Hawks even their record with win over Hampshire
By Gary Larsen

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This isn’t the best time for Bartlett to play five games in eight days , but such is high school soccer and the Hawks aren’t about to make any excuses.

“We have a couple starters out with injuries and a couple on the field playing with injuries,” Bartlett senior Ashley Johnson said. “I have a sprained ankle. But we’re playing through it and keeping positive energy.”

The Hawks kicked off the rugged schedule on their immediate horizon with a 2-1 win over Hampshire, Game One of this year’s South Elgin tournament. They’ll play games on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday in the coming week.

“It’s just one of those things. Some of the injuries we have aren’t severe enough to keep them from playing, but they’re going to nag them all season,” Hawks coach Heather Thomas said. “And without the proper rest – which we cannot give them this week – they’re just not going to get better.”

Despite playing without program veteran and Northern Illinois-bound senior Nicole Gobbo and junior Aubrey Czekajlo, Bartlett (3-3) got a pair of goals from Nicki Noreen and took a step forward where chemistry is concerned.

That chemistry showed itself on the defensive end during the game’s first half, when Hampshire spent time on Bartlett’s half of the field but couldn’t locate a dangerous shot.

“It was just a lot of talking and when someone got beat we had someone there,” Johnson said. “We’re definitely getting better, every game, and gelling as a team. We haven’t been playing together that long so it will just take some time.”

Noreen struck first at five minutes, swooping around the right side, taking a touch around a first defender and then a second before blistering a shot into the far corner of the net.

The junior’s second goal came after she stole a pass in Bartlett’s attacking third and went in alone on the Hampshire goalkeeper at 76 minutes. The Whippurs’ keeper got a piece of the ball on Noreen’s final touch ahead but the ball squirted back to the junior and she buried the open-netter.

“On the first one I saw the left side open and just went for it,” Noreen said. “The second one, my first touch was a little off so I just ran through it.”

With light rain wetting the artificial turf at Streamwood’s Millennium Field, Hampshire made it 2-1 at 79 minutes on a low-driven corner kick that took a wicked skip at the near post and flew inside the netting at the far post.

In between Noreen’s early goal and the game’s two late goals, Bartlett gave Thomas some of the best soccer it has played this season.

“I think our defense played a great game,” Thomas said. “I thought Kendra (Videckis) stepped it up today and played a great game. Nicki obviously stepped it up and Brittney (Van Ness) has been playing outside mid, but we moved her up to forward and she played well.

“But as a team, it was just clicking today for us. Today we had more good moments than we had during our first five games and that was good to see.”

The Hawks’ three losses certainly didn’t come to any slouches – Schaumburg, St. Charles North, and St. Charles East – but Thomas wanted to see a better level of consistent intensity from her girls and she got it on Saturday.

“I was okay with our effort in the Schaumburg game, but against the St. Charles teams we came out hard but then we kind of sat on our heels for a while,” Thomas said.
“Natalia (Grodzki) had great games in net in both of the games against the two St. Charles teams. It could have easily been a much different score. But we showed an ability to shake it off and come out here and play hard today.”

Senior captain Johnson also liked what she saw.

“Today we did a good job of containing the ball and keeping it,” Johnson said. “We played the ball well on the ground, we were talking, and we defended really well.”
The Hawks showed quick touches and a desire to work the ball up the field throughout the contest.

“We just have to keep working from defense, to midfield, to the forwards and hopefully we’ll get goals,” Noreen said. “We do our best when we can connect through the midfield.”

Noreen’s ability to find another gear was also evident throughout Saturday’s game.

“She just turns it on, like a switch,” Thomas said. “She’s very deceiving because she’s short in stature, but she and (Nicole) Gobbo are the two fastest players on the team. Nicki is very instantaneously quick. It doesn’t take her long to get going at full speed.”

Injuries have also beckoned Bartlett’s underclassmen to play a prominent role this year. Thomas’ roster includes five freshmen in Toria Tomasek, Josie Dombrowski, Melissa Gal, Shannon Brohan, and Karina Briones, and four sophomores in Alex Cappello, Brittney Van Ness, Kendra Videckis, and Amanda Lozada. Noreen, Czekajlo, and Kristina Fairbanks are the lone juniors on the squad.

WisconsinWhitewater-bound senior Jess Cosentino was prominent in the middle throughout Saturday’s game, while the Quinnipiac-bound Grodzki was vocal and solid.

“She’s had an incredible first six games for us,” Thomas said of Grodzki. “You can’t ask any more out of a keeper than what she’s been giving us. She came in her freshman year and she just has that keeper sense, a natural ability that’s hard to teach and coach.”

“She’s been vocal and encouraging this year, she’s directing her teammates, and she has stepped into her role as a senior on this team.”

Bartlett plays Dundee-Crown Monday and West Chicago Wednesday at Millennium Park and Thomas is hoping to get more of the same from her side.

“I thought they played great today,” Thomas said. “There were some very bright moments – short little passes, knocking it around, letting the ball do the work – which was nice to see.

“The last couple games we were in a little bit of a slump but we came out quick today and let the ball do the work, which was good to see.”