Clancy fancies PKs,
leads Palatine past Hersey
Junior earns pair of early PKs that power 2-1 MSL win
By Ken Keenan
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS -- A rare pair of penalty kicks in the early going -- only 43 seconds apart -- paved the way to a 2-1 victory for Palatine over host Hersey in Mid-Suburban League action Tuesday night.
Junior midfielder Sarah Clancy earned each try after being fouled in the box. Clancy's first PK attempt was stopped with a kick save by stellar Huskies senior goalkeeper Andrea Canon, but Clancy pounced on the rebound and banged the ball in for a 1-0 lead with 22:44 to go in the first half.
Clancy, Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match, made it 2-0 with 22:01 showing when she beat Canon low-left after another Hersey foul in the box.
"Sarah (Clancy) does the gritty work," said Palatine head coach Willie Filian, whose squad improved to 3-2-1 overall and 2-0-0 in league play with the win. "She got fouled twice in the box, and she worked for that. She's a very crafty player."
Clancy said, "It was weird -- two PKs in a row. After I messed up the first one, I took the advice to go left."
Tenacious Hersey senior defender Erin Smetana said, "It was frustrating. Two (PKs) in one game is kind of a lot."
Aside from the PKs, Clancy was a force throughout the match, spearheading Palatine's inside-outside attack along with senior forward Alexis Ortega-Saa, senior midfielder Mackenzie Filian and junior mid Kacie Filian. The Pirates adeptly sent balls to the flanks in the attacking third, and held possession before switching back to the middle to create scoring chances.
"Our goal is to find corner flags and go wide," Kacie Filian said. "The first look is to the outside."
Coach Filian said the strategy was more the result of Hersey's defensive posture than an Xs and Os approach.
"It's nothing designed," he said. "We tried to get the ball to outside midfielders because Hersey can condense the middle. So we were looking to get the ball out wide. It looked pretty, but it was unproductive. I'm all about possessing the ball, but you have to make something out of it."
Hersey skipper Darren Llewellyn said, "We played their game. We didn't pressure at all. We didn't make connecting passes, and it became repetitive. We stood and watched, like we were being intimidated.
"We just fell into their game. They sent the ball to the side and then looked for shots. They did it well and pinned us in."
Canon, as well as freshman keeper Claire Stollfus, who manned the pipes in the second half, had a lot to do with keeping the Pirates off the scoreboard during 11-on-11 play.
The starting keeper robbed Pirates' senior defender Carolyn Soukop on the doorstep in the 15th minute, and then made a solid stop on a hard, 15-yard shot by Ortega-Saa two minutes later.
"Andrea (Canon) was solid," Llewellyn said. "But that was the result of our lackadaisical attitude ... our complacency. We left (Palatine) wide open."
Holding the 2-0 lead, Palatine missed another good opportunity when Mackenzie Filian headed a ball off the crossbar with 6:25 left in the first half. In the 38th minute, Smetana blocked a sharp strike by Mackenize Filian, and Clancy nipped the bar with a 30-yard rocket 40 seconds later.
Forty seconds into the second half, Stollfus dived to the left post to spoil a left-footed try by Clancy.
The Huskies made a game of it less than a minute later. Freshman forward Chloe Sena settled a pass from senior defender Allison Busby on the right side and sent a well-placed cross to senior forward Claire Callahan, who beat Pirates' freshman keeper Francesca Falato from the left side to cut the margin in half.
"That was uplifting," Stollfus said. "We felt we could have tied it after that."
Added Smetana: "We had some more chances, but we weren't getting it up to the forwards' feet."
Meanwhile, Palatine quickly returned to its possession game, creating a slew of opportunities in the process.
"After Hersey scored, we kinda woke up and regained momentum," Kacie Filian said.
Added Clancy: "We said, we've got to keep being aggressive and finish our chances."
With 35:60 remaining in the second session, Clancy cut to the middle and ripped a 20-yard shot that Stollfus stopped. Ortega-Saa turned and fired wide right from 15 yards in the 50th minute, and Stollfus snuffed a strong turnaround try by Clancy in close with 27:35 to go.
"I felt like we were in their half most of the time," Ortega-Saa said. "We wanted to win."
Stollfus also saved a short shot by Palatine senior forward Kendall Kane in the 66th minute.
"I don't think we stepped up completely tonight," Smetana said. "We didn't want (Palatine) to cross it back in from the side, but they did."
The Huskies fell to 1-2-2, 1-1-1 with the loss.
Llewellyn said: "I didn't want to lose this game. But it's got to be a learning experience. The potential is there. We just need to get it together."
Starting lineups:
Palatine
G: Amaya Rivera
D: Carolyn Soukop
D: Samantha Malak
D: Melanie Simon
M: Kacie Fillian
M: Mackenzie Fillian
M: Anja Jacobsen
M: Sarah Clancy
M: Sarah Jasonowicz
F: Alexis Ortega-Saa
F: Marissa Glaviano
Hersey
G: Andrea Canon
D: Claire Magnuson
D: Erin Smetana
D: Allison Busby
M: Erin Redding
M: Jenna Hill
M: Grace Kozurek
M: Laura Burckhardt
M: Emma Wilson
F: Chloe Sena
F: Claire Callahan
Chciagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Sarah Clancy, jr., MF, Palatine
Officials: Eduard Braun, Vitali Hantsevich, Jason Haggard
leads Palatine past Hersey
Junior earns pair of early PKs that power 2-1 MSL win
By Ken Keenan
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS -- A rare pair of penalty kicks in the early going -- only 43 seconds apart -- paved the way to a 2-1 victory for Palatine over host Hersey in Mid-Suburban League action Tuesday night.
