Prospect wins MSL opener
with convincing effort
Stokes rebound strike the difference
By Mike Garofola
ROLLING MEADOWS -- Shawna Stokes' first half strike just before the break proved enough to earn Prospect all three points over host Rolling Meadows at Robert Hoese Field in the Mid-Suburban League openers for both teams Friday.
The Lady Knights (2-1-0, 1-0-0) survived a late fightback from the home side to secure its 1-0 triumph, but for 78 minutes, the visitors were clearly the better side, not counting a pair of 20-minute delays during the early stages of the match when nasty weather roared through the area and sent players and fans alike heading for shelter.
"It took us awhile to find our game after sitting around for almost an hour, but it seemed just before our first goal, and (after) we gained a lot of confidence in our game, and got ourselves back to where we were playing before the Thor-Guard went off," said Prospect manager, Tom Froats, who was thrilled with the effort his club put forth from start to finish.
"We have a lot of young players up with us this spring, but we're an athletic bunch, and one that is a real joy to be around, and that makes coaching a lot of fun."
The visitors appeared to be on course to cruise to victory as they opened on their front feet with a couple of half chances, and plenty of meaningful soccer played in the first 10 minutes. But the momentum the knights built was put on hold when the winds picked up, the temperature dropped and rain, mixed with snow set off the warning alarm.
"We were doing everything real well (but finish) when we had to stop playing (and) that's too bad, because I think we were real close to putting one or two into the back of the net," opined Andi Marfilius, who would later be named the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match for her superb 80-minute effort on this day.
"We've had a nice start to the season, despite that 5-0 loss at New Trier last week (which) I thought we played well for the first 40 minutes against the state champs, and no. 1 team in the state (and country)."
Defender Grace Johannesen concurred.
"New Trier kind of wore us down in the second half with its pressure and possession, but we all learned a lot from that game," she said. "And I feel like we're improving each time out so far."
The junior, who along with her backline mates Marissa Valentini, Natalie Marfilius and Grace Taldone, made sure Meghan Ricketts had an easy time of it between the sticks to help the senior earn her clean-sheet.
This Lady Knights unit would concede a harmless first corner of the day to the Mustangs (1-2-0, 0-1-0) just after the half hour, and one-or-two harmless half-chances during the second period, until the home side found some life in a last gasp effort to draw even before time expired.
"Yeah, we showed a little something at the end (and) maybe if we played with that same energy, and determination all throughout it might have been different," said Rolling Meadows manager, Mike Drenth, who didn't sugar coat his post-match comments. "But let's face it, we were awful today, and some of that was on Prospect, but a lot of it was on us and the dreadful effort we had all afternoon.
"I don't know what the problem was today, but when those two weather delays came through, you kind of hope you (use) that time to regroup and start fresh. We didn't, and Prospect did, and after a brief time after that second Thor-Guard (Prospect) had a little trouble getting back into sync, but when they did, all we did was just defend and chase. It was ugly."
After a mundane start following the second of the two weather stoppages, the Lady Knights slowly began to find their form. Much of that was due to the high pressure and work rate from the aforementioned Andi Marfilius, and her freshmen running mate up top, Ella Marzolf, who both had far too much pace for the Mustangs, who struggled to keep the duo under wraps.
You could sense that a goal was on the way for the visitors as they continued to stay deep in the Mustangs end. And during the final minutes of the first half, after Stokes, then Marzolf tested keeper, Kesley Nallon, it was the all-action senior, Andi Marfilius who created the lone goal of the day with a wonderful ball to Ashley Welk inside the box.
The freshman watched her short-range drive saved with expert care by Nallon, but in doing so, the junior keeper allowed a rebound to spill free to the ever-present Stokes, who would not miss out on her chance to finish her first-timer.
"That was a bad (late) goal to give up, because you hope that somehow you get to the break at least level at 0-0," admitted Drenth.
"I could feel a goal coming for us, and it so big (because) you always want to be the one to score first. And it's even bigger right before the half," offered Andi Marfilius.
With only three minutes gone in the second period, the Lady Knights nearly doubled their advantage when a poor square ball was gobbled up by Marzolf to begin an enterprising run and carry up the left side. The rookie striker would touch past one marker, then get herself to the endline before turning, and firing wide of the back post.
This attempt would be the start of a quarter hour of dominate play by the visitors, which should have resulted in at least one or two more ending in the back of the net.
Marzolf, would trick her way free before forcing a save from Nallon and the sixth corner of the match for Prospect at 53 minutes. Moments later, on the tail-end of a nicely played exchange against the run of play by Andi Marfilius and Stokes, a returning pass nearly connected inside the box if not for a touch that failed to connect.
