Grens improve to 4-0 with win at Palatine
By Gary Larsen

 

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Elk Grove coach Dan Klaus knows what it takes to beat a Willie Filian-coached Palatine team, and his girls gave it to him on Friday night.

“They always work hard, they’re always good in the air, they’re always going to pressure you, and they’re always organized,” Klaus said. “I’m proud of the girls, to come through it.”

Come through it they did in an MSL tilt in Palatine, getting an early goal on a free kick feed from Katie Naughton and a finish from Nikki Zaino at the goalmouth in a 1-0 Grens win.

The bench might be a lonely place for Klaus this year with a 15-player roster. Senior Jill Zelek was lost for the season with an injury in the Grens’ second game, and every player in green and gold will be counted on for the kind of effort Elk Grove gave its coach against Palatine.

“It was a really gritty and gutty effort by the usual suspects, with Katie being a rock in the back and Kelly (Hubly) being dangerous at all times, but there wasn’t a girl on our team that didn’t contribute a play at one time or another,” Klaus said. “They might seem like small things but when you add them all up they’re giant things.”

“Especially against a team like Palatine,” junior defender Emily Wary said. “The first three teams we played weren’t so aggressive. Palatine is definitely more aggressive and they’re better down the line.”

Elk Grove (4-0, 2-0 in MSL play) has yet to give up a goal in four games, courtesy of a defense led by Naughton, Sarah Stram, and second-year keeper Melissa Solorio.

“We have a lot of good sophomores that came in and me, Kelly Naughton, and Sarah Stram had been playing travel together for a while,” Wary said. “Kelly (Naughton) plays right in front of me and we connect really well, but we all connect really well.”

Friday’s game was less than four minutes old when Zaino located Katie Naughton’s free kick from long range into a crowd at the net.

The sophomore did more than just score the game’s lone goal, however.

“Nikki Zaino scored a goal but it was the rest of her game, and all of the things she did besides scoring that goal, that makes us better,” Klaus said. “Nikki and Kelly Regan did a great job in the air tonight. Kelly’s five-foot-nothing but she’s just tough as nails in there.”

Palatine’s first-half keeper, Rachel Rhodes, had the save of the game through 40 minutes, when Hubly broke behind the Pirates’ back line with a ball on her foot. Rhodes went sliding out of net and Hubly blasted a shot from point-blank range off the Palatine sophomore’s face.

Rhodes got right back up and got on her line for the ensuing corner kick. Hubly broke into Palatine’s penalty area and went wide of the post at 46 minutes, Lindsey Vaccarino sent a shot from distance in on Palatine’s second-half keeper, Meghan Ellis.

Ellis made an exceptional save on a Zaino shot from 14 yards out, diving at the post and swatting it over the endline at 47 minutes, then punched away the ensuing corner at the near post.

“She came up with some big saves,” Filian said of Ellis. “That’s the first minutes she’s gotten since coming back off of a broken arm. She played well. And (Rhodes) did a nice job too. She made a save with her face and she’s just tough.

“Unfortunately, we don’t score a lot of goals and we have to relish the opportunities when we get them. It’s our desire around the goal, and on second balls. Elk Grove has a couple kids whose final touches are better than ours, and read the game a little better at this point.”

Palatine (0-3, 0-2) opened the season with a loss to Boylan and the Pirates played state-ranked Conant to a 3-2 loss in their second game.

“We have to play a little more physical in order to stay in games like this,” Filian said.

“I thought we were defending a 1-0 deficit. I think our kids in back were a little scared of Elk Grove’s speed. They didn’t want to close the field so our midfield was running ragged.

“Credit them. They held the ball a lot better than we did, they went into tackles hard and made plays when they needed to.”

Hubly got behind the defense again at 63 minutes but a charging Ellis stuffed the ball on her foot. Rachel Pruim went wide of the far post from the left side for Elk Grove a minute later, and Hubly was at it again on a drive into the box on the right side and a shot that a Pirates defender deflected over the endline.

Ellis saved a Katie Naughton free kick to a corner at 73 minutes, and Zaino earned another corner when she busted in on the left side and a Pirates’ defender thwarted the play to a corner kick.

Palatine’s Jessica Malak took a good rip from distance at 76 minutes from the right side, but Solorio was there at the near post to snare it. Palatine also sent in a corner kick early in the second half that would have been a goal if not for Wary.

“Emily Wary saves a ball off the line with her chest and she was fantastic tonight,” Klaus said.

“The corner curved in and I just wasn’t going to let it go in,” Wary said. “It hit my whole body. I was not letting it get through me.”

Palatine’s Kelly Strauss also stood tall on the back line during Friday’s game, along with outside defender McKenzie Wiedemann. Katelyn Mayer showed flashes of the danger she’ll provide this season in the Palatine attack.

“(Mayer) makes chances for us and covers a lot of ground,” Filian said. “She does a really nice job. We started her in the midfield today because she’s a good ball-winner, too, and she’s a good target up top if we’re going to bypass the midfield. She holds the ball well and she’s been around the goal a lot.”