Grens' comeback sends them to regional title game

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By Darryl Mellema

What a great start Bartlett got in its match with Elk Grove. Less than 3 minutes into the match and with fans still settling in for the contest, Nicole Gobbo ran onto a through ball, shot from the left wing and found the back of the net at the right post.

But Elk Grove, stung by that goal, recovered and won the match 2-1. The Grens will take on host St. Charles North in a regional title game on Friday.

“I thought we responded well and I felt confident we could still generate some attack in the second half against the wind as well,” Elk Grove coach Dan Klaus said.

While the Grenadiers (10-6-5) carried confidence that their constant attacking would eventually turn into goals, it took 29 minutes to tie the score when Lindsey Vaccarino passed to Kelly Naughton for a 15-yard shot high into the Bartlett goal.

Up to that point, Bartlett goalie Natalia Grodzki had made a series of strong saves, including one from a strong shot by Calmeyn that Grodzki punched over the crossbar. Grodzki continued to play well throughout the match, especially as her teammates tired in the second half.

“We were definitely dominating in their half, but we couldn’t find a way to put it in the net,” Elk Grove’s Michelle Calmeyn said. “Then we connected a couple of times and Kelly Naughton had a good goal and then she had an assist on mine.”

But there was nothing Grodzki could do 13 minutes into the second half when Naughton played a ball over Bartlett’s advancing defense for Calmeyn, who beat the offside trap and scored.

“Not five minutes earlier, I was telling them that we were fine with the offsides trap, but that until you hear the ref blow his whistle, you can’t stop,” Bartlett coach Heather Thomas said. “And that’s something that we do is hope for the ref to blow his whistle, and this time he didn’t and all 11 of our players froze. We’ve talked often about not quitting until the ref blows his whistle, and they got us.”

Klaus and Calmeyn also felt the play was onside and that the goal should have counted.

“We knew that Bartlett did a nice job when they cleared and got forward,” Klaus said. “They got up in a hurry and we had to get back onside. There were three or four times when we didn’t. It’s a hard interpretation for some officials.”

The recovery from the early deficit was just the response Klaus was looking for from his team.

“It was nice to see our girls being resilient,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of double-overtime games and we’ve had five ties. So it was nice to see us push through.”

Bartlett had been playing strong soccer toward the end of the season. The Hawks had a five-match winning streak snapped but then recovered to tie St. Charles North 1-1. Elk Grove found some areas to exploit.

“They played well and they capitalized with things we have struggled with all season,” Thomas said. “For whatever reason, we can’t defend those dead balls.”

The Hawks can look back on Gobbo’s goal and the ensuing half-hour of play as a highlight, however. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough tonight,” Thomas said.

The Hawks lose very few players to graduation and will be an experienced bunch in 2012.

“One of the biggest things we’ve had is our camaraderie this year,” Thomas said. “I think it’s the best we’ve had ever. I think that it showed on the field. We had some inconsistencies and some ups and downs. But the last five or six games that we played this year, we played some good soccer.”