HOFFMAN ESTATES -- With less than 16 minutes remaining Saturday at Conant, the Cougars were deadlocked in a scoreless battle with visiting Hoffman Estates.

The match was a tense, wide-open, action-packed up-and-down-the-field contest.

There were plenty of scoring opportunities, most of them generated by the home team.

The big reason that Hoffman Estates didn’t trail for most of the match was due to the extraordinary play of keeper Karla Castillo.

The freshman made five great saves to keep her squad in the game.

Both teams broke through in a wild and wooly final confrontation, that drove Conant to the victory in the Hoffman Estates Derby,

The Cougars scored twice in the span of two minutes and then held off a late charge from its guests to pull out a 2-1 Mid-Suburban League West Division victory Saturday afternoon.

Junior Brianna Serna, who assisted on the first Conant goal and scored the game-winner, earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor.

“At halftime we were kind of frustrated,” said Serna, “but that was exactly what we needed to get the energy up.”

The Cougars, who improved to 7-5-1 overall and 4-4-1 in the league table, won their second-straight game.

“I feel like we’re getting our momentum back, getting some wins before sectionals,” said Serna. “To get this energy today is really nice. Now we’ve got to keep on winning.”

Each team started the match in attack mode, but the brisk wind that blew through the stadium was at the back of Conant.

Hoffman Estates had the first good chance when Madison Garcia put a cross through to Erin Troyer in front of the net.

The pass, however, skipped past Troyer before she could settle it.

Then Conant controlled the ball and kept it in Hoffman Estates territory. Reese Staniak launched a shot from 30 yards that bounced off the crossbar.

Later in the opening half, Serna sent an attempt off the crossbar.

Conant kept pressing and only the brilliant play of Castillo kept the Cougars off the scoreboard.

Just before intermission, Castillo dove to the right of the net to knock away another try from Serna at point-blank range.

The teams went to halftime scoreless. Conant freshman forward Vivian Brand said that the talk during the break was all about strategy.

“Specific things,” said Brand, “like who to mark, where to go, and when to play through-balls. We (also talked about) playing the ball on the ground (due to the wind).”

Conant took the second half kickoff and drove straight down the field, but a shot attempt from Serna was kicked away by Hawks defender Emily O’Brien.

The Cougars had a great chance in the 50th minute when Staniak took a free kick and sent a shot right on net, but Castillo was johnny-on-the-spot to make her fifth save of the game.

Hoffman Estates, shortly thereafter, drove a free kick of their own toward the goal off the foot of Bella Wehrle, but Conant keeper Annabel Danso made the stop to maintain the stalemate.

Then in the 66th minute, Conant finally broke through.

Serna curled a long pass to Brand, who found open space on the right wing.

Brand circled and propelled a perfectly placed drive from 30 yards over the head of Castillo to make it 1-0 home team.

“I got the ball,” said Brand, “and I really didn’t know if there was an opening to shoot. But I turned and shot.

“When it went in, I felt like all the pressure was taken off.”

Serna indicated that it was serendipity that saw her send the pass to her freshman teammate.

“I was able to turn my defender,” said Serna, “and I saw Viv calling for the ball. Vivian got an amazing goal, it was pretty awesome.”

With 13:06 remaining in regulation, the Cougars took out an insurance policy that paid off.

Serna chased down a ball sent from Lily Maio, turned, and sent a long, high-arching shot toward the goal.

It found the left corner of the net, flying past the save attempt of Castillo.

“I just took a chance,” said Serna. “Like we say in all of our halftime talks, what we lack is shooting.

“We just have to take a shot whenever we have it. I had it, it went in, and I was so surprised I almost couldn’t believe it.”

At that point, it might have been easy for Hoffman Estates (0-10-1, 0-9-0) to shut down.

Instead, the Hawks fought back.

In the 77th minute, Hawks senior midfielder Mallory Anderson took possession of the ball at midfield and dribbled through traffic toward the Cougars goal.

She juked a defender and delivered a laser beam that found paydirt to close the gap to 2-1.

“It was tough when they (Conant) scored those two-consecutive goals,” said Anderson, “but we didn’t give up.

“It was nice to score one at the end. Maybe if we had a little more time, we could have gotten another one.”

Hawks coach Mary Dansdill wasn’t a bit surprised that Anderson came up with the clutch essay.

“She’s our playmaker,” said Dansdill. “In the middle of the field, she’s one of the best passers that I’ve ever seen.

“She makes incredible assists, but I’m really proud that she was able to take the shot herself and put it away with her left foot.”

With less than two minutes remaining, Hoffman Estates twice had chances to produce a tying goal.

With about a minute left, senior forward Natasha Navarro crossed the ball to forward Bella Chiovari, but she couldn’t get a shot off.

Then with just seconds remaining, the Hawks had a throw-in deep in Conant territory.

Wehrle was able to boot the ball to the front of the net but the horn sounded before any damage was done.

That gave the victory to the Cougars. Brand, who is a two-sport athlete (volleyball and soccer), credited the triumph to good work in practice.

“We’re playing more game-like conditions,” said the frosh, “and trying to focus more. As the season has gone on, our team chemistry is getting better, and we’re connecting."

Brand added that competing in volleyball in the fall helped ease her acclimation to high school and Cougars athletics.

"Since I've already done a sport, in my second sport it's a little bit easier," said the freshman. “I've learned to manage my time.

"All the girls on this team are really nice, and it's a fun community. Soccer is just a fun sport overall."

Hoffman Estates manager Dansdill was disappointed in the loss, but gave big-time credit to the ferocious effort of her team.

“I thought we played well and played hard,” said Dansdill.

“Conant had the better of the play in the first half, but we stuck together and didn’t let them score. That’s something we’ve struggled with all year.

“This is the first time we haven’t been down at the half since our first game of the season, so I’m really proud of the girls.

“We haven’t been able to string together 80 solid minutes, and unfortunately this game has kind of been the tale of our season.  We have little breakdowns in the second half, usually, and the other team capitalizes on them.

“But we have incredible fight, and our effort is always there, which is awesome. It’s nice to see these girls, especially our seniors, step up and not give up.

“They set a good example for our underclassmen, which I love.”

Starting lineups

Hoffman Estates
GK: Karla Castillo
D: Gwen Ridley
D: Emily O'Brien
D: Emmersen Lennert
D: Erin Troyer
M: Mallory Anderson
M: Katie Paszkiewicz
M: Madison Garcia
M: Izzy Troyer
M: Bella Wehrle
F: Natasha Navarro

Conant
GK: Annabel Danso
D: Anna Warbington
D: Reese Staniak
D: Gianna Richter
M: Megan Ferengul
M: Gabby Coyne
M: Avery Connelly
M: Brianna Serna
F: Olivia Hagler
F: Erin McDougall
F: Vivian Brand

Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Brianna Serna, jr., MF, Conant

Scoring summary

First half
No scoring

Second half
Conant: Brand (Serna, Olivia Hagler), 66'
Conant: Serna (Lilly Maio), 68'
HE: M. Anderson (unassisted), 78'