Goal spurt all Palatine needs
against Elk Grove
2 tallies in 2 minutes does the trick for Pirates
By Patrick Z. McGavin
PALATINE — Coming off a shutout loss, the first impulse of any team is to eviscerate the doubts and confusions. The worst outcome is to allow the negative consequences to linger and take hold. Fortunately with soccer, games are plentiful, and there is always another game.
Anja Jacobsen picked the right time to score her first goal of the year. She lifted her school.
Jacobsen finished an excellent run by drilling a one-touch left-footed ball off a cross from forward Kendall Kane that sparked a two-minute scoring flurry Palatine rode to the convincing 2-0 Mid-Suburban League victory over Elk Grove on Wednesday night.
The game was halted by weather with 3:02 remaining. The coaches and officials considered ending it there but agreed to wait it out. After a break the remainder of the game was finished.
Palatine soccer is very much a family affair with various sets of sisters, including the daughters of coach Willie Filian playing prominent roles. It all played out as the Pirates (5-3-3, 4-2-1) strung together a dominant sequence to seize control of the match.
Jacobsen, a sophomore midfielder, broke down the middle and caught Kane’s pass in perfect rhythm.
“This was something we worked on yesterday in practice, so it was great to be able to use in a game situation, something we practice,” she said.
“Basically it meant making a run and finishing with your left foot, get it across”
The goal was her first of the year for Jacobsen, who earned Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match recognition for her play.
The 1-0 loss to Conant on Friday was suddenly a distant memory. An opening goal will work wonders for that.
“It changed the momentum, because when we have the lead we are going at them more and putting more pressure on them,” Jacobsen said.
The goal motivated the Pirates to go for broke. Less than a minute later, off a play originated by Cora Jacobsen, the team’s corner specialist, Palatine struck again. Cora's first ball was returned to her, and she alertly redirected a second ball that midfielder Mackenzie Filian smashed in for the crucial follow-up goal.
“Cora was in good position to be there and get another good service in there,” Mackenzie Filian said. “We always talk about recycling our runs and not just giving up after the ball gets out of the box. I just looked to get it back after second ball [came] in.”
The damage was done. Elk Grove was staggered. Palatine dominated possession time, shots attempted, corners taken and the pace and tempo of play.
The Grenadiers' best scoring chance occurred early on a free kick from the left edge from 20 yards. Midfielder Gabriella Mauro put the ball on frame with excellent velocity. Palatine freshman keeper Francesca Falato was there for the stop.
Otherwise Elk Grove struggled to find any consistent rhythm that stretched the Pirates.
“I don’t like to talk about the experience level of our team, but I think that sometimes contributes to our lapses, for lack of a better word,” Elk Grove coach Dan Klaus said. “If you look at our results this season, except for our game with Conant, we’ve been competitive the whole season but that’s not good enough.
“Tonight we didn’t get forward enough.”
Grens’ keeper Rachel Kandefer played impressively, denying several point-blank balls from the Pirates. Palatine had much to like about its performance. Sustaining possession and holding the ball in the middle and final third were the strongest aspects.
“We want to keep going,” Mackenzie Filian said. “We always talk about not being soft and stuff and going at the ball in the air and inside the box and keeping the momentum and not just settling for the one-goal lead. If the other team gets a goal or we get down again, we have to get back into it. The quicker we can get goals and the more we can get the safer we are.”
If Palatine’s play did not always result in tangible benefits, like additional goals, the team at least prevented Elk Grove from mounting any consistent pressure of its own. Palatine dictated tempo and pace and forced Elk Grove into an essential defensive posture that put them continually on their heels. Elk Grove was the reacting side. For a team that already lacks a signature playmaker, that swung the game in the Pirates’ favor.
