Chicagoland Soccer

Cougars win 4th straight regional crown
By Mike Garofola

Let it be known that defenders can score too.

Conant’s dynamic backline duo of Kelsey Foss and Drew Wentzel each scored once, both in spectacular fashion, and then joined their backline mates in shutting down No. 7 Batavia (11-7-1) to help the Cougars lift their 4th consecutive regional title after a convincing 4-0 victory Friday night in Hoffman Estates.

The No. 2 Cougars will now play MSL West rival Schaumburg Wednesday night at the Saxons’ sectional. Conant ended the Schaumburg season last spring in overtime.

"We've been working really hard on set piece and dead balls all week long, so we're not surprised that we got a couple of them in today," Foss said. Both Foss and Wentzel wore wide grins when teased that they were the newfound strikeforce tandem on a club which has perhaps one of the best around in Courtney Raetzman and Leah Celarek.

"We feel with both Kelsey and Drew, if we can create some dead ball chances, that both can strike a very good ball on frame or into the box,” Conant coach Jason Franco said. “Tonight, you saw each of them do just that, and to score four goals off those types of plays says a lot about both of their ability to do such a thing, and that may be a good omen for us the rest of the way.”

Wentzel was glad to see her side take advantage of their opportunities.

"Goals are hard to come by as the competition gets tougher in the playoffs, so when you get chances to create or score off set pieces, you've got to make them count,” she said. “The funny thing about Kelsey's goal was when we were setting up, she ran past me and said ‘serve me the ball and I’m going to head it in’ -- and she did."

The upstart Bulldogs, fresh off their first playoff victory in a few seasons, nearly struck a stunning blow in the early stages when the first of several careless square passes in the Cougars’ end found its way onto the boots of Karina Rosales and Paige Renfus.

Runfus nearly found a shot at the back post, where an alert Haley Anderson smothered the would-be attempt to ease the concerns of the Conant faithful who feared the worst when this sequence evolved.

"It's funny you should mention square passes, because looking now at my notes, I've written how many bad passes like that we had in the first half, and how we had better stop doing that as we continue on in the postseason," said Franco.

The Bulldogs’ quartet of Kayla Stolfa, Jordyn Cikesh, Lindsay Spears and Alison Grimm did well to weather the storm which soon blew in from all angles, featuring Raetzman, Celarek, Sam Armando, Sammie van de Linde and Courtney O'Keefe, when Franco brought the junior on at the quarter hour.

Armando sent Raetzman through with a marvelous ball - which put the all-state senior in on keeper Ronnie Resek, but the senior's point blank reaction save kept the Cougars out of the back of the net and kept the Bulldogs even with their hosts.

"We probably could have had a couple of other goals in that first half, but don't forget, (Resek) made a couple of great saves, the first on Courtney, and later when Foss hit that blast off her free-kick, so she deserves a lot of credit for her work in the first half," said Franco.

Resek could do nothing about the first goal of the game, which came at 15 minutes after Foss' missile from 22 yards stung the gloves of the senior before bouncing off the woodwork and eventually off a Batavia player for an own goal.

The Bullodgs’ ability to create clear-cut chances remained elusive, and although Mark Gianfrancesco's club continued to work hard in the middle of the park, and doubled the Cougars top attacking players, it wasn't able to test Anderson with any shot of a serious nature.

"I thought in that first 15 minutes or so our energy was very high, and we were winning balls, and playing to feet, and really I thought, staying with a team that is ranked 4th in the state, and is the No. 2 seed in our sectional, and I was very impressed with our effort up to that point," said Gianfrancesco.

"But our energy fell off a little bit after that first goal, and we began to panic and got away from what we were doing prior to that own goal, and that second goal of the game was a tough one for the girls to take."

At the tail-end of an enterprising and fearless run into the box, Foss would thump her header past Resek after Wentzel found her teammate with a superb serve from the right side.

"Four goals, all off of set pieces - we just didn't mark people as well as we can and should have," bemoaned Jordyn Kuhn, one of the few seniors on the Bulldogs roster, who is off to North Central College in Naperville next fall.

"We did a lot of good things tonight, but that was an area that we let down a bit, and those types of mistakes cost you against a really good team like Conant."

The Cougars continued to pin their guests in their own end after intermission, and after most of the play stayed between the 18's in the opening stages of the second period, the home side improved its lead to a 3-goal advantage in the 58th minute.

Sidney O'Keefe, who provided plenty of pace and energy whenever Franco brought the freshman on, was brought down from behind just outside the box, giving Wentzel her chance to get into the evening's scoreboard.

The sophomore coolly stepped up and cracked a powerful drive which exploded into the back of the net, and past keeper Nicki Seiton, who had little chance to react to the well-paced freekick.

"We're very capable of scoring goals like we did tonight," said a confident Foss.

"Goals like that can help get us going when we really need it, and as Drew said, at this time of the year scoring off a set piece could be the difference between advancing, or going home for good."

Despite the growing deficit, and the clock not in their favor, the Bulldogs continued to play hard on both ends, still looking to take a bite out of the Conant lead.

"That's been one of the best things about this team all year, is their desire and great work rate, and you saw it tonight as the girls played the entire 80 minutes as hard as they could, and I am very proud of that fact," said Gianfrancesco.

Anderson was called into action when Meagan Reinecke steered her freekick at the freshman keeper at 63 minutes, while her teammates up top, Rachel Greco and Milanese continued to run hard at the Cougars’ backline in hopes of creating a turnover in deep.

Gianfrancesco and his staff argued against a call in the 74th minute which sent Raetzman to the spot, where she would convert her PK to finish the scoring, after the center official ruled Seiton took down the Cougars star inside the box.

Despite the loss, the Bulldogs’ coach was pleased with his side’s progress in his first year as head coach.

"There are a few things about tonight that I was impressed with," he said. "We didn't allow one goal in the run of play, and that says something against a team like Conant, which has so much quality and individual skill and talent.

“Second, and most importantly, this team never gave in, never. They played hard from start to finish, against a team which obviously had more experience and talent than us.

"Coming into this program, the one of the first things we asked for, and have received all throughout this season, is a great work ethic, and work rate, and the girls have given all of that and more. As a coach, what else can you ask for?

Departing senior Kuhn also likes what she sees happening at Batavia.

“There's a lot of good, young players, and I really believe the future is very bright for Batavia soccer, and I had a great time playing on this team," added Kuhn.

For the Cougars and Franco, it was a well-deserved victory and a relief to get by a Batavia team that had everything to gain, and nothing to lose.

"We watched Mark's team against Lake Park, and we saw a team that played hard, defended hard, and made life miserable for Lake Park, and that’s always a team you cannot take lightly," Franco said.

"We knew they were dangerous with their flip-throws, and we did a very good job of limiting those -- maybe allowing just two, maybe three -- and putting in that goal fairly early really helped, as did those dead ball goals, which is always a little demoralizing when it happens."

"It was a good effort all the way around, and now we just want to go out and play our best against Schaumburg, who will be after us, since we've knocked them out of the tournament twice in a row in overtime. It will be a good game for sure."