back. Conant is a very quality side. They returned a lot and they’ll be a very good team this year. The girls knew they had their work cut out for them tonight.”

The Gators began acclimating better in the second half but Conant continued to attack well until Cougars sophomore Alyssa Altosino got on the end of a Kelsey Foss corner kick, and finished on it 12 yards out from the far post in the game’s 59th minute.

“We got everybody back, we’ve added two freshmen who played a lot tonight, and it was good to see (Chiero) and (Raetzman) working well up top like they did tonight,” Franco said. “It’s a nice group. If we can match up with other teams’ speed, which I think we can, we should be able to do all right. I’m cautiously optimistic.”

“Drew (Wentzel) played really well. We played her all over the field and she played solid, and her sister Paige played really well at center mid for us And we’re deep this year. I can sub four or five girls and there’s not a huge drop-off. When you’re playing three games a week, you need that depth.”

Quinn dove left to stop a shot from Conant’s Alex Romano and left her line to stop another shot down the stretch.

“Elizabeth Quinn was solid in goal tonight and she’s going to be a leader for us back there,” Allen said. “And I was real pleased with Audrey Collard tonight. She’s a freshman and she was given the responsibility of following Raetzman around for most of the game. For the most part she did a fantastic job. Raetzman got loose on a mistake we made in the back but outside of that, (Collard) played extremely well.

“I thought our decision-making got better in the second half and Kali (Loescher) up top will be a handful once we figure out who can be running mates with her at forward.”

Loescher had 16 goals and 8 assists as a junior last season while Quinn posted 7 shutouts and had a .95 goals-against average in 2010. Allen also applauded the play of the freshman Romano on Monday.

“She played a little bit at mid and a little up top and I liked what I saw. She’s very gritty and she got in on some tackles tonight,” Allen said.

Chiero had 11 goals and Raetzman scored 9 in a season interrupted by injury last year for Conant. Cougars goalkeeper Lindsay Fillingim posted 8 shutouts last year and gave up 23 goals in 21 games.

“We’ll know how good we are when play Fremd because they’re always good,” Franco said. “Our conference is loaded. Fremd, Schaumburg, and Barrington are all expecting to have great years, so hopefully by the time we play them we’ll be ready to go.”

CRYSTAL LAKE SOUTH 2011PREVIEW:
Last year's overall record (and conference record if you have it) --- 17-8-2 (8-2 in FVC-Valley, 2nd place behind Huntley; Lost in regional finals to Cary)
A list of your top returnees (with year, position and honors or stats from last season) --- Kali Loescher (SR-Fwd; All-Conference last year with 16 goals and 8 assists); Elizabeth Quinn (SR-GK; 7 shutouts; 0.95 GAA; 0.843 Save%)
A brief comment from you about the upcoming season.
Team preview: Coach Brian Allen: "Definitely taking the cautiously optimistic approach --- but I like what I've seen thus far in terms of teamwork & the work ethic they've put forth in our first 5 sessions. We have as balanced a blend of players as I've ever coached in terms of youth mixed with veterans (2 freshman, 3 sophomores, 5 juniors, & 7 seniors) & good soccer talents mixed with terrific athletes. If we can solidify our backline early on (graduated 3 of the 4 starters) and fine-tune the formations we will be looking to implement throughout the year, I like our chances to continue to grow as the season progresses and be in the mix for our first FVC-Valley title in 3+ years and first regional title in 7 years. A tough opening non-conference schedule with 7 games on turf was scheduled to help get us much needed game experience for the younger players and overall fitness for all of my players in hopes of being ready for 2 very tough early conference match-ups against (in my opinion) the favorites of the Valley division @ Cary Grove on 4/5 and @ Huntley on 4/11."

" We return to playing everyone once in the entire FVC (just like the boys); but I expect a lot more parity on the girls side with those "crossover" conference matchups between the Fox & Valley teams which will lead to a challenge for me as a coach and my players to rise to the occasion day in and day out and not take any opponent or game too seriously or too lightly!!!"