Bartkowiak happy with her Panthers' effort in Game One

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM THE GAME

By Gary Larsen

It was the way Oswego played late, trailing Bartlett by two goals, that had coach Jamie Barkowiak beaming.

“They were a little bit bigger than us but we fought for everything we got,” Bartkowiak said after her squad’s 2-0 loss. “What I’m most excited to see from our girls is that they kept fighting, even though we were down by two. They didn’t care, and that’s fantastic. That bodes very well for the season.”

Playing in their first game of the year, the Panthers took on a Bartlett team that showed up hungry heading into Thursday’s game at Streamwood’s Millenium Field.

The Hawks struggled in a season-opening loss to Schaumburg, and they atoned for it with 80 minutes of well-played, physical soccer against Oswego.

“It was our first game but it was their second, so they already worked out some of the kinks,” Bartkowiak said. “Once we get those kinks worked out, with what I saw here today, it’s going to be fantastic.”

“I’m so excited for this season. We have a bad taste in our mouth from the way last season ended in that regional loss.”

The Panthers lost 3-2 to Rosary in last year’s Class 2A regional opener.

Oswego lost on goals by Bartlett’s Nicole Gobbo and Lisa Palmer, with Gobbo finding an open seam and burying a shot from long-range in the first half, and Palmer locating a corner kick and punching it home in the second.

“(Gobbo’s) strike shouldn’t have gotten off,” Bartkowiak. “She was unmarked. On both of those goals they were unmarked, so we’ll have to fix that. If we fix that, those two goals don’t happen and it’s a different game.”

Panthers' starters
Brittany Bush	Sr.
Trisha Carr	So.
Katherine Palmer	Sr.
Emily Swanson	Sr.
Jessa Early	So.
Hannah Gardner*	Sr.
Alex Tiffany	Jr.
Miranda Pence	Jr.
Gina Schultz*	Jr.
Lisa Bajkowski	Jr.
Katie Wagner	So.
* denotes captain

The Panthers played without a pair of key contributors in Cathy Tram and Austin Wilson, “and we desperately missed (Wilson) at outside midfield,” Bartkowiak said. “Once those two are back with us, it’s going to be a
different team.”

“Right now our strength is definitely in our back third, but I think we’ll end up being very balanced. We have a very solid back line and they like to attack, too.”

Seniors Emily Swanson and Katherine Palmer will help key the midfield for Oswego. “Palmer is showing herself to be very strong for us,” Bartkowiak said. “So is Miranda Pence and Lisa Bajkowski.

“People keep asking me who my top players are, but I’ve got like seven of them, and it takes a team. So I’ll throw you every single player that stepped
on the field today.”

Oswego starters against Bartlett also included Brittany Bush, Trisha Carr, Jessa Early, Hannah Gardner, Alex Tiffany, Gina Schultz, and goalkeeper Katie Wagner.

The Panthers will also expect contributions this year from Hunter Coppes, Erin Apolzan, Cindi Chavez, Raechel Gulledge, Jenna Anderson, Kendra Hughes, Megan Culbertson, Reynolds Cross, and Laura Gallardo.