Junior midfielder Sarah Clancy earned each try after being fouled in the box. Clancy's first PK attempt was stopped with a kick save by stellar Huskies senior goalkeeper Andrea Canon, but Clancy pounced on the rebound and banged the ball in for a 1-0 lead with 22:44 to go in the first half.
Clancy, Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match, made it 2-0 with 22:01 showing when she beat Canon low-left after another Hersey foul in the box.
"Sarah (Clancy) does the gritty work," said Palatine head coach Willie Filian, whose squad improved to 3-2-1 overall and 2-0-0 in league play with the win. "She got fouled twice in the box, and she worked for that. She's a very crafty player."
Clancy said, "It was weird -- two PKs in a row. After I messed up the first one, I took the advice to go left."
Tenacious Hersey senior defender Erin Smetana said, "It was frustrating. Two (PKs) in one game is kind of a lot."
Aside from the PKs, Clancy was a force throughout the match, spearheading Palatine's inside-outside attack along with senior forward Alexis Ortega-Saa, senior midfielder Mackenzie Filian and junior mid Kacie Filian. The Pirates adeptly sent balls to the flanks in the attacking third, and held possession before switching back to the middle to create scoring chances.
"Our goal is to find corner flags and go wide," Kacie Filian said. "The first look is to the outside."
Coach Filian said the strategy was more the result of Hersey's defensive posture than an Xs and Os approach.
"It's nothing designed," he said. "We tried to get the ball to outside midfielders because Hersey can condense the middle. So we were looking to get the ball out wide. It looked pretty, but it was unproductive. I'm all about possessing the ball, but you have to make something out of it."
Hersey skipper Darren Llewellyn said, "We played their game. We didn't pressure at all. We didn't make connecting passes, and it became repetitive. We stood and watched, like we were being intimidated.
"We just fell into their game. They sent the ball to the side and then looked for shots. They did it well and pinned us in."
Canon, as well as freshman keeper Claire Stollfus, who manned the pipes in the second half, had a lot to do with keeping the Pirates off the scoreboard during 11-on-11 play.
The starting keeper robbed Pirates' senior defender Carolyn Soukop on the doorstep in the 15th minute, and then made a solid stop on a hard, 15-yard shot by Ortega-Saa two minutes later.
"Andrea (Canon) was solid," Llewellyn said. "But that was the result of our lackadaisical attitude ... our complacency. We left (Palatine) wide open."
Holding the 2-0 lead, Palatine missed another good opportunity when Mackenzie Filian headed a ball off the crossbar with 6:25 left in the first half. In the 38th minute, Smetana blocked a sharp strike by Mackenize Filian, and Clancy nipped the bar with a 30-yard rocket 40 seconds later.
Forty seconds into the second half, Stollfus dived to the left post to spoil a left-footed try by Clancy.
The Huskies made a game of it less than a minute later. Freshman forward Chloe Sena settled a pass from senior defender Allison Busby on the right side and sent a well-placed cross to senior forward Claire Callahan, who beat Pirates' freshman keeper Francesca Falato from the left side to cut the margin in half.
"That was uplifting," Stollfus said. "We felt we could have tied it after that."
Added Smetana: "We had some more chances, but we weren't getting it up to the forwards' feet."
Meanwhile, Palatine quickly returned to its possession game, creating a slew of opportunities in the process.
"After Hersey scored, we kinda woke up and regained momentum," Kacie Filian said.
Added Clancy: "We said, we've got to keep being aggressive and finish our chances."
With 35:60 remaining in the second session, Clancy cut to the middle and ripped a 20-yard shot that Stollfus stopped. Ortega-Saa turned and fired wide right from 15 yards in the 50th minute, and Stollfus snuffed a strong turnaround try by Clancy in close with 27:35 to go.
"I felt like we were in their half most of the time," Ortega-Saa said. "We wanted to win."
Stollfus also saved a short shot by Palatine senior forward Kendall Kane in the 66th minute.
"I don't think we stepped up completely tonight," Smetana said. "We didn't want (Palatine) to cross it back in from the side, but they did."
The Huskies fell to 1-2-2, 1-1-1 with the loss.
Llewellyn said: "I didn't want to lose this game. But it's got to be a learning experience. The potential is there. We just need to get it together."
Starting lineups:
Palatine
G: Amaya Rivera
D: Carolyn Soukop
D: Samantha Malak
D: Melanie Simon
M: Kacie Fillian
M: Mackenzie Fillian
M: Anja Jacobsen
M: Sarah Clancy
M: Sarah Jasonowicz
F: Alexis Ortega-Saa
F: Marissa Glaviano
Hersey
G: Andrea Canon
D: Claire Magnuson
D: Erin Smetana
D: Allison Busby
M: Erin Redding
M: Jenna Hill
M: Grace Kozurek
M: Laura Burckhardt
M: Emma Wilson
F: Chloe Sena
F: Claire Callahan
Chciagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Sarah Clancy, jr., MF, Palatine
Officials: Eduard Braun, Vitali Hantsevich, Jason Haggard