Glenbard E. stops Bartlett,
takes league lead
Rams halt visitor's 7-game win streak with 2-0 win
By Steve Nemeth
LOMBARD -- Two of the best teams in the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division no longer share the lead, but they’ve got the same philosophy moving forward.
Glenbard East took sole ownership of the top spot in the standings but coach Kent Overby had the perfect comment following Saturday’s 2-0 home victory over Bartlett.
“As a team we said no one wins the (conference) championship today, but it could be lost,” Overby said. “So it was huge for us coming off two poor efforts. But there are three more that have to be won. Now our focus has to be on Tuesday (at West Chicago).”
While the Rams (12-3-0, 2-0-0) control their own destiny the rest of the way, Bartlett can’t dwell on the setback because it has a rare Sunday match to focus on. The Hawks (12-4-1, 2-1-0) face Huntley for the Gatorade Bracket crown in the PepsiCo Showdown. Match time at Chicago’s Illinois Institute of Technology is 3:15 p.m.
“We’ve got a big game tomorrow, so there’s no time to worry about conference standings or the end of a streak,” Bartlett boss Vince DiNuzzo said. “We learned a lot about ourselves today and since they’re in our sectional, maybe we’ll even get another chance.”
Glenbard East won an earlier Valley Division match 6-0 over West Aurora (0-0-1). West Chicago (1-1-0) hosts the Rams at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The host Rams had the game’s first opportunity in the seventh minute as Elizabeth Toledo’s through-ball found Brittany Paganucci in position for a blast that Bartlett goalie Teagan Noesen caught with confidence. But 10 minutes later the Hawk freshman keeper wasn’t so fortunate.
“After Elizabeth’s pass came to me I just wanted to pop it on net hoping it might find a way in or lead to a rebound,” explained Ali Liljestrand. “Having a goal give us the lead felt incredible.”
Noesen’s attempted block led to a ricochet off the underside of the crossbar and the ball was ruled to have come down inside the goal line before Bartlett played the ball.
“Regardless of that, Glenbard East did more than we did especially in the first half,” DiNuzzo said afterward, despite having disputed the score. “Against any higher quality team you’re going to get less chances, so we simply have to do a better job finishing. Initially we were a little timid, (they’re) more physical than us, and we need to not shy away.”
Glenbard East's Overbey liked the build-up to the score.
“That play started with pressure from Dana (Plotke) and Brittany (Pagnucci),” he explained. “They got it to the far side and as Bartlett tried to clear from the corner, Toledo forced a give-away and made a one-touch pass to Ali. When it comes to the fundamentals, she has very good technique, and that was the third time she’s put a shot back in on net.”
The Rams stayed aggressive putting five shots on goal out of eight overall attempts for the first half while limiting Bartlett to one of three. In particular, Glenbard East’s Katie Hansen clamped down on Bartlett goal leader Shelley Lyjak (team-best nine) and for that effort earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match acclaim.
“They’re 10 (Lyjak) is extremely dangerous and plays with a ton of pace. Katie effectively neutralized her and made her more one-dimensional,” Overby said. “Instead of being able to line up her shots, she (Lyjak) often had to try to create for teammates.
“From our perspective when it came to the final third of the field, we disrupted their offense,” Overby added. “We also didn’t let their number nine (Mariela Alba) turn and create plays like she normally does.”
While tested quite often in the second half, Glenbard East goalie Sierra Dana was quick to share credit with her defensive backline after her 10th clean sheet set a new school season standard after only 15 games. The Brandeis signee has a chance to surpass the career shutout record of 25.
“Shutouts are mainly thought of as a stat for goalies, but it’s a credit to the backline I work with,” Dana insisted. “Yes, I always have to be ready, but I can’t be expected to make 35 saves or some other high total.”
It didn’t hurt Glenbard East’s confidence when the lead doubled in the 47th minute. Toledo earned her second assist of the match and ninth for the season as she found Dana Plotke in space on the far left side of the field. The junior put just the right touch on a floater that cleared Noesen’s reach but landed inside the far right post.
“I had a goal like that earlire and was simply hoping I didn’t put this one over,” Plotke said of her 10th goal for the year. “It’s a big win in terms of the conference, but it’s an example of what we’re capable of. We have a lot of familiarity with many of us playing for the same club program plus experience with seven seniors and six juniors.”
