Bartlett's first half delivers
full 3 points vs. West Chicago
Hawks goals before break produce 3-1 win, 5-0-0 mark in U8
By Jared Birchfield
BARTLETT -- Scoring three goals in the first half, Bartlett got off to a fast start against West Chicago on Wednesday.
The Hawks then held off the re-energized Wildcats in the second half to earn a 3-1 Upstate Eight Conference win.
Bartlett (5-2-0, 5-0-0) wasted little time removing its zero on the scoreboard. Senior striker Serena Salvato found the back of the net in the third minute.
Freshman Lizzie Dzielski followed with her first goal of the season at the 17:56 mark and Salvato’s second tally in the 35th minute gave the Hawks the three-goal cushion at intermission.
West Chicago (1-3-3, 1-2-2) came out for the second half with purpose. Although the Wildcats were unable to completely close the gap, they prevented Bartlett from increasing its lead.
Last Saturday against Metea Valley, the Hawks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead but could not hold it. The Mustangs rallied for two scores in the second half for a 2-1 win.
“The fast start, we've done it before. We put away a goal in the first two to three minutes. We didn't get the result (we wanted) Saturday against Metea” said Bartlett coach Vince Revak. “It's really nice to get up with a little bit of cushion that early.
“That way the mistakes don't feel as detrimental to our game. That helped us today. I think we kind of rode on that momentum for most of the first half.”
“They came and quickly scored on us,” said West Chicago coach J. Cesar Gomez. “When the other team does that, they dictate the pace of the game, and Bartlett did that. We couldn't recover from it -- another easy goal and pretty soon the third goal. From three down, we have to go back to see, can we put up a fight in the second half?
“We told (the team), we needed to win the second half, and we were able to do that, just not surmount a 3-0 lead. We play differently in the second half. We were more focused and more aggressive.”
Bartlett’s scoring run started when Salvato finished a sequence started by Sabrina Fowler’s corner kick. West Chicago cleared Fowler’s send from the far corner, but Salvato recovered the ball and put it away.
The senior completed a Fowler throw for her brace. Salvato corralled the toss just outside the goal box and collected her fifth goal of the campaign. The shot just got past West Chicago goalie Ariana Hernandez.
Fowler believes the Hawks have jelled as a team.
“I think we're really playing well off of each other. I think the first few games that we've have really giving us the confidence to get moving, go off each other,” the senior defender said. “We are really becoming comfortable with each other, and we're figuring out how to do those through-balls. We're really working together as a team.”.
Fowler’s defensive play and two assists earned her the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor.
Sandwiched in between Salvato’s strikes was Dzielski’s score. The freshman emerged from traffic and from about 25 yard and took the goal-scoring shot.
West Chicago’s best scoring attempt in the first half came on Emily Ayala’s corner kick in the 30th minute. The senior midfielder’s delivery was headed away.
Ayala had better luck in the second half. In the third minute she finished a Daisy Garcia corner kick by heading it into the goal for her first tally of the season.
“I got a cross in from Daisy. She obviously had a great corner in,” Ayala said. “I just made sure that I was pressing very hard on the defenders.”
West Chicago’s coach had high praise for the senior.
“I thought Emily played well. She made soccer look easy today,” he said.
Gomez also commended the play of senior defender Irene Dino.
“Dino is just commanding the backline,” the coach said.
West Chicago’s aim in the second half was to take charge of the match.
“We needed to control certain things in the second half,” Gomez said. “We didn’t have to worry too much about what they did. We wanted to be more aggressive and at least bother them.
“They’re a good team. They can play over our head with their long passes. They have athletes,” Gomez said. “In the second half, we were able to shut them down and minimize the corner kicks against people who are good with corner kicks. They had several we had two.”
Ayala felt her squad met that task.
“I think we really turned it up in the second half. We knew that they had scored three goals the first half, and we didn't let them score a single one in the second half,” the senior said. “We came out with a lot more character and passion.”
The West Chicago coach felt Bartlett had a home field advantage – a grass pitch.
“For our movement, we wanted to access the ball on the ground. Grass is not our friend,” he said. “We're a turf people, but you have to stop, at some point, making the excuse we can't play on the grass.”
