Conant comeback stuns
Batavia in regional final
Mazurek hat trick erases 2-0 deficit, gains Hoffman Estates title
By Ken Keenan
HOFFMAN ESTATES -- Things were smoothly sailing along for Batavia in
the early going of the Hoffman Estates Regional final against Conant
Friday night. That ended when Cougars sophomore forward Emily Mazurek rocked the
boat with three goals that turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win.
"I didn't want this to be my last game with this team," said Mazurek,
who earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors. "Coming in, I
thought we were better than (Batavia), but we came off with a rough
start. Then, at 2-2, I could feel the adrenaline rushing through me.
We all started playing well -- we all wanted to win -- so we stepped
it up as a group."
Batavia, employing the same ball-control attack that powered
them to a 4-1 win over Glenbard North in the regional opener Tuesday night, grabbed a 1-0 lead 11:09 into the match. Taking a pass
from senior midfielder Alexis Bryl, junior forward Megan McEachern
sliced her way through two Conant defenders and beat senior goalkeeper
Haley Anderson low to the left side.
Six minutes later, McEachern beautifully dished to streaking senior
middie Karina Rosales, who took the feed in stride and finished with a
similar low blast from right to left.
That gave fifth-seeded Batavia a 2-0 lead, and plenty of momentum. But the tide
began to turn. After McEachern cleared a Conant throw-in, Cougars
junior midfielder Marisa Dizonno slipped a long ball past the
Bulldogs' defense, and Mazurek ran it down before tapping it into an
empty cage past charging Batavia sophomore keeper Jenny Scara with
10:53 to go in the first half.
Less than two minutes elapsed before Mazurek struck again. Gathering
in another long ball that eluded the Bulldogs' backline, Mazurek fired
a low rocket past Scara to knot the score at 2-2.
Playing with renewed zip in its step, fourth-seeded Conant took the lead with 2:16
left before the break. A steal by senior midfielder Leah Celarek
started the play, and Mazurek finished it by deking Scara out of
position and quickly snapping a shot into a wide-open net for a 3-2
halftime edge.
"Their first goal caught us off guard, and we didn't respond well
after that," said Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco, whose squad
finished the 2015 campaign with an excellent 14-4-4 mark. "I don't know ...
we had a good game plan, and executed pretty well. But we didn't play
a full 80 minutes. We got comfortable with the 2-0 lead, and we gave
'em some space. Those long balls -- they caught us on those, and they
scored -- and it counts on the scoreboard.
"We dominated the first 20 minutes, but we just couldn't get back on
(the Cougars) ... couldn't get that final ball in."
Bulldogs senior defender Kayla Stolfa, who handled the majority of her
team's throw-ins and joined the attack on occasion, said it was
difficult to bounce back after the seismic momentum shift.
"After the first (Conant) goal, our heads went down -- and after the
second one, we didn't pick it up," she said. "We just lost a little
bit of communication in the back, and we weren't winning balls out of
the air, either. It's disappointing. We were up 2-0, but we got too
confident, and it backfired on us."
Conant's keeper expected her team to fight back from the 2-0 hole.
"(That) made it a little harder for us. But this is a team, you can't count us out," Anderson said. "So we came back fighting, and we're gonna keep fighting until we have nothing left in us. We knew (the Bulldogs) would come out edgy and aggressive in the second half. But our whole team stepped up."
With their season on the line, no. 19 Batavia tried to push the pace in
the second half, but Conant's defense was up to the task. Busy senior
defender Katie Lomas cleared numerous balls out of danger, including a
handful via fearless headers in traffic.
"We started off slow -- at 2-0 it wasn't looking good," Lomas said.
"Once we got the first goal, it was very assuring. Then, the second
one, we knew we were back in it. (Batavia) had been possessing really
well in the beginning, but you could see the momentum change --
especially after the third goal."
Down the stretch, Batavia's chances to force overtime included: a
15-yard shot by Bryl that missed wide with 25:20 left; a short try by
Rosales that was blocked by Conant senior defender Katie Tokarz with
21:35 to go; a 30-yard Rosales rocket that Anderson snuffed with 19:45
showing; a one-timer on net by senior mid Olivia Callipari with 19:15
left; and an arcing shot by Rosales that missed the far post by inches
in the 77th minute.
"I credit the girls," said Conant coach Jason Franco, whose team takes
a 14-6-1 mark into a first-round sectional match against no. 4 St. Charles East at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Schaumburg High School. "After (Batavia's) goals, our
bench was still up and yelling -- and then we got the first one, which
was big, and then the second, and then it's a 3-2 lead. I was proud. Any comeback is a nice comeback, but at this point of the season ...
we just did a really good job."
Starting lineups
Batavia
G: Jenny Scara
D: Rachel Reiecke
D: Abby Wood
D: Kayla Stolfa
D: Alison Grimm
M: Olivia Callipari
M: Alexis Bryl
M: Keegan Maris
M: Karina Rosales
F: Megan McEachern
F: Mackenzie Foster
Conant
G: Haley Anderson
D: Katie Tokarz
D: Dhara Patel
D: Rachel Raymer
D: Katie Lomas
M: Leah Celarek
M: Elizabeth Dolce
M: Marisa Dizonno
F: Sidney O'Keefe
F: Zoe Shoro
F: Emily Mazurek
MVP of the Match: Emily Mazurek, F, Conant
Officials: Thomas Guidara, Victor Herrera, John Jakobze
Batavia in regional final
Mazurek hat trick erases 2-0 deficit, gains Hoffman Estates title
By Ken Keenan
HOFFMAN ESTATES -- Things were smoothly sailing along for Batavia in
the early going of the Hoffman Estates Regional final against Conant
Friday night. That ended when Cougars sophomore forward Emily Mazurek rocked the
boat with three goals that turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win.
