BARTLETT – With both teams sporting mirrored Upstate Eight Conference records, South Elgin and Bartlett looked to Thursday’s Thunderhawk Cup showdown to break the first place tie.

But after a hard-fought battle that triggered six yellow cards, the teams still shared the top spot after a 0-0 draw.

Since league rules don’t require overtime or a shootout, the squads gathered for post-match PKs to determine who took home the traveling trophy. Bartlett, winners of the last three cup matches, kept possession by a 5-3 count.

Mother Nature emphasized the thunder half of the Cup match. Her light show, highlighted against a panorama of dark clouds, appeared on the horizon but did not come close enough to suspend the match.

Both Bartlett coach Vince Revak and South Elgin coach Jerzy Skowron agreed the contest seemed split into halves. Skowron’s Storm (13-6-2, 6-0-2) took over in the second half, after Revak’s Hawks dominated the first 40 minutes.

“Adrenaline was high on both sides. You could tell,” Revak said. “That, and playing narrow on our field that was a little wet, kind of made things a little ugly at times.” 

A thunderstorm that suspended the earlier sophomore match made the grass pitch slippery.

“The good news was the battle was always there. I feel like it was a tale of two halves,” Revak continued. “During the majority of the first half, we got the better chances. Then South Elgin flipped the script. Both of us did a really nice job of keeping each other off the board.”

Skowron agreed.

“We allowed Bartlett to kind of dictate the way the game was going to be played in the first half. After a little bit of scolding at halftime, I think we flipped it on them,” said the Storm coach. “We regrouped in that second half, and we had the majority of the chances. I don’t know if Jersie (Speidel) had any save where she had to move.”

Speidel took over for starting goalkeeper Lilly Rodriguez (four saves) after half time.

The yellow cards showed the teams’ shared intensity.

‘Both teams were working really hard and were both being super physical. Six yellow cards in one game is kind of crazy,” said South Elgin’s Cami Stokes. “But I think that on both sides, everybody tried super hard. We all put everything in for all 80 minutes, and I’m just really proud of both teams.”

Bartlett (10-4-3, 6-0-2) had four free kicks during the first 20 minutes of play. The Hawks best chance came after the first yellow card in the ninth minute. Grace Cwik’s free kick from just out of the penalty box went just over the goal. Rodriguez made her first save a minute later on a Cwik free kick from midfield.

Christina Slovik came the closest to putting South Elgin on the board during the first 40 minutes. In the fourth minute, her blast from the left corner of the box landed on top of the goal netting. A few minutes later, the freshman was injured and left the match.

“Once we lost Christina in that first half, I think that kind of changed the tide,” Skowron said.

A relative newcomer led Bartlett’s attack.

“Amelia Medvid, a freshman, got a majority of our good chances tonight,” noted Revak.

The striker saw the result differently.

“It was a really tough game,” said Medivid, one of four Chicagoland Soccer MVPs of the Match. “But it didn’t feel like a 0-0 tie, it felt like a win,” 

South Elgin executed seven free kicks and four corner kicks in the second half but was unable to finish an attack. Avianna Hernandez’s 55th-minute free kick from the box’s edge aimed at the left upper-90 of the goal was the Storm’s best chance of breaking the scoreless deadlock. Hawks keeper Megan Kron (nine saves), also an MVP of the Match, jumped up and deflected the shot.

“We forced Bartlett to make more mistakes (in the second half). We weren’t sitting back and waiting for them to come at us,” the South Elgin manager said. “A little bit of a formation change threw them off. We went to a 4-4-2 in that second half, and I think it kind of opened things up for us a little bit.”

Bartlett has blanked its opponents so many times, Revak has lost count.

“I’d have to look to see how many in a row, but I believe this might be our eighth shutout in a row. The defense did a wonderful job by keeping them off the board and limiting their dangerous changes,” the Bartlett manager said. 

“They have a lot of speed and skill up-top. South Elgin got loose a couple times. There was a really good recovery by Megan on one of the breakaways.”

For the record, the Hawks defense has shut down its opponent offenses for nine-straight matches.

Skowron conceded that his squad came up against a formidable foe in Kron.

“Megan did a fantastic job. She is probably the best keeper in the conference,” he said.

Kron, who scored the winning strike in the Thunderhawk Cup shootout, gave credit to her backline.

“I feel like my defense and my team really helped me out of by making South Elgin take less shots,” said the junior. “But I think overall, their shooting right at me helped.”

Skowron named two Storm MVPs of the match.

“I’d say Avi (Hernandez) for the way she controlled the offensive side of the ball and Cami (Stokes). I think Cami did a fantastic job as center mid,” he said.

The Upstate Eight Conference title will now be decided on the last day of league matches Tuesday. South Elgin travels to Streamwood while Glenbard East hosts Bartlett. The Storm will need an assist to repeat as sole winner of the conference crown. Bartlett has the tougher task against the third place Rams.

“The goal tonight was to get a result here so we can have a chance to defend our conference title,” Skowron said. “We need a little help from Glenbard East, and then we need to take care of business against Streamwood on Tuesday,” Skowron said. “Hopefully I’ve been nice to (Glenbard East coach) Athena (Toliopoulos), and she does us a little favor on Tuesday.”

Starting lineups

South Elgin
GK: Lilly Rodriguez
D: Mia Traver
D: Riley Goetz
D: Laura Garcia
D: Ellie Vidic
MF: Cami Stokes
MF: Avianna Hernandez
MF: Adeline Kinsella
F: Christina Slovik
F: Lucy Tomasi
F: Nevaeh Gyurko

Bartlett
GK: Megan Kron
D: Macy Medendorp
D: Aris Kroeger
D: Breanna Baumann
D: Emily Kopanicak
MF: Anais Vasquez
MF: Grace Cwik
MF: Mia Lamz
MF: Amelia Medvid
F: Grace Johnson
F: Viviana Alba

Chicagoland Soccer MVPs of the Match: Megan Kron, jr., GK Bartlett; Amelia Medvid, f., F, Bartlett; Cami Stokes, sr., MF, South Elgin; Avianna Hernandez, so., MF, South Elgin

Scoring summary

First half
No scoring

Second half
No scoring