Bartlett needed more than halftime to regroup according to Revak.
“We came out a little flat in the second half, and West Chicago did a good job of capitalizing on that, coming in hot and put one back,” the Bartlett coach said. “We were able to recover from that and regain our composure a little bit.
“At the end of the game, strong minds are more important than legs, because that's how mistakes happen. We kind of minimized that for the most part.”
Trying to second guess his West Chicago opposite, Revak made some strategy chances for the last 40 minutes.
“In the second half we tried to possess a little bit more. We were playing a little bit too direct in the first half, which we had some success off of, but we figured the (West Chicago) coach at halftime would adjust,” said Revak. “We tried more combination plays. We found success with that too, but we couldn't finish all of our chances. We had a couple off the posts, but it turned out OK in the end.”
The Hawks coach also noted improved play in the center of the park.
“The girls are getting better in the middle; they're getting stronger. They are finally finding the gaps to pass in the passing lanes. and they're also trying to slow down the counterattacks as well,” Revak said. “(Sophomore) Brooke (Baumann) and (freshman) Laney (Stark) looked great. A lot of positive outlook for the future.”
Starting lineups
West Chicago
GK: Ariana Hernandez
D: Luciana Balzer
D: Isabella Lopez
D: Irene Dino
D: Joana Velazquez
M: Melissa Pani
M: Jenny Espinal
M: Emily Ayala
F: Jenna Zeitoun
F: Daisy Garcia
F: Ruby Lebo
Bartlett
GK: Caitlin Yurkovich
D: Madison Balgeman
D: Sabrina Fowler
D: Gracie Cwik
D: Madison Neer
M: Tessa Evans
M: Alexis DeRango
M: Laney Stark
M: Brooke Baumann
F: Lauren Kowalski
F: Serena Salvato
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Sabrina Fowler, jr., D, Bartlett
Scoring summary
First half
B: Salvato (Fowler) 3 minutes
B: Dzielski (Neer) 23 minutes
B: Salvato (Fowler) 35 minutes
Second half
WC: Ayala (Garcia) 43 minutes
full 3 points vs. West Chicago
Hawks goals before break produce 3-1 win, 5-0-0 mark in U8
By Jared Birchfield
BARTLETT -- Scoring three goals in the first half, Bartlett got off to a fast start against West Chicago on Wednesday.
The Hawks then held off the re-energized Wildcats in the second half to earn a 3-1 Upstate Eight Conference win.
Bartlett (5-2-0, 5-0-0) wasted little time removing its zero on the scoreboard. Senior striker Serena Salvato found the back of the net in the third minute.
Freshman Lizzie Dzielski followed with her first goal of the season at the 17:56 mark and Salvato’s second tally in the 35th minute gave the Hawks the three-goal cushion at intermission.
West Chicago (1-3-3, 1-2-2) came out for the second half with purpose. Although the Wildcats were unable to completely close the gap, they prevented Bartlett from increasing its lead.
Last Saturday against Metea Valley, the Hawks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead but could not hold it. The Mustangs rallied for two scores in the second half for a 2-1 win.
“The fast start, we've done it before. We put away a goal in the first two to three minutes. We didn't get the result (we wanted) Saturday against Metea” said Bartlett coach Vince Revak. “It's really nice to get up with a little bit of cushion that early.
“That way the mistakes don't feel as detrimental to our game. That helped us today. I think we kind of rode on that momentum for most of the first half.”
“They came and quickly scored on us,” said West Chicago coach J. Cesar Gomez. “When the other team does that, they dictate the pace of the game, and Bartlett did that. We couldn't recover from it -- another easy goal and pretty soon the third goal. From three down, we have to go back to see, can we put up a fight in the second half?
“We told (the team), we needed to win the second half, and we were able to do that, just not surmount a 3-0 lead. We play differently in the second half. We were more focused and more aggressive.”
Bartlett’s scoring run started when Salvato finished a sequence started by Sabrina Fowler’s corner kick. West Chicago cleared Fowler’s send from the far corner, but Salvato recovered the ball and put it away.
