Hornet offense comes alive in win over University High

By Matt Le Cren

Hinsdale South's offense broke through in a big way Tuesday.

After being limited to three goals in their first three matches, the Hornets struck for four goals and could have had several others in a 4-2 victory over University High in the opening round of the Pepsi Showdown in Darien.

The win advances Hinsdale South (1-3) into a Thursday matchup with top-seeded Huntley (9-0). The match will be played at 4:30 pm in Huntley.

"We were playing a little bit slow but we still were able to finish them off," junior forward Jaime Walker said.

"We were having trouble before, so it was good that we were able to put them in the back of the net."

Walker scored two goals, including the game-winner with 15:29 left in the second half that broke a 2-2 tie.

She put the Hornets ahead at the 35:06 mark of the first half when she took a pass from Talia Avci and blasted a 19-yarder top shelf.

But U-High (2-1-1) equalized only 44 seconds later when Gabrielle Clark raced up the middle of the field past three defenders and rolled a 15-yard shot just inside the left post.

Amazingly, Clark did it again 11 minutes later, scoring on an identical play to put the Maroons up by a 2-1 score.

"Those were two quick goals that we weren't ready for," Walker said. "[Clark] is a good player."

"It was exciting that we scored first and that was promising," Hinsdale South coach Pat Wolf said. "But then we gave one back and then we were down on the same play to the same girl.

"We're very young and inexperienced. We said, 'Ladies, it was pretty obvious that she was their go-to player and you've got to do something about that.' The defense adjusted."

Clark nearly had a third goal with 10:50 to play in the first half when she again used her speed to race around a defender.

But this time freshman goalie Vanessa Niestrom came off her line and Clark shot well wide of the left post.

Just when it appeared the Hornets would be trailing at intermission, Jackie Belmonte buried a 20-yard shot into the upper right corner to tie it 2-2 with 1:52 left.

"I knew I was wide open so I got kind of excited for it to come right to me and I just let it rip," Belmonte said.

"I thought it helped us pick up our energy at halftime and tying it up 2-2 is better than going into the second half down. It definitely got us going for the second half."

Did it ever. Just 15 seconds after the break, Walker's shot from in close hit the underside of the crossbar and eight seconds later she sent another blast over the bar.

In the next five minutes alone, freshman Jessy Mutters missed a wide-open shot from 10 yards, freshman Brenda Maugeri hit the left post and Walker sent a 25-yard attempt just wide and high.

"I think the whole team really stepped up," Walker said. "We were able to control it from the center of the field and that was able to be brought up to the forwards and we all started to play hard.

"I think we're getting used to playing as a team together. We have a lot of good players and once we start putting them in the back of the net, a lot of the girls start to get energy from it."

Belmonte agreed were her teammates' comments concerning the Hornets.

"I think we started to come together a little bit more," she said. "I think we knew that we were the better team and we started to pick ourselves up and start playing more as a team and connecting more passes."

Even so, it took longer than Wolf had hoped to take the lead and in the interim U-High had a couple of chances to go ahead.

Clark and Ashley King had a 2-on-1 break broken up by sophomore Caroline Pilch with 25:50 remaining and two minutes later Clark had a partial breakaway but was stopped by Niestrom.

Belmonte's corner kick set up the deciding goal. The ball bounced around in front of the net, where Walker knocked it in from six yards out.

South added an insurance goal at the 10:43 mark when Avci's 15-yard shot was deflected into the net by a Maroon defender.

"We just had a little bit more energy in the second half," Wolf said. "We needed to have a little bit of energy and excitement, especially when we get into the box and we have chances to score. In the second half we could have scored many more.

"I think at times we have some really nice passes and then all of a sudden it breaks down because of one extra pass. At least we scored two goals."

The Hornets were without starters Brittney Noble and Meagan McPherson. McPherson has a stress fracture above the ankle but hopes to miss only three more games.