"I didn't want this to be my last game with this team," said Mazurek,
who earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors. "Coming in, I
thought we were better than (Batavia), but we came off with a rough
start. Then, at 2-2, I could feel the adrenaline rushing through me.
We all started playing well -- we all wanted to win -- so we stepped
it up as a group."
Batavia, employing the same ball-control attack that powered
them to a 4-1 win over Glenbard North in the regional opener Tuesday night, grabbed a 1-0 lead 11:09 into the match. Taking a pass
from senior midfielder Alexis Bryl, junior forward Megan McEachern
sliced her way through two Conant defenders and beat senior goalkeeper
Haley Anderson low to the left side.
Six minutes later, McEachern beautifully dished to streaking senior
middie Karina Rosales, who took the feed in stride and finished with a
similar low blast from right to left.
That gave fifth-seeded Batavia a 2-0 lead, and plenty of momentum. But the tide
began to turn. After McEachern cleared a Conant throw-in, Cougars
junior midfielder Marisa Dizonno slipped a long ball past the
Bulldogs' defense, and Mazurek ran it down before tapping it into an
empty cage past charging Batavia sophomore keeper Jenny Scara with
10:53 to go in the first half.
Less than two minutes elapsed before Mazurek struck again. Gathering
in another long ball that eluded the Bulldogs' backline, Mazurek fired
a low rocket past Scara to knot the score at 2-2.
Playing with renewed zip in its step, fourth-seeded Conant took the lead with 2:16
left before the break. A steal by senior midfielder Leah Celarek
started the play, and Mazurek finished it by deking Scara out of
position and quickly snapping a shot into a wide-open net for a 3-2
halftime edge.
"Their first goal caught us off guard, and we didn't respond well
after that," said Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco, whose squad
finished the 2015 campaign with an excellent 14-4-4 mark. "I don't know ...
we had a good game plan, and executed pretty well. But we didn't play
a full 80 minutes. We got comfortable with the 2-0 lead, and we gave
'em some space. Those long balls -- they caught us on those, and they
scored -- and it counts on the scoreboard.
"We dominated the first 20 minutes, but we just couldn't get back on
(the Cougars) ... couldn't get that final ball in."
Bulldogs senior defender Kayla Stolfa, who handled the majority of her
team's throw-ins and joined the attack on occasion, said it was
difficult to bounce back after the seismic momentum shift.
"After the first (Conant) goal, our heads went down -- and after the
second one, we didn't pick it up," she said. "We just lost a little
bit of communication in the back, and we weren't winning balls out of
the air, either. It's disappointing. We were up 2-0, but we got too
confident, and it backfired on us."
Conant's keeper expected her team to fight back from the 2-0 hole.
"(That) made it a little harder for us. But this is a team, you can't count us out," Anderson said. "So we came back fighting, and we're gonna keep fighting until we have nothing left in us. We knew (the Bulldogs) would come out edgy and aggressive in the second half. But our whole team stepped up."
With their season on the line, no. 19 Batavia tried to push the pace in
the second half, but Conant's defense was up to the task. Busy senior
defender Katie Lomas cleared numerous balls out of danger, including a
handful via fearless headers in traffic.
"We started off slow -- at 2-0 it wasn't looking good," Lomas said.
"Once we got the first goal, it was very assuring. Then, the second
one, we knew we were back in it. (Batavia) had been possessing really
well in the beginning, but you could see the momentum change --
especially after the third goal."
Down the stretch, Batavia's chances to force overtime included: a
15-yard shot by Bryl that missed wide with 25:20 left; a short try by
Rosales that was blocked by Conant senior defender Katie Tokarz with
21:35 to go; a 30-yard Rosales rocket that Anderson snuffed with 19:45
showing; a one-timer on net by senior mid Olivia Callipari with 19:15
left; and an arcing shot by Rosales that missed the far post by inches
in the 77th minute.
"I credit the girls," said Conant coach Jason Franco, whose team takes
a 14-6-1 mark into a first-round sectional match against no. 4 St. Charles East at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Schaumburg High School. "After (Batavia's) goals, our
bench was still up and yelling -- and then we got the first one, which
was big, and then the second, and then it's a 3-2 lead. I was proud. Any comeback is a nice comeback, but at this point of the season ...
we just did a really good job."
Starting lineups
Batavia
G: Jenny Scara
D: Rachel Reiecke
D: Abby Wood
D: Kayla Stolfa
D: Alison Grimm
M: Olivia Callipari
M: Alexis Bryl
M: Keegan Maris
M: Karina Rosales
F: Megan McEachern
F: Mackenzie Foster
Conant
G: Haley Anderson
D: Katie Tokarz
D: Dhara Patel
D: Rachel Raymer
D: Katie Lomas
M: Leah Celarek
M: Elizabeth Dolce
M: Marisa Dizonno
F: Sidney O'Keefe
F: Zoe Shoro
F: Emily Mazurek
MVP of the Match: Emily Mazurek, F, Conant
Officials: Thomas Guidara, Victor Herrera, John Jakobze