"Leading 1-0 against a dangerous team is seldom enough so we wanted to keep the pressure on,” Overby said. “Toledo saw they wanted to get aggressive and was in the space between their backs and midfield to get the ball and with her vision saw Dana, who is a true finisher. Seeing the goalie cheating her way, (Plotke) popped it over her just right.”
Both sides often strung together combinations of passes to move the ball, but it wasn’t until the second half when Bartlett regularly began threatening to score.
Midway through, Lyjak had a header sail over the goal. Three minutes later, Alba, who boasts 18 assists, had another free-kick for the Hawks that found Jenna Dombrowski streaking in for a solid header that forced the Dana to make a diving stretch to block the ball and yield a corner-kick.
“That header bounced hard, and I knew even if the landing hurt, I had to lay out to stop it because there was no way I was letting it in,” Dana said.
“That was a great save,” Dombrowski conceded. “With Junior (Alba), we can always count on a good ball in, so I was trying hard to place (the header), I just wish I got more power on it.”
“Jenna also had a 1-v.-1 earlier and (Kaitlin) Brohan has two great chances, point blank headers where she was in the right place at the right time,” DiNuzzo said. “I really thought we were the better team in the second half. We created enough chances to win, but just didn’t find the back of the net.”
Glenbard East's Dana rushed off her line to beat Brohan to another chance, cleared a corner plus and was aided by Alyssa Chiero, who stepped in front of a Lyjak blast. Teammate Paganucci put a cannon shot off the crossbar in the late stages before Bartlett's Alba put one more free-kick into prime space near the left post. But no teammate was able to finish the chance.
“Any time theres’s a shutout, it speaks volumes about defensive play and the communication between the goalie and backs,” Overby said. “Once again, I thought our outside backs Paige (Taylor) and Faith (Daniels) did an incredible job containing their top threats and pinching over to limit chances.”
Glenbard East had a string of nine-straight victories prior to PepsiCo losses to Wheaton Warrenville South (4-1) and Downers Grove North (3-0), so the new three-game streak is helpful not only for the next outing at West Chicago, but for the Rams’ desire to move up honorable mention to the main body of the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25. Plus the remaining slate includes crosstown foe Glenbard West, a visit to no. 17 Geneva, plus a regular season finale versus no. 10 Lyons.
Bartlett can expect to have its hands full versus no. 26 Huntley as one-of-two games leading up to three UEC Valley matches to end the regular season.
“Despite this loss, I believe we’re ready for tomorrow and what’s ahead,” Dombrowski said. “We have the personnel to overcome the mistakes we made and get back to winning.”
“After today we know to come out with intensity from the start,” Miranda Hedeen added. “No matter how hard we work, it doesn’t matter unless we put forth the effort for the whole game.”
Staring lineups
Bartlett
GK: Teagan Noesen
D: Alyssa Modugno
D: Jamie Kenna
D: Miranda Hedeen
D: Makenna Hughes
M: Carrigan Sablik
M: Jenna Dombrowksi
M: Kaitlin Brohan
M: Jessica Mirsky
F: Mariela Alba
F: Shelley Lyjak
Glenbard East
GK: Sierra Dana
D: Faith Davies
D: Sammie Sarles
D: Katie Hansen
D: Paige Taylor
M: Holly Ward
M: Amanda Chlebek
M: Ali Liljestrand
F: Brittany Paganucci
F: Elizabeth Toledo
F: Dana Plotke
MVP of the Match: Katie Hansen, D, Glenbard East
Referees: Krystof Bajorek, Chris Krueger, John Snyder
Glenbard East 2, Bartlett 0
Bartlett 0 0 --- 0
Glenbard East 1 1 --- 2
Scoring
GE: Liljestrand nine-yarder from right off keeper and crossbar (Toledo assist), 17th minute
GE: Plotke 22-yarder from left inside far right post (Toledo assist), 47th minute
Shots: B 3 – 8 -- 11 / GE 8 – 4 -- 12
Shots on Goal: B 1 - 5 -- 6 / GE 5 – 2 -- 7
Saves (Goalie): B (T. Noesen) 4 – 1 -- 5 / GE (Dana) 1 – 5 -- 6
takes league lead
Rams halt visitor's 7-game win streak with 2-0 win
By Steve Nemeth
LOMBARD -- Two of the best teams in the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division no longer share the lead, but they’ve got the same philosophy moving forward.