“We don’t have a really natural forward,” Klaus said. “Cassie [Slattery] is playing forward for us. She’s a really hard worker, but I don’t know that I’d call her a natural forward. We have a lot of midfielders and defenders, and we don’t have a natural forward. We need to spend more time deeper in the opponent’s third. Hopefully that’s part of our developmental process, us figuring out as a team how to get it done when you don’t have those one or two [players] to rely on to make things dangerous for an opponent.”
Ever the perfectionist, Palatine's coach saw much to be encouraged by, though he was frustrated by his team’s inability to finish more of its offensively dominant performance.
“It was a good two-minute stretch in that first half because we score twice,” Willie Filian said. “We had another two-, three- or four-minute stretches where we had them under a lot of pressure, and we couldn’t finish.
“Being the coach I’m not just happy with a two-minute stretch because it’s an 80-minute game. Even at the end of the first half after we scored twice it was frustrating because you naturally want more. At times we are really struggling at finding the back of the net. It was frustrating the whole second half watching time melt away and have one chance after chance and not doing anything with it.”
Palatine steps up into the big leagues when it begins play in the Naperville Invitational. The Pirates open with no. 1 Loyola in a 7 p.m. game Thursday at Barrington. Then the Pirates' extremely difficult group requires them to play no. 4 St. Charles East at 10 a.m. Saturday in Barrington.
Starting line-ups
Elk Grove
GK: Rachel Kandefer
D: Emma Simmons
D: Emma Slattery
D: Ally Czyzewski
MF: Kelly Walker
MF: Elizabeth McDaniel
MF: Zoe Blomquist
MF: Gabriella Mauro
MF: Bailey Smola
F: Cassie Slattery
F: Leila Aguilar
Palatine
GK: Francesca Falato
D: Samantha Malak
D: Cora Jacobsen
D: Kaitlyn Strauss
MF: Kacie Filian
MF: Anja Jacobsen
MF: Sarah Clancy
MF: Sarah Jasonowicz
MF: Mackenzie Filian
F: Kendall Kane
F: Marissa Glaviano
MVP of the Match: Anja Jacobsen, MF, Palatine
against Elk Grove
2 tallies in 2 minutes does the trick for Pirates
By Patrick Z. McGavin
PALATINE — Coming off a shutout loss, the first impulse of any team is to eviscerate the doubts and confusions. The worst outcome is to allow the negative consequences to linger and take hold. Fortunately with soccer, games are plentiful, and there is always another game.
Anja Jacobsen picked the right time to score her first goal of the year. She lifted her school.
Jacobsen finished an excellent run by drilling a one-touch left-footed ball off a cross from forward Kendall Kane that sparked a two-minute scoring flurry Palatine rode to the convincing 2-0 Mid-Suburban League victory over Elk Grove on Wednesday night.
The game was halted by weather with 3:02 remaining. The coaches and officials considered ending it there but agreed to wait it out. After a break the remainder of the game was finished.
Palatine soccer is very much a family affair with various sets of sisters, including the daughters of coach Willie Filian playing prominent roles. It all played out as the Pirates (5-3-3, 4-2-1) strung together a dominant sequence to seize control of the match.
Jacobsen, a sophomore midfielder, broke down the middle and caught Kane’s pass in perfect rhythm.
“This was something we worked on yesterday in practice, so it was great to be able to use in a game situation, something we practice,” she said.
“Basically it meant making a run and finishing with your left foot, get it across”
The goal was her first of the year for Jacobsen, who earned Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match recognition for her play.
The 1-0 loss to Conant on Friday was suddenly a distant memory. An opening goal will work wonders for that.
“It changed the momentum, because when we have the lead we are going at them more and putting more pressure on them,” Jacobsen said.
The goal motivated the Pirates to go for broke. Less than a minute later, off a play originated by Cora Jacobsen, the team’s corner specialist, Palatine struck again. Cora's first ball was returned to her, and she alertly redirected a second ball that midfielder Mackenzie Filian smashed in for the crucial follow-up goal.
