Huskies' early lead evaporates in loss to Elk Grove
By Gary Larsen

 

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You win the MSL East on Saturday and what’s your reward? You get to play Elk Grove and Conant before moving on to this year’s MSL Cup game.

"It's tough. You clinch it and then you want to stay healthy, but you have two top teams to play," Hersey coach Brad Abel said after his side’s 2-1 loss to Elk Grove. "Top to bottom, you have to come out ready to play in this conference. Tonight, I don’t think we did that. Credit Elk Grove. “

Elk Grove was a wounded tiger for a good stretch of play this season, a solid team that lacks depth but makes up for it by asking maximum effort from the limited number of players on this year’s team.

Coach Dan Klaus got that effort on Monday. While Abel cited Elk Grove’s Kelli Hubly and Katie Naughton for controlling the game, Klaus also liked what he got everywhere else.

"Kelli and Katie did what Kelli and Katie do, but tonight was a good example of how you don't need a third player to step up if every person on the field is playing solid,” Klaus said.

“The whole game, everyone was working hard. That’s why we’re a good team,” Elk Grove junior Kelly Naughton said. “The starters stay in and everyone works hard.”

With Katie Naughton spending most of the night at midfield, Elk Grove (10-6-1, 5-4-1 in MSL play) played hard all over the field and got a great late performance by its backline, with Hersey (15-4-2, 8-2) bringing the heat in search of a tying goal down the stretch.

Emily Wary, Sarah Stram, Jocelyn Potratz, and Lindsey Vaccarino stood tall in front of keeper Melissa Solorio all night.

“We normally played with four in the back, then we switched to three, and now we’re back to four,” Vaccarino said. “We just connected really well with the midfield really well and we talked, which was really important. We connected well and got the ball up.”

"(Wary) played phenomenal," Abel said. "I thought with (Katie) Naughton out of there we'd be able to win balls in the air, but (Wary) was phenomenal."

The game’s first goal came just seven minutes in, when Hersey’s Nicole Gierman took a swipe at the ball from 30 yards out with Solorio retreating back to the goalmouth.  A Hersey team that had only given up 11 goals in 20 games led 1-0, but Elk Grove didn’t waste any time trying to kick down the door.

The Grenadiers attacked well and senior forward Hubly found the equalizer from distance at 24 minutes. Hubly’s 18th goal of the year kept low and cut a path around and through a crowd of players that stood between her and the goal, getting inside the post past diving Hersey keeper Morgan Harris.

"We had trouble adjusting to Hubly,” Abel said. “She had a goal out of what seemed like nothing, and that puts them back in the game and then we didn't find tight enough marks in the box and they were able to get that second goal."

Elk Grove’s second goal came when a Vaccarino corner kick was initially cleared out at 30 minutes. It was sent right back in, courtesy of a recent addition to the Grens’ varsity roster.

"The first goal was a nice finish by Kelli and the second was Ashley Potratz -- who came up from jayvee -- who headed it far post and Kelly Naughton came slashing in,” Klaus said.

Naughton’s goal also flew just inside the post. "Ashley hit it and I headered it in. I was just going for it and I had to put it down low in the corner," Naughton said.

Harris slapped down a long chip from Katie Naughton at 42 minutes and Hersey’s Lauren Gierman flicked a ball ahead that teammate Nicole Pietro shot low to a waiting Solorio a minute later. Stram dispossessed Lauren Gierman and sent a ball ahead to Hubly, who dribbled up on the left side and forced a Harris save at the near post.

"As long as we kept her facing her side of the field, she couldn’t be dangerous," Vaccarino said of Gierman. "We couldn't let her get dangerous facing our goal."

Casey Weyhrich and Megan Boyle each sent shots in on Solorio through 50 minutes, while Kelly Naughton streaked up the right side and forced a sprawling save from Harris at 51 minutes. Wary took a dangerous ball away from Lauren Gierman in the corner at 53 minutes.

Play continued to the final buzzer without many truly dangerous scoring chances, as the Grens followed an overtime loss to Schaumburg with a solid victory against Hersey.

"We played well and it was nice to see the response from being down 1-0, and coming off of a tough game on Saturday,” Klaus said. “And it was nice to see that (sophomore forward) Nikki Zaino is coming back and rounding into shape after being a little banged up. She’s athletic and that helps, too.

"Hersey is very opportunistic and smart, they take care of dead balls, and I think we played smart in not giving up too many corners and free kicks tonight. Obviously, they’ve had a fantastic year and I'm very happy for Brad and their program. They're doing a great job."

Abel wants to see his girls respond to the loss with a better overall effort on Wednesday at Conant.

"We had trouble with Elk Grove’s speed and one of the things I was worried about was winning the division on Friday and then coming out here and coming out lackadaisical," Abel said. "We got the goal early on, which was fortunate, but then I think we thought we were just going to walk through this game. There were bits and pieces where we had the effort we need, but against good teams like that -- if we want to be successful in the Cup and in the playoffs -- we're going to have to bring that energy level up for every game.

"It's a great wake-up call. Hopefully it's a message to the team that we need to come out ready to play, every single game."