The senior completed a Fowler throw for her brace. Salvato corralled the toss just outside the goal box and collected her fifth goal of the campaign. The shot just got past West Chicago goalie Ariana Hernandez.
Fowler believes the Hawks have jelled as a team.
“I think we're really playing well off of each other. I think the first few games that we've have really giving us the confidence to get moving, go off each other,” the senior defender said. “We are really becoming comfortable with each other, and we're figuring out how to do those through-balls. We're really working together as a team.”.
Fowler’s defensive play and two assists earned her the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor.
Sandwiched in between Salvato’s strikes was Dzielski’s score. The freshman emerged from traffic and from about 25 yard and took the goal-scoring shot.
West Chicago’s best scoring attempt in the first half came on Emily Ayala’s corner kick in the 30th minute. The senior midfielder’s delivery was headed away.
Ayala had better luck in the second half. In the third minute she finished a Daisy Garcia corner kick by heading it into the goal for her first tally of the season.
“I got a cross in from Daisy. She obviously had a great corner in,” Ayala said. “I just made sure that I was pressing very hard on the defenders.”
West Chicago’s coach had high praise for the senior.
“I thought Emily played well. She made soccer look easy today,” he said.
Gomez also commended the play of senior defender Irene Dino.
“Dino is just commanding the backline,” the coach said.
West Chicago’s aim in the second half was to take charge of the match.
“We needed to control certain things in the second half,” Gomez said. “We didn’t have to worry too much about what they did. We wanted to be more aggressive and at least bother them.
“They’re a good team. They can play over our head with their long passes. They have athletes,” Gomez said. “In the second half, we were able to shut them down and minimize the corner kicks against people who are good with corner kicks. They had several we had two.”
Ayala felt her squad met that task.
“I think we really turned it up in the second half. We knew that they had scored three goals the first half, and we didn't let them score a single one in the second half,” the senior said. “We came out with a lot more character and passion.”
The West Chicago coach felt Bartlett had a home field advantage – a grass pitch.
“For our movement, we wanted to access the ball on the ground. Grass is not our friend,” he said. “We're a turf people, but you have to stop, at some point, making the excuse we can't play on the grass.”
Bartlett needed more than halftime to regroup according to Revak.
“We came out a little flat in the second half, and West Chicago did a good job of capitalizing on that, coming in hot and put one back,” the Bartlett coach said. “We were able to recover from that and regain our composure a little bit.
“At the end of the game, strong minds are more important than legs, because that's how mistakes happen. We kind of minimized that for the most part.”
Trying to second guess his West Chicago opposite, Revak made some strategy chances for the last 40 minutes.
“In the second half we tried to possess a little bit more. We were playing a little bit too direct in the first half, which we had some success off of, but we figured the (West Chicago) coach at halftime would adjust,” said Revak. “We tried more combination plays. We found success with that too, but we couldn't finish all of our chances. We had a couple off the posts, but it turned out OK in the end.”
The Hawks coach also noted improved play in the center of the park.
“The girls are getting better in the middle; they're getting stronger. They are finally finding the gaps to pass in the passing lanes. and they're also trying to slow down the counterattacks as well,” Revak said. “(Sophomore) Brooke (Baumann) and (freshman) Laney (Stark) looked great. A lot of positive outlook for the future.”
Starting lineups
West Chicago
GK: Ariana Hernandez
D: Luciana Balzer
D: Isabella Lopez
D: Irene Dino
D: Joana Velazquez
M: Melissa Pani
M: Jenny Espinal
M: Emily Ayala
F: Jenna Zeitoun
F: Daisy Garcia
F: Ruby Lebo
Bartlett
GK: Caitlin Yurkovich
D: Madison Balgeman
D: Sabrina Fowler
D: Gracie Cwik
D: Madison Neer
M: Tessa Evans
M: Alexis DeRango
M: Laney Stark
M: Brooke Baumann
F: Lauren Kowalski
F: Serena Salvato
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Sabrina Fowler, jr., D, Bartlett
Scoring summary
First half
B: Salvato (Fowler) 3 minutes
B: Dzielski (Neer) 23 minutes
B: Salvato (Fowler) 35 minutes
Second half
WC: Ayala (Garcia) 43 minutes