Fitzsimmons, Stokes, Marzolf, Amy Novak and Andi Marfilius would continue to rattle the hosts, and if not for some quality work from Nallon, and some sharper play with their finishing touches, the Lady Knights would surely have broken this match wide open, and avoided some nervous moments later on.
"You have to be encouraged with the chances we created today, and with the way we handled the wet conditions in the second half with some very nice possession and combination work," said Froats. "But of course, you'd like to see us finish some of those chances. When it's just a one-goal game, all sorts of things can happen during a frantic time like it was there at the end of the game."
Rolling Meadows came alive late thanks in large part to the inspiration of Madeline Rebsamen. The Mustangs attack surged forward in its attempt to equalize the score, and twice in the closing moments the speedy three-sport star found herself in close, and with a chance to dash the Lady Knights' hope for victory.
Rebasmen ran freely into the area, but was immediately surrounded by the visitors defense, who parried the ball out of the box. But moments later, after sent through by Natalie Anderson, Rebsamen was in a 50-50 opportunity with Meaghan Rickett, and, fortunately, for the Lady Knights and their fans, the senior, sensing the potential for danger, raced off her line without hesitation to beat her opponent to the ball to foil any late heroics.
"We kind of eased off there at the end, and that's not a good thing to do because we had played so well all throughout the game, and that would not have been a very good way to give up a goal," admitted Johannesen.
"We did a lot of things really well today, but we've got to work on our game management, which was evident in the way we handled things near the end," added Froats.
Prospect will have a good chance to add six points to its total this week when it travels to Schaumburg on Monday, before hosting division rival Elk Grove on Wednesday evening. Rolling Meadows welcomes Maine West on Tuesday afternoon in an annual nonconference match with the Warriors from the Central Suburban Conference.
Starting line-ups
Prospect
GK: Meghan Rickett
D: Marissa Valentini
D: Natalie Marfilius
D: Grace Johannesen
D: Grace Taldone
MF: Faith Fitzsimmons
MF: Amy Novak
MF: Shawna Stokes
MF: Kathryn Szukalla
F: Andi Marfilius
F: Ella Marzolf
Rolling Meadows
GK: Kelsey Nallon
D: Hannah Ungurean
D: Claire Preissing
D: Mary Donlan
D: Allie Ontaneda
MF: Kyra Spiwak
MF: Madeline Rebsamen
MF: Kat Perille
MF: Angela Tisman
F: Jenna Manos
F: Melissa Spiwak
MVP of the Match: Andi Marfilius, F, Prospect
with convincing effort
Stokes rebound strike the difference
By Mike Garofola
ROLLING MEADOWS -- Shawna Stokes' first half strike just before the break proved enough to earn Prospect all three points over host Rolling Meadows at Robert Hoese Field in the Mid-Suburban League openers for both teams Friday.
The Lady Knights (2-1-0, 1-0-0) survived a late fightback from the home side to secure its 1-0 triumph, but for 78 minutes, the visitors were clearly the better side, not counting a pair of 20-minute delays during the early stages of the match when nasty weather roared through the area and sent players and fans alike heading for shelter.
"It took us awhile to find our game after sitting around for almost an hour, but it seemed just before our first goal, and (after) we gained a lot of confidence in our game, and got ourselves back to where we were playing before the Thor-Guard went off," said Prospect manager, Tom Froats, who was thrilled with the effort his club put forth from start to finish.
"We have a lot of young players up with us this spring, but we're an athletic bunch, and one that is a real joy to be around, and that makes coaching a lot of fun."
The visitors appeared to be on course to cruise to victory as they opened on their front feet with a couple of half chances, and plenty of meaningful soccer played in the first 10 minutes. But the momentum the knights built was put on hold when the winds picked up, the temperature dropped and rain, mixed with snow set off the warning alarm.
"We were doing everything real well (but finish) when we had to stop playing (and) that's too bad, because I think we were real close to putting one or two into the back of the net," opined Andi Marfilius, who would later be named the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match for her superb 80-minute effort on this day.
"We've had a nice start to the season, despite that 5-0 loss at New Trier last week (which) I thought we played well for the first 40 minutes against the state champs, and no. 1 team in the state (and country)."
Defender Grace Johannesen concurred.
"New Trier kind of wore us down in the second half with its pressure and possession, but we all learned a lot from that game," she said. "And I feel like we're improving each time out so far."
The junior, who along with her backline mates Marissa Valentini, Natalie Marfilius and Grace Taldone, made sure Meghan Ricketts had an easy time of it between the sticks to help the senior earn her clean-sheet.
This Lady Knights unit would concede a harmless first corner of the day to the Mustangs (1-2-0, 0-1-0) just after the half hour, and one-or-two harmless half-chances during the second period, until the home side found some life in a last gasp effort to draw even before time expired.
