Chicagoland Soccer

Golden Eagles fail to finish vs. South Elgin

By Jonathan Jones

With heavy rains ravaging grass fields for most of the week, Jacobs was able to play South Elgin in a non-conference battle on the turf Thursday.

Both teams presented difficulties for their adversaries as the score remained 0-0 for nearly 77 minutes in the defense-heavy affair, before South Elgin (8-5) finally netted the victorious goal with 3:16 remaining in regulation.

Storm freshman Savannah Uvegas was the offensive hero for South Elgin as she retrieved a cross from junior midfielder teammate Lauren Vedrine and sent a lightning bolt into net.

And as important as Uvegas' strike was for the home team, the performance by Storm goalkeeper Emily Young loomed even larger. Young made 19 saves in the win and kept the Golden Eagles out of net for only the fourth time in 17 games.

“I think we played very well,” said Jacobs (12-5) head coach A.J. Cappello. “Sometimes you go out there and the ball doesn’t find the net; it happens.”

Jacobs earned a 10 to 5 edge in shots against South Elgin in the first half and then saw Young make 12 saves after halftime for the Storm (10-5). And while Young posted a stellar game, she overcame a more serious dilemma in her senior season.

“This was kind of her ‘welcome back,’” South Elgin head coach Tiffany Disher said. “She was in a rough spot when she got kicked in the head earlier this season. She had a concussion and had to sit out a couple of games.

This was her first game back since the accident. She came back motivated with the perfect opportunity. Her performance motivated the team as well.”

Both teams created opportunities with strong offensive attacks. On a corner kick from Golden Eagles sophomore Catie Sherman, junior Cassidy Sherman kicked the carom just left of the goal out of bounds.

Later in the first half, South Elgin senior Jessica DeSimon sprinted the ball up the sideline to set up a cross for sophomore midfielder Andrea Walsh. However, Walsh struck her ball just above the crossbar and out of bounds.

Jacobs attained three-fourths of the possession against South Elgin. South Elgin didn’t receive their first shot on goal until the 18:39 mark in the second half.

The closest goal Jacobs produced was off a throw-in from junior midfielder Molly Leopold. After a pass from Cassidy Sherman on the right side, junior midfielder Lizzie Travis kicked a strong shot at Young. While Young’s line of sight was shielded by a Golden Eagle player, senior defender Erica Williams threw her body in front of Travis’ shot and saved the goal.

“We saw (South Elgin) last year in our Regional and knew they were a good team,” Cappello said. “Sometimes you just don’t know what to expect. They are a solid opponent. We just couldn’t get it in the net, and they had a nice counterattack."

“We utilized (Uvegas) in the middle for that cross,” Disher said “I was telling the girls at half to get the ball two feet closer before their shots, and getting the numbers (downfield) to attack.”

Jacobs junior goal keep Megan Minogue finished with seven saves in the loss.

The Golden Eagles play a key conference game against Crystal Lake South Tuesday at home.

“We had our chances, and we just didn’t finish them,” said Cassidy Sherman, who finished with six shots on goal. “We can learn from this loss, but we just didn’t come out as hard as we could. We need to finish our shots, and finish (the game) harder with a team just as good as us.”