Chicagoland Soccer

Eagles can't find the equalizer against Hononegah
By Gary Larsen

Corner kicks, freekicks, balls served across the six – there was no shortage of second-half opportunities for Jacobs to find an equalizing goal against a visiting Hononegah team holding a 2-1 lead on Saturday.

It just didn’t happen.

“That’s been the story of the last month,” Jacobs coach A.J. Cappello said. “As odd as it sounds I still think we’re playing better and better each game, but we’re not getting the results. Things we’re working on in practice, they’re doing in the games, they’re playing more assertive and aggressive to the endline, but balls are rolling through the six and we just can’t seem to get anything on it.

“This was the second game in a row where we feel like we played a team into the ground but didn’t get the result.” The Eagles lost 2-1 to Cary-Grove on Tuesday in similar fashion.

Jacobs (13-9-3) led 1-0 when Molly Leopold got onto the end of a Margaret Rivera corner kick and sent a header inside the far post. Amy Rigby earned the corner when she forced a diving save at the post from the Indians’ keeper.

“That was an example of us being more assertive in the final third and putting the pressure on the defense instead of letting the defense play you,” Cappello said. “And we’re good in the air when we can get balls served into the box.”

It was a pair of goals at 29 and 31 minutes from Hononegah’s Natalie Prescott that ultimately bit Jacobs on the backside. Prescott got loose twice up the left side into the Eagles’ penalty area and converted both times.

“Unfortunately it’s been a recurring theme – one bad pass, one bad turnover, a little lack of focus on our part, and then a counter and a goal. That’s been a common thread and when you’re not hitting the net you can’t afford to give up goals like that,” Cappello said.

The Eagles had a whole half to spend with a wind at their back to find a tying goal, and they kept the pressure on the Indians to the final buzzer.

Rigby went wide on a shot at 45 minutes, and Rivera sent a corner kick in at 48 minutes that found the grass, where Catie Sherman’s shot was blocked by a defender.

Kelly Grady crossed a diagonal ball from the right side to the far post at 54 minutes that Lizzie Travis sent just high. Jessica Tennant found a shot that went wide at 59 minutes.

The Indians’ keeper punched a Rivera freekick taken from 45 yards out over the crossbar at 62 minutes, and Payton Berg elevated at the near post but couldn’t quite get her head on a corner kick feed at 65 minutes.

“Our team has already been good at keeping a fighting mentality, even when we are behind,” Jacobs sophomore Kelly Grady said. “When we played McHenry (a 4-3 win) it was a good example of that because they’d score, and then we’d score. We didn’t give up and I think our team is good at keeping that mentality, even when we’re down.

“We had so many corner kicks and everything and it just has to be ‘I’m getting my body on this no matter what’.”

A pair of late freekicks went for naught by the Eagles and Kylie Dennison went wide at 78 minutes with Jacobs’ final shot of the contest. Dennison showed flashes of how threatening she can be throughout.

“She’s real dangerous and she had a couple of good looks today,” Cappello said. “There’s no one who’s going to stop her on the dribble so we’ve just been encouraging her to take people on and go at kids.”

Jacobs again played without seniors Lauren Grady and Cassidy Sherman, both of whom are recovering from injuries and should be back in the fold for the looming postseason. Jacobs hosts a Class 3A regional and will take on Larkin on Tuesday in a regional opener.

Players have stepped up into different roles during the absence of the two seniors, and the Eagles hope they’ll be a better team across the board once they return to play.

“Payton Berg has always been at outside mid but she’s been playing amazing at forward,” Kelly Grady said. “I’ve always played outside mid because Cassidy (Sherman) and Catie (Sherman) are there, but now I’ve been getting a chance to play in the middle. With players out it’s been a time for people to step up and fill those spots.”

Kelly Grady’s scrappiness and strength in the air stood out during Saturday’s loss.

“That’s her natural spot and she does a great job there,” Cappello said. “She just gravitates to the middle and she distributes so well. She and Catie Sherman will hold down the middle for us next year for sure.”