Evans double powers
Bartlett beyond Streamwood
Hawks win 1st Upstate 8 victory, Sabres drop 1st game of season
By Mike Garofola
STREAMWOOD -- Bartlett bounced back in a big way after its lopsided loss to second-ranked St. Charles East with a dominating performance on the road against Streamwood.
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match Tessa Evans delivered an inspired effort to help the Hawks claim a well-deserved 4-0 victory Wednesday afternoon at Millennium Field.
The junior bagged a first half double then helped her teammates put together 80 minutes of solid soccer on both sides of the park to grab their first Upstate Eight Conference win of the season and send the host Sabres away with their first loss of the 2021 campaign.
"Our effort against St. Charles East the other day was not very good," said Evans. “But I am really proud of the way we came out and played right from the start today, (put) that loss behind us with a total team effort.”
"This win today was exactly what our team needed after such a subpar performance against an extremely strong St. Charles East team," began Hawks manager Vince Revak.
"The girls were focused, which isn't always an easy thing to be after that tough of a loss."
Streamwood was brimming with confidence after two-straight victories in which they outscored their opponents 11-0. The Sabres (2-1-1, 0-1-1) looked to continue their early season success.
"Our/my expectations were to see our girls play at the level in which they have in our last two games," said Sabres manager Matt Polovin. “We came out a little flat, and perhaps a little overwhelmed by their physical play (which) frankly rattled a few of our players who showed they were not ready to make themselves (play) bigger in order to protect the ball and find support to play to.”
Revak laughed when asked to confirm his club was in a 4-5-1 formation, joking it's more like a 4-5-2-ish look. Whatever the Hawks called it, it worked.
The extra player in the middle of the field confounded the Sabres, who were unable to thread passes where gaps were quickly closed by the Hawks. More importantly, Streamwood failed to find its top scorer up-top, sophomore Natalia Colin, who entered thje contest with eight goals in her first three prep games including back-to-back hat-tricks.
"(Junior defender) Sabrina (Fowler) was a nightmare all throughout the day for no. 17 (Colin)," said Revak. “I would be hard pressed to remember a moment when she had more than just a few seconds on the ball without Sabrina there to pressure her.
"Sabrina is our primary center back, but she really took her assignment seriously today. She knew when to pressure and when to back off a little in order to contain."
"(Colin) is a great player and very dangerous when she has the ball,” Fowler said. “My job was to make it difficult for her to turn and go to goal. With the help of my teammates, I was able to do that."
With Evans and her midfield mates powering along with a work rate their counterparts were unable to match, Colin rarely saw the ball. When she did the sophomore had her back to goal and was never in full stride.
Winning the air and ground first- and second-ball battle is what set Evans apart from others on this day. When given the opportunity, the affable junior made sure to finish her chances. The first came five minutes into the contest.
That's when she was given enough time and space to tee-up a 25-yard attempt for the opener past Streamwood keeper Lily Ende after collecting a solid helper from Alexis DeRango.
With a roster standing at just 14 players, the Sabres could ill afford to lose one of their key players. Unfortunately, sophomore Emma Skrgic left the game in the ninth minute to further thin the Streamwood side.
"Losing Emma early was tough because she has been playing so well and was again doing so as our holding mid," said Polovin.
"It's difficult when you have (14) players and to lose such an important player, but the girls to their credit did not quit or slow down. That's something I was very happy with."
With Brooke Baumann, Serena Salvato, Laney Stark, DeRango and Evans at the controls, Bartlett (2-1-0, 2-0-0) outmatched its hosts in all departments.
Evans and Fowler feel it was the type of effort the Hawks are capable of every match.
"Our goal is to win the conference, and if we continue to work, and play the way we did today, we can reach that goal," offered Evans.
"That loss to St. Charles East kind of woke all of us up,” said Fowler. Today I feel like we played at a level that we all know we can play at."
With Bartlett in the lead 1-0, Streamwood’s terrific junior defender Esther Cardenas' made a quick and decisive decision to track and tackle Baumann, who was on the end of a defense-splitting early ball from Fowler in the 13th minute.
However, 12 minutes later the home side was unable to stop Evans, who powered home a header from in-close when she ran on to a Fowler helper.
"Tessa and I play together in club, so we have great chemistry with each other,” Fowler said. “We always seem to know where the other will be."
It became 3-0 five minutes before halftime when Baumann swept the ball into Salvato's path. From the far-right side, the senior forward curled the ball low with a magnificent strike to find the far inside netting past Ende.
"Baumann and Laney Stark, our outside mids, worked tirelessly on both sides of the ball today," said Revak. “They helped contribute to the attack with countless runs up and down the line.”