Glenbard East took sole ownership of the top spot in the standings but coach Kent Overby had the perfect comment following Saturday’s 2-0 home victory over Bartlett.
“As a team we said no one wins the (conference) championship today, but it could be lost,” Overby said. “So it was huge for us coming off two poor efforts. But there are three more that have to be won. Now our focus has to be on Tuesday (at West Chicago).”
While the Rams (12-3-0, 2-0-0) control their own destiny the rest of the way, Bartlett can’t dwell on the setback because it has a rare Sunday match to focus on. The Hawks (12-4-1, 2-1-0) face Huntley for the Gatorade Bracket crown in the PepsiCo Showdown. Match time at Chicago’s Illinois Institute of Technology is 3:15 p.m.
“We’ve got a big game tomorrow, so there’s no time to worry about conference standings or the end of a streak,” Bartlett boss Vince DiNuzzo said. “We learned a lot about ourselves today and since they’re in our sectional, maybe we’ll even get another chance.”
Glenbard East won an earlier Valley Division match 6-0 over West Aurora (0-0-1). West Chicago (1-1-0) hosts the Rams at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The host Rams had the game’s first opportunity in the seventh minute as Elizabeth Toledo’s through-ball found Brittany Paganucci in position for a blast that Bartlett goalie Teagan Noesen caught with confidence. But 10 minutes later the Hawk freshman keeper wasn’t so fortunate.
“After Elizabeth’s pass came to me I just wanted to pop it on net hoping it might find a way in or lead to a rebound,” explained Ali Liljestrand. “Having a goal give us the lead felt incredible.”
Noesen’s attempted block led to a ricochet off the underside of the crossbar and the ball was ruled to have come down inside the goal line before Bartlett played the ball.
“Regardless of that, Glenbard East did more than we did especially in the first half,” DiNuzzo said afterward, despite having disputed the score. “Against any higher quality team you’re going to get less chances, so we simply have to do a better job finishing. Initially we were a little timid, (they’re) more physical than us, and we need to not shy away.”
Glenbard East's Overbey liked the build-up to the score.
“That play started with pressure from Dana (Plotke) and Brittany (Pagnucci),” he explained. “They got it to the far side and as Bartlett tried to clear from the corner, Toledo forced a give-away and made a one-touch pass to Ali. When it comes to the fundamentals, she has very good technique, and that was the third time she’s put a shot back in on net.”
The Rams stayed aggressive putting five shots on goal out of eight overall attempts for the first half while limiting Bartlett to one of three. In particular, Glenbard East’s Katie Hansen clamped down on Bartlett goal leader Shelley Lyjak (team-best nine) and for that effort earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match acclaim.
“They’re 10 (Lyjak) is extremely dangerous and plays with a ton of pace. Katie effectively neutralized her and made her more one-dimensional,” Overby said. “Instead of being able to line up her shots, she (Lyjak) often had to try to create for teammates.
“From our perspective when it came to the final third of the field, we disrupted their offense,” Overby added. “We also didn’t let their number nine (Mariela Alba) turn and create plays like she normally does.”
While tested quite often in the second half, Glenbard East goalie Sierra Dana was quick to share credit with her defensive backline after her 10th clean sheet set a new school season standard after only 15 games. The Brandeis signee has a chance to surpass the career shutout record of 25.
“Shutouts are mainly thought of as a stat for goalies, but it’s a credit to the backline I work with,” Dana insisted. “Yes, I always have to be ready, but I can’t be expected to make 35 saves or some other high total.”
It didn’t hurt Glenbard East’s confidence when the lead doubled in the 47th minute. Toledo earned her second assist of the match and ninth for the season as she found Dana Plotke in space on the far left side of the field. The junior put just the right touch on a floater that cleared Noesen’s reach but landed inside the far right post.
“I had a goal like that earlire and was simply hoping I didn’t put this one over,” Plotke said of her 10th goal for the year. “It’s a big win in terms of the conference, but it’s an example of what we’re capable of. We have a lot of familiarity with many of us playing for the same club program plus experience with seven seniors and six juniors.”
