Grens defeat Maine South in opener, excited about new season

By Dan Santaromita

Last year Elk Grove had a young team that fell a bit short of conference and regional championships.

The Grenadiers finished second in the Mid Suburban League East and lost in a regional final to Schaumburg. This year the expectations are much higher.

Elk Grove kicked off the season with a 3-1 nonconference win at Maine South Wednesday night.

Senior Michelle Calmeyn, who had a pair of goals and an assist, believes this win is the start of something big.

"We have a lot of goals this season," she said. "One of them is to make it to state."

While that's bold, Elk Grove has the parts to be a contender in the always tough MSL. After graduating just two starters from last year's squad, the Grens have a lot of experience returning.

One of the spots vacated was goalkeeper, where freshman Melissa Solorio now patrols. Solorio, who also played varsity basketball, made seven saves and held off some early pressure.

"In the first five to 10 minutes I thought 'Yikes, this is going to be a long night,'" EG coach Dan Klaus said. "We couldn't get it out of our end, but then we found our game a little bit.

"Maine South, in the first half, had a lot more possession than us, but then we started to figure things out a little bit and countered well."

Calmeyn kicked off the scoring in the 26th minute. Carin Fearing passed her the ball just inside the penalty box and Calmeyn took a couple touches, turned and fired a high shot into the net.

The Hawks still had more of the possession and got the equalizer barely more than 10 minutes after halftime when a partially-blocked shot got past Solorio and rolled into the goal.

This seemed to ignite the Grens, who had more chances following the Maine South goal. A spectacular build-up and finish gave Elk Grove the lead in the 66th minute.

Fearing earned her second assist by dribbling through the Hawks' defense and lobbing it to Calmeyn, who struck a hard volley for a goal.

"That second goal was as fast-paced and as nice of a goal as you will ever see," Klaus said. "(Fearing) is just tireless.

"A lot of the game was played on the left side with Lindsey Vaccarino and Carin. They were very busy and they handled it well."

Fearing figures to anchor the midfield this year after working hard in the offseason to improve her game.

"I've definitely done some running on my own and building up endurance, striking the ball and long balls especially," Fearing said.

Alongside Fearing will be senior Anne Klancnik, junior Rachel Pruim, sophomore Kelly Naughton and freshman Kelly Regan.

"Kelly Naughton, as kind of a defensive mid, and Kelly Regan, as a central mid, are high energy," Klaus said. "Not allowing Maine South to be comfortable and play through the center of the field were huge keys."

Up top, Calmeyn played as the lone striker with freshman Nikki Zaino as more of an attacking mid supporting her. The two combined for the clinching goal in the 72nd minute.

Calmeyn got around a Hawks' defender and crossed it to Zaino, who was able to get on the end of it and score on her first touch.

Despite the age difference, the two have a good chemistry together because they are good friends off the field. Calmeyn jokingly called them Batman and Robin.

Junior forward Kelli Hubly was a key contributor last year, but she tore her ACL and likely won't compete this season.

"She's probably out for the whole year, but it's nice that we have that depth," Klaus said. "Not a ton of depth, but enough. I think we're athletic so can we figure it out soccer-wise all the time.”

On defense, junior Katie Naughton is the headliner. Naughton played with the U-17 US Women's National Team in the summer, but was out of town for the opener.

In her absence, sophomore Sarah Stram held down the fort at center back. Vaccarino, a junior, and sophomore Emily Wary complete the young but experienced backline. All four were on varsity last year.

Despite having a lot of returning players, Elk Grove also has five freshmen on the roster.

"A lot of our freshmen stepped up and our backline played very well together," Calmeyn said. "The freshmen are learning and they're adapting. They're learning very quick. They're picking up the speed of the game."

If the pieces can fit together, this is a team that wants to be competing for the MSL Cup on May 11.

"We talked with the girls and our goal is that day," Klaus said. "Hopefully everything will work off of that."