Polovin asked his club to erase the first half of play from their minds in advance of the second period. He moved Colin outside on the wing to try to stretch the Hawks defense and to create more space for the sophomore to roam. That allowed Diana Herrera and her midfield running mate Dayanara Huerta to be more involved. But the inability of the Sabres to control and possess dashed the hopes of a second half comeback.
"Bartlett was big, strong and quick to the ball, and we just did not possess and connect passes very well at all," said Herrera. “We didn't play quick enough to stay away from their pressure.”
Fowler kept alive a short clearing attempt in the Sabres end, and her hard work and persistence paid off for the visitors. The junior played a wonderful ball to the spot, where Stark steered in the fourth and final goal of the game at 59 minutes.
Hawks keeper Caitlin Yurkovich had a fairly easy time on Wednesday. She was called to action on a 35-yard free kick from Colin before coming far off her line to win a 50/50 race with Kristina Kellogg in the 67th minute.
"I could not have been more pleased with the effort from the girls today, especially against a Streamwood team that came in without a loss," said Revak.
"Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into our game next week (Wednesday) at Elgin."
For Polovin, the recovery from this loss must be quick. The Sabres next contest comes at 25th-ranked St. Francis (3-0-0) at 3 p.m. Saturday.
"I told the girls after the game that sometimes it's okay to get your butt kicked around a little bit," began Polovin. “I'd rather have a game and result like this early in the season, then a few days before our regional opener.
"This group works hard in training, and I know they learned something from today and will be ready for St. Francis on Saturday."
Starting lineups
Bartlett (4-5-1)
G- Caitlin Yurkovich
D- Madison Balgeman
D- Sabrina Fowler
D- Gracie Cwik
D- Madison Neer
M- Laney Stark
M- Tessa Evans
M- Serena Salvato
M- Alexis DeRango
M- Brooke Baumann
F- Lauren Kowalski
Streamwood (4-3-3)
G- Lily Ende
D- Karla Morales
D- Esther Cardenas
D- Emma Skrgic
D- Vanessa Colin
M- Daniela Sanchez
M- Dayanara Huerta
M- Diana Herrera
F- Madison Rivera
F- Kristina Kellogg
F- Natalia Colin
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Tessa Evans, jr., MF, Bartlett
Referee: Robert Fiorio
Scoring summary
First half
Bartlett: Evans (DeRango) 5'
Bartlett: Evans (Fowler) 25'
Bartlett: Salvato (Baumann) 35'
Second half
Bartlett: Stark (Fowler) 59'
Bartlett beyond Streamwood
Hawks win 1st Upstate 8 victory, Sabres drop 1st game of season
By Mike Garofola
STREAMWOOD -- Bartlett bounced back in a big way after its lopsided loss to second-ranked St. Charles East with a dominating performance on the road against Streamwood.
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match Tessa Evans delivered an inspired effort to help the Hawks claim a well-deserved 4-0 victory Wednesday afternoon at Millennium Field.
The junior bagged a first half double then helped her teammates put together 80 minutes of solid soccer on both sides of the park to grab their first Upstate Eight Conference win of the season and send the host Sabres away with their first loss of the 2021 campaign.
"Our effort against St. Charles East the other day was not very good," said Evans. “But I am really proud of the way we came out and played right from the start today, (put) that loss behind us with a total team effort.”
"This win today was exactly what our team needed after such a subpar performance against an extremely strong St. Charles East team," began Hawks manager Vince Revak.
"The girls were focused, which isn't always an easy thing to be after that tough of a loss."
Streamwood was brimming with confidence after two-straight victories in which they outscored their opponents 11-0. The Sabres (2-1-1, 0-1-1) looked to continue their early season success.
"Our/my expectations were to see our girls play at the level in which they have in our last two games," said Sabres manager Matt Polovin. “We came out a little flat, and perhaps a little overwhelmed by their physical play (which) frankly rattled a few of our players who showed they were not ready to make themselves (play) bigger in order to protect the ball and find support to play to.”
Revak laughed when asked to confirm his club was in a 4-5-1 formation, joking it's more like a 4-5-2-ish look. Whatever the Hawks called it, it worked.
The extra player in the middle of the field confounded the Sabres, who were unable to thread passes where gaps were quickly closed by the Hawks. More importantly, Streamwood failed to find its top scorer up-top, sophomore Natalia Colin, who entered thje contest with eight goals in her first three prep games including back-to-back hat-tricks.
"(Junior defender) Sabrina (Fowler) was a nightmare all throughout the day for no. 17 (Colin)," said Revak. “I would be hard pressed to remember a moment when she had more than just a few seconds on the ball without Sabrina there to pressure her.
"Sabrina is our primary center back, but she really took her assignment seriously today. She knew when to pressure and when to back off a little in order to contain."
"(Colin) is a great player and very dangerous when she has the ball,” Fowler said. “My job was to make it difficult for her to turn and go to goal. With the help of my teammates, I was able to do that."
