Chicagoland Soccer

Knights battle Conant well in 2-0 loss
By Dan Santaromita

A quick glance at the score between state-ranked Conant and Prospect Friday night, 2-0 to the Cougars, might not surprise many. What might is that the score wasn’t very indicative of what was a hard fought match where Prospect had the better of the play for much of the Mid Suburban League crossover match.

The upset-minded Knights (1-2, 0-2 MSL) controlled the run of the play and had all the dangerous chances in the first half, but were unable to put one in the back of the net. Like good teams do, the visiting Cougars (5-0, 2-0) regrouped in the second half and found a way to win a scrappy match.

Drew Wentzel’s 30-yard free kick broke the ice in the 58th minute and Courtney Raetzman added an insurance goal on a laser shot just outside the box 10 minutes from the full time whistle, but not before Conant was tested by the Knights.

“I thought we were fortunate to be tied at halftime,” Conant coach Jason Franco said. “I felt like we were up because of the fact that they hadn’t scored. Then I thought second half we carried a lot of the play, but they still had their chances and we still had a couple chances so it was a pretty even game.”

Jesse Petrovski provided the first shot on goal of the match in the 17th minute after a Conant defender slipped on the wet grass field to give her an opening. Kelli Iovino pounced on the rebound with Cougar goalkeeper Hailey Anderson (8 saves) out of position following the initial save, but Kim Trinco blocked Iovino’s close-range shot.

Two minutes later Iovino drilled a shot from outside the box that thumped the post and came back across the goal before being cleared.

The Knights were once again left wondering what it was going to take to score when Rachel Suarez ran onto a loose ball in the box, but hit just over with a minute left in the half.

“Soccer is like that sometimes,” Prospect coach Tom Froats said. “I thought for the first 40 minutes we played our best soccer of the season. We clearly had the quality chances on our side and it’s unfortunate when you work that hard that you’re not able to put one in the net. I think it would be a just result for the quality of our first half.”

The Cougars seemed to get used to the slower surface as the game went on and turned the tables on the Knights in the second half. Wentzel’s driven free kick tested the reach of Knights’ keeper Eileen McTigue (5 saves) and the slick ball slipped through her outstretched arms.

“At that close I always try to shoot towards the goal because if the goalie drops it then people just run onto it, but at that point in the game the goal is just to get it on net,” Wentzel said.

“It took us a while to figure out what was going on considering we played our first three, four games on turf so it was definitely a big adjustment, but other than that we handled it pretty well.”

Prospect had one more good chance in it when Lexi Phillips created some havoc in the box and went down, but no penalty was given and a pair of shots were stopped by Anderson on the ensuing play.

Raetzman’s goal was set up by some quick passing by Christina Rosales and Leah Celarek to get the all-state forward a chance at goal.

“I don’t know if it was on purpose passing,” Franco said with a smile. “It was definitely pinballing around. They can do that and when we play on the turf we do that a lot. Getting used to it on this is a good thing because every once in a while we’re going to have to do this.”

The Knights haven’t scored in two MSL matches on the young season, but come away from the defeat with heads held high after a strong effort against one of the state’s best teams.

“We went in knowing what we were coming up to that they were a really good team so after the first half keeping it tied and we had some close opportunities we were really pumped for the second half,” Iovino said. “Obviously we wanted to get that win, but overall we feel pretty good about the way we played.”

Froats was complimentary of the play he got from holding mids Mary Rose Pettenuzzo, a freshman, and Taylor Smith, who were key in limiting Raetzman’s touches, along with the sophomore trio of Danielle Hamzello, Trisha Benson and Elena Cukurs.

Prospect features a mix of young and old this season. The Knights have 11 seniors on the roster, but also started six sophomores and a freshman.

“I think we’re a well-balanced team, the fact that they play well together so that there’s not one superstar that we play through,” Froats said. “I thought our work rate tonight was the best we’ve had and we’re only three games in so if we continue to recognize what that brings us when we put in that kind of effort I think that it will give us good things for the entire season.”

Iovino listed winning the MSL East and the team’s two tournaments, the Knights Invite and State Line Challenge in Moline, as goals for the season. She thinks they can get there with time.

“We’re a lot better than we were last year so I think it’s just going to take a little while for everyone to click,” Iovino said. “We have a lot of new girls this year so I think after a couple games it will finally all click together and it should go well.”

The Knights visit Hinsdale Central next Friday. Conant returns to action April 4 against Rolling Meadows.