“Cora was in good position to be there and get another good service in there,” Mackenzie Filian said. “We always talk about recycling our runs and not just giving up after the ball gets out of the box. I just looked to get it back after second ball [came] in.”
The damage was done. Elk Grove was staggered. Palatine dominated possession time, shots attempted, corners taken and the pace and tempo of play.
The Grenadiers' best scoring chance occurred early on a free kick from the left edge from 20 yards. Midfielder Gabriella Mauro put the ball on frame with excellent velocity. Palatine freshman keeper Francesca Falato was there for the stop.
Otherwise Elk Grove struggled to find any consistent rhythm that stretched the Pirates.
“I don’t like to talk about the experience level of our team, but I think that sometimes contributes to our lapses, for lack of a better word,” Elk Grove coach Dan Klaus said. “If you look at our results this season, except for our game with Conant, we’ve been competitive the whole season but that’s not good enough.
“Tonight we didn’t get forward enough.”
Grens’ keeper Rachel Kandefer played impressively, denying several point-blank balls from the Pirates. Palatine had much to like about its performance. Sustaining possession and holding the ball in the middle and final third were the strongest aspects.
“We want to keep going,” Mackenzie Filian said. “We always talk about not being soft and stuff and going at the ball in the air and inside the box and keeping the momentum and not just settling for the one-goal lead. If the other team gets a goal or we get down again, we have to get back into it. The quicker we can get goals and the more we can get the safer we are.”
If Palatine’s play did not always result in tangible benefits, like additional goals, the team at least prevented Elk Grove from mounting any consistent pressure of its own. Palatine dictated tempo and pace and forced Elk Grove into an essential defensive posture that put them continually on their heels. Elk Grove was the reacting side. For a team that already lacks a signature playmaker, that swung the game in the Pirates’ favor.
“We don’t have a really natural forward,” Klaus said. “Cassie [Slattery] is playing forward for us. She’s a really hard worker, but I don’t know that I’d call her a natural forward. We have a lot of midfielders and defenders, and we don’t have a natural forward. We need to spend more time deeper in the opponent’s third. Hopefully that’s part of our developmental process, us figuring out as a team how to get it done when you don’t have those one or two [players] to rely on to make things dangerous for an opponent.”
Ever the perfectionist, Palatine's coach saw much to be encouraged by, though he was frustrated by his team’s inability to finish more of its offensively dominant performance.
“It was a good two-minute stretch in that first half because we score twice,” Willie Filian said. “We had another two-, three- or four-minute stretches where we had them under a lot of pressure, and we couldn’t finish.
“Being the coach I’m not just happy with a two-minute stretch because it’s an 80-minute game. Even at the end of the first half after we scored twice it was frustrating because you naturally want more. At times we are really struggling at finding the back of the net. It was frustrating the whole second half watching time melt away and have one chance after chance and not doing anything with it.”
Palatine steps up into the big leagues when it begins play in the Naperville Invitational. The Pirates open with no. 1 Loyola in a 7 p.m. game Thursday at Barrington. Then the Pirates' extremely difficult group requires them to play no. 4 St. Charles East at 10 a.m. Saturday in Barrington.
Starting line-ups
Elk Grove
GK: Rachel Kandefer
D: Emma Simmons
D: Emma Slattery
D: Ally Czyzewski
MF: Kelly Walker
MF: Elizabeth McDaniel
MF: Zoe Blomquist
MF: Gabriella Mauro
MF: Bailey Smola
F: Cassie Slattery
F: Leila Aguilar
Palatine
GK: Francesca Falato
D: Samantha Malak
D: Cora Jacobsen
D: Kaitlyn Strauss
MF: Kacie Filian
MF: Anja Jacobsen
MF: Sarah Clancy
MF: Sarah Jasonowicz
MF: Mackenzie Filian
F: Kendall Kane
F: Marissa Glaviano
MVP of the Match: Anja Jacobsen, MF, Palatine