With Evans and her midfield mates powering along with a work rate their counterparts were unable to match, Colin rarely saw the ball. When she did the sophomore had her back to goal and was never in full stride.
Winning the air and ground first- and second-ball battle is what set Evans apart from others on this day. When given the opportunity, the affable junior made sure to finish her chances. The first came five minutes into the contest.
That's when she was given enough time and space to tee-up a 25-yard attempt for the opener past Streamwood keeper Lily Ende after collecting a solid helper from Alexis DeRango.
With a roster standing at just 14 players, the Sabres could ill afford to lose one of their key players. Unfortunately, sophomore Emma Skrgic left the game in the ninth minute to further thin the Streamwood side.
"Losing Emma early was tough because she has been playing so well and was again doing so as our holding mid," said Polovin.
"It's difficult when you have (14) players and to lose such an important player, but the girls to their credit did not quit or slow down. That's something I was very happy with."
With Brooke Baumann, Serena Salvato, Laney Stark, DeRango and Evans at the controls, Bartlett (2-1-0, 2-0-0) outmatched its hosts in all departments.
Evans and Fowler feel it was the type of effort the Hawks are capable of every match.
"Our goal is to win the conference, and if we continue to work, and play the way we did today, we can reach that goal," offered Evans.
"That loss to St. Charles East kind of woke all of us up,” said Fowler. Today I feel like we played at a level that we all know we can play at."
With Bartlett in the lead 1-0, Streamwood’s terrific junior defender Esther Cardenas' made a quick and decisive decision to track and tackle Baumann, who was on the end of a defense-splitting early ball from Fowler in the 13th minute.
However, 12 minutes later the home side was unable to stop Evans, who powered home a header from in-close when she ran on to a Fowler helper.
"Tessa and I play together in club, so we have great chemistry with each other,” Fowler said. “We always seem to know where the other will be."
It became 3-0 five minutes before halftime when Baumann swept the ball into Salvato's path. From the far-right side, the senior forward curled the ball low with a magnificent strike to find the far inside netting past Ende.
"Baumann and Laney Stark, our outside mids, worked tirelessly on both sides of the ball today," said Revak. “They helped contribute to the attack with countless runs up and down the line.”
Polovin asked his club to erase the first half of play from their minds in advance of the second period. He moved Colin outside on the wing to try to stretch the Hawks defense and to create more space for the sophomore to roam. That allowed Diana Herrera and her midfield running mate Dayanara Huerta to be more involved. But the inability of the Sabres to control and possess dashed the hopes of a second half comeback.
"Bartlett was big, strong and quick to the ball, and we just did not possess and connect passes very well at all," said Herrera. “We didn't play quick enough to stay away from their pressure.”
Fowler kept alive a short clearing attempt in the Sabres end, and her hard work and persistence paid off for the visitors. The junior played a wonderful ball to the spot, where Stark steered in the fourth and final goal of the game at 59 minutes.
Hawks keeper Caitlin Yurkovich had a fairly easy time on Wednesday. She was called to action on a 35-yard free kick from Colin before coming far off her line to win a 50/50 race with Kristina Kellogg in the 67th minute.
"I could not have been more pleased with the effort from the girls today, especially against a Streamwood team that came in without a loss," said Revak.
"Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into our game next week (Wednesday) at Elgin."
For Polovin, the recovery from this loss must be quick. The Sabres next contest comes at 25th-ranked St. Francis (3-0-0) at 3 p.m. Saturday.
"I told the girls after the game that sometimes it's okay to get your butt kicked around a little bit," began Polovin. “I'd rather have a game and result like this early in the season, then a few days before our regional opener.
"This group works hard in training, and I know they learned something from today and will be ready for St. Francis on Saturday."
Starting lineups
Bartlett (4-5-1)
G- Caitlin Yurkovich
D- Madison Balgeman
D- Sabrina Fowler
D- Gracie Cwik
D- Madison Neer
M- Laney Stark
M- Tessa Evans
M- Serena Salvato
M- Alexis DeRango
M- Brooke Baumann
F- Lauren Kowalski
Streamwood (4-3-3)
G- Lily Ende
D- Karla Morales
D- Esther Cardenas
D- Emma Skrgic
D- Vanessa Colin
M- Daniela Sanchez
M- Dayanara Huerta
M- Diana Herrera
F- Madison Rivera
F- Kristina Kellogg
F- Natalia Colin
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Tessa Evans, jr., MF, Bartlett
Referee: Robert Fiorio
Scoring summary
First half
Bartlett: Evans (DeRango) 5'
Bartlett: Evans (Fowler) 25'
Bartlett: Salvato (Baumann) 35'
Second half
Bartlett: Stark (Fowler) 59'