"Yeah, we showed a little something at the end (and) maybe if we played with that same energy, and determination all throughout it might have been different," said Rolling Meadows manager, Mike Drenth, who didn't sugar coat his post-match comments. "But let's face it, we were awful today, and some of that was on Prospect, but a lot of it was on us and the dreadful effort we had all afternoon.
"I don't know what the problem was today, but when those two weather delays came through, you kind of hope you (use) that time to regroup and start fresh. We didn't, and Prospect did, and after a brief time after that second Thor-Guard (Prospect) had a little trouble getting back into sync, but when they did, all we did was just defend and chase. It was ugly."
After a mundane start following the second of the two weather stoppages, the Lady Knights slowly began to find their form. Much of that was due to the high pressure and work rate from the aforementioned Andi Marfilius, and her freshmen running mate up top, Ella Marzolf, who both had far too much pace for the Mustangs, who struggled to keep the duo under wraps.
You could sense that a goal was on the way for the visitors as they continued to stay deep in the Mustangs end. And during the final minutes of the first half, after Stokes, then Marzolf tested keeper, Kesley Nallon, it was the all-action senior, Andi Marfilius who created the lone goal of the day with a wonderful ball to Ashley Welk inside the box.
The freshman watched her short-range drive saved with expert care by Nallon, but in doing so, the junior keeper allowed a rebound to spill free to the ever-present Stokes, who would not miss out on her chance to finish her first-timer.
"That was a bad (late) goal to give up, because you hope that somehow you get to the break at least level at 0-0," admitted Drenth.
"I could feel a goal coming for us, and it so big (because) you always want to be the one to score first. And it's even bigger right before the half," offered Andi Marfilius.
With only three minutes gone in the second period, the Lady Knights nearly doubled their advantage when a poor square ball was gobbled up by Marzolf to begin an enterprising run and carry up the left side. The rookie striker would touch past one marker, then get herself to the endline before turning, and firing wide of the back post.
This attempt would be the start of a quarter hour of dominate play by the visitors, which should have resulted in at least one or two more ending in the back of the net.
Marzolf, would trick her way free before forcing a save from Nallon and the sixth corner of the match for Prospect at 53 minutes. Moments later, on the tail-end of a nicely played exchange against the run of play by Andi Marfilius and Stokes, a returning pass nearly connected inside the box if not for a touch that failed to connect.
Fitzsimmons, Stokes, Marzolf, Amy Novak and Andi Marfilius would continue to rattle the hosts, and if not for some quality work from Nallon, and some sharper play with their finishing touches, the Lady Knights would surely have broken this match wide open, and avoided some nervous moments later on.
"You have to be encouraged with the chances we created today, and with the way we handled the wet conditions in the second half with some very nice possession and combination work," said Froats. "But of course, you'd like to see us finish some of those chances. When it's just a one-goal game, all sorts of things can happen during a frantic time like it was there at the end of the game."
Rolling Meadows came alive late thanks in large part to the inspiration of Madeline Rebsamen. The Mustangs attack surged forward in its attempt to equalize the score, and twice in the closing moments the speedy three-sport star found herself in close, and with a chance to dash the Lady Knights' hope for victory.
Rebasmen ran freely into the area, but was immediately surrounded by the visitors defense, who parried the ball out of the box. But moments later, after sent through by Natalie Anderson, Rebsamen was in a 50-50 opportunity with Meaghan Rickett, and, fortunately, for the Lady Knights and their fans, the senior, sensing the potential for danger, raced off her line without hesitation to beat her opponent to the ball to foil any late heroics.
"We kind of eased off there at the end, and that's not a good thing to do because we had played so well all throughout the game, and that would not have been a very good way to give up a goal," admitted Johannesen.
"We did a lot of things really well today, but we've got to work on our game management, which was evident in the way we handled things near the end," added Froats.
Prospect will have a good chance to add six points to its total this week when it travels to Schaumburg on Monday, before hosting division rival Elk Grove on Wednesday evening. Rolling Meadows welcomes Maine West on Tuesday afternoon in an annual nonconference match with the Warriors from the Central Suburban Conference.
Starting line-ups
Prospect
GK: Meghan Rickett
D: Marissa Valentini
D: Natalie Marfilius
D: Grace Johannesen
D: Grace Taldone
MF: Faith Fitzsimmons
MF: Amy Novak
MF: Shawna Stokes
MF: Kathryn Szukalla
F: Andi Marfilius
F: Ella Marzolf
Rolling Meadows
GK: Kelsey Nallon
D: Hannah Ungurean
D: Claire Preissing
D: Mary Donlan
D: Allie Ontaneda
MF: Kyra Spiwak
MF: Madeline Rebsamen
MF: Kat Perille
MF: Angela Tisman
F: Jenna Manos
F: Melissa Spiwak
MVP of the Match: Andi Marfilius, F, Prospect