"Leading 1-0 against a dangerous team is seldom enough so we wanted to keep the pressure on,” Overby said. “Toledo saw they wanted to get aggressive and was in the space between their backs and midfield to get the ball and with her vision saw Dana, who is a true finisher. Seeing the goalie cheating her way, (Plotke) popped it over her just right.”
Both sides often strung together combinations of passes to move the ball, but it wasn’t until the second half when Bartlett regularly began threatening to score.
Midway through, Lyjak had a header sail over the goal. Three minutes later, Alba, who boasts 18 assists, had another free-kick for the Hawks that found Jenna Dombrowski streaking in for a solid header that forced the Dana to make a diving stretch to block the ball and yield a corner-kick.
“That header bounced hard, and I knew even if the landing hurt, I had to lay out to stop it because there was no way I was letting it in,” Dana said.
“That was a great save,” Dombrowski conceded. “With Junior (Alba), we can always count on a good ball in, so I was trying hard to place (the header), I just wish I got more power on it.”
“Jenna also had a 1-v.-1 earlier and (Kaitlin) Brohan has two great chances, point blank headers where she was in the right place at the right time,” DiNuzzo said. “I really thought we were the better team in the second half. We created enough chances to win, but just didn’t find the back of the net.”
Glenbard East's Dana rushed off her line to beat Brohan to another chance, cleared a corner plus and was aided by Alyssa Chiero, who stepped in front of a Lyjak blast. Teammate Paganucci put a cannon shot off the crossbar in the late stages before Bartlett's Alba put one more free-kick into prime space near the left post. But no teammate was able to finish the chance.
“Any time theres’s a shutout, it speaks volumes about defensive play and the communication between the goalie and backs,” Overby said. “Once again, I thought our outside backs Paige (Taylor) and Faith (Daniels) did an incredible job containing their top threats and pinching over to limit chances.”
Glenbard East had a string of nine-straight victories prior to PepsiCo losses to Wheaton Warrenville South (4-1) and Downers Grove North (3-0), so the new three-game streak is helpful not only for the next outing at West Chicago, but for the Rams’ desire to move up honorable mention to the main body of the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25. Plus the remaining slate includes crosstown foe Glenbard West, a visit to no. 17 Geneva, plus a regular season finale versus no. 10 Lyons.
Bartlett can expect to have its hands full versus no. 26 Huntley as one-of-two games leading up to three UEC Valley matches to end the regular season.
“Despite this loss, I believe we’re ready for tomorrow and what’s ahead,” Dombrowski said. “We have the personnel to overcome the mistakes we made and get back to winning.”
“After today we know to come out with intensity from the start,” Miranda Hedeen added. “No matter how hard we work, it doesn’t matter unless we put forth the effort for the whole game.”
Staring lineups
Bartlett
GK: Teagan Noesen
D: Alyssa Modugno
D: Jamie Kenna
D: Miranda Hedeen
D: Makenna Hughes
M: Carrigan Sablik
M: Jenna Dombrowksi
M: Kaitlin Brohan
M: Jessica Mirsky
F: Mariela Alba
F: Shelley Lyjak
Glenbard East
GK: Sierra Dana
D: Faith Davies
D: Sammie Sarles
D: Katie Hansen
D: Paige Taylor
M: Holly Ward
M: Amanda Chlebek
M: Ali Liljestrand
F: Brittany Paganucci
F: Elizabeth Toledo
F: Dana Plotke
MVP of the Match: Katie Hansen, D, Glenbard East
Referees: Krystof Bajorek, Chris Krueger, John Snyder
Glenbard East 2, Bartlett 0
Bartlett 0 0 --- 0
Glenbard East 1 1 --- 2
Scoring
GE: Liljestrand nine-yarder from right off keeper and crossbar (Toledo assist), 17th minute
GE: Plotke 22-yarder from left inside far right post (Toledo assist), 47th minute
Shots: B 3 – 8 -- 11 / GE 8 – 4 -- 12
Shots on Goal: B 1 - 5 -- 6 / GE 5 – 2 -- 7
Saves (Goalie): B (T. Noesen) 4 – 1 -- 5 / GE (Dana) 1 – 5 -- 6