Hornets score seven goals to claim two Lemont Cup wins

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By Curt Herron

After struggling to find the net during recent weeks, things really came together for Hinsdale South on Saturday.

The Hornets lit up the scoreboard with regularity, and as result, walked away with big smiles on their faces.

In its 11 matches prior to Saturday's play at the Lemont Cup, South had scored just 10 goals and posted a 3-8 mark.

But in their matches with Downers Grove North and Lincoln-Way East, the Hornets managed to find the net seven times.

The Hornets opened the day with a 3-0 victory over Downers North, avenging a 4-2 loss to the Trojans on April 22.

Then in the fifth-place match of the eight-team competition, South captured a 4-2 victory over the Griffins.

South's four-goal effort against East equaled its best total of the year, which came on April 6 against University High.

An added bonus was that the back-to-back wins also marked the Hornets' initial two-match winning streak of the season.

South (7-12) hopes to add a win over Proviso East in Tuesday's home finale before beginning postseason competition.

After trailing the Griffins (8-12) less than 14 minutes into the match, the Hornets rallied for a 2-1 halftime lead.

They scored the first two goals of the second half and allowed a goal to East before closing out the victory.

Leading the Hornets in the win over East was Meagan McPherson, who scored a pair of goals and added an assist.

Meagan DeSalvo and Jackie Belmonte also scored goals while Brenda Maugeri and Brittney Noble also contributed assists.

Click to hear coach Pat Wolf interview

East didn't have many first-half chances but did get a shot from, Nicole Ernat just under six minutes into the match.

South's best early chance came about 12 minutes in when Jaime Walker headed a shot attempt just wide of the net.

The Griffins found the scoreboard with 26:43 left in the half to seemingly grab the early momentum.

South keeper Vanessa Niestrom stopped a shot try by Kelly McGovern, who passed the ball back toward Erin Mangia.

The Griffin junior lined a long shot into an empty net to collect her squad the quick 1-0 advantage.

But South responded by putting the pressure on East keeper Arianna Nie on shot tries from Belmonte and Julie Vezzani.

Shortly after Colleen McPherson bounced an attempt to Nie, the Hornets finally found the net for the first time.

With 9:48 left before the break, Maugeri sent a pass to Meagan McPherson, who fired in a shot from the top of the box.

About two minutes later, South's initial goal scorer was stopped on a free kick but she struck again with 4:42 left.

Following a collision in the box, Meagan McPherson placed the subsequent penalty kick in to give her squad a 2-1 lead.

Not long after the break, the Hornets connected again to grab a two-goal advantage over the Griffins.

Meagan McPherson sent a pass toward DeSalvo, who scored from close range with 33:20 remaining in the match.

Click to hear Meagan DeSalvo interview

After Jessy Mutters had a shot deflect off of a defender, East threatened again on a grounder from Hayley Gerdes.

Nie later shut down a scoring effort by Walker and then hauled in a liner from Belmonte to keep her team alive.

But the Griffins' hopes were largely dashed with 12:05 left when Belmonte connected, following a pass from Noble.

East got a score back with 8:25 remaining when Mangia sent a corner in front that was knocked in by Kelsey Kurey.

The Griffins tried to make things more interesting but only managed one more shot from Gerdes, which Niestrom halted.

The victory capped an encouraging day for the youthful Hornets, who only have two seniors on their roster.

Talia Avci was South's lone senior in the starting lineup, where she was joined by five freshmen or sophomores.

Click to hear Talia Avci interview

In Saturday's first match, the Hornets received goals from three different players in their win over Downers North.

Noble scored off of an assist from Belmonte to put South up for good and Noble assisted Vezzani for the second goal.

Walker connected following a pass from Meagan McPherson for the final score and Niestrom got the shutout in the net.

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