Bruce, Reinke captain
St. Francis to win over Rosary
Spartans capture 1st victory of season in 3-1 conference tilt
By Matt Le Cren
WHEATON -- St. Francis midfielder Claire Reinke couldn’t recall just how many defenders she dribbled past during an amazing 35-yard run Thursday.
“I don’t know,” Reinke said. “I’m going to have to look through the film on that one.”
That’s a film Reinke is going to want to keep. The senior midfielder scored a highlight reel goal on the play in question, and it ended up being the game-winner as the Spartans knocked off Rosary 3-1 in a Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division match.
It was the first win of the season for St. Francis (1-2-1, 1-1-0), which faces a grueling schedule ahead at the 4th annual Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic, where it will face Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 Class 3A powers no. 1 Libertyville, no. 4 Naperville North and no. 8 Evanston.
“That was a huge win for us because I think it’s going to set the tone for the rest of the season,” Reinke said. “I feel like none of us are really used to playing with each other, so we can only go up from here.
“If we know that we’re capable of winning, then we’re actually going to play to our best ability.”
Reinke certainly did that on her goal, which came with 5:12 remaining in the first half. She got the ball in the midfield and proceeded to run through the rain, weaving through at least four defenders before beating onrushing Rosary goalkeeper Ellie Baum with a 12-yard roller inside the left post.
That gave the Spartans, who had scored only one goal in their first three matches, a 2-0 cushion.
“I kind of got through the first two girls and then there was a couple others there, so I was like, why not just keep going,” Reinke said. “Before I knew it, I was already at the goalie, so I just tried to slide it right by her.”
The Spartans had struck first 15 minutes earlier on a picture-perfect goal. Junior Ada Suriano raced into the right corner and crossed in front to sophomore forward Ella Wozniak for a one-timer into the lower left corner.
The two-goal advantage was a new experience for the Spartans, who have struggled with injuries and inexperience in the early going.
“I think that really helped us, because we’re such a young team and we haven’t really been up a lot this season,” Reinke said. “So that was a big confidence-booster, and I felt it helped us lift our heads up and finish the game off strong.”
But it wasn’t easy. Baum made four saves to keep the Royals (5-3-1, 1-1-0) in contention. Macey DeMoss bagged her 20th goal of the season to pull the visitors within 2-1 at the 17:59 left in the second half.
DeMoss had several earlier near-misses. The junior striker saw a 25-yard shot hit the crossbar just 18 seconds after halftime.
St. Francis’ 5-foot-2 freshman goalkeeper Kennedy Karl make five saves, including a couple of leaping ones on DeMoss.
Karl jumped and got both hands on the shot that ended up being Rosary’s only goal, but couldn’t keep it from dribbling into the net.
Karl wasn’t expected to see varsity action this season but was pressed into service after junior starter Hannah Blaha suffered a torn ACL in February. The Spartans also are without sophomore forward Paige Chrustowski, projected to be one of the team’s top attackers, and they lost sophomore midfielder Sophia Roszkowski to a concussion in this game. Junior defender Ella Schroeder also had to leave the game in the second half with an injury.
“Last year we didn’t have a single injury, and this year the gods are paying us back,” St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said. “We lost our no. 1 keeper, and Kennedy has done a nice job, but she’s young.
“This season is going to be a grind.”
The Spartans will toil with a roster that includes eight freshmen and eight sophomores. The starting lineup against Rosary included freshmen Karl, Alyssa Suriano and Ella Wainscott and sophomores Roszkowski, Shannon Brown and Ellie Bielenda.
“I knew I’d be young this season,” Winslow said. “I just didn’t know I’d be this young.
“They can play, but they’re put in a tough situation. We were young last season but we had six or seven seniors. This year there is just three seniors, and they’re just trying to manage their way through it.”
Reinke and fellow seniors Lauren Bruce and Sara Dziengel are serving as captains.
“They are great kids, they’re super bright kids,” Winslow said. “Those guys are trying to grow into being captains, and it’s not an easy thing to do on the run in a weird year.
“So, we’re going to take it on the chin some games.”
This game wasn’t one of them. Bruce said that was thanks to some steady improvement at practice.
“We’re a very young team, but we’ve gotten so much better throughout practices and our games. I think it was our aggression,” Bruce said. “Our defenders really stepped it up.
“Ella Wainscott did very good in the back, and I was just really proud of our team. We kept pushing the entire time instead of just giving up. If we lost the ball, we kept going, which helped us get the win.”
Bruce sealed the victory when she scored with 55 seconds remaining. She ran onto a brilliant diagonal ball from freshman Claire Andrzejewski, cut into the top right corner of the box and beat the onrushing Baum with a shot from a severe angle that tucked inside the far post.
It was Bruce’s first goal of the season.
“That was a great ball (from Andrezejewski),” Bruce said. “(Scoring) was a relief because I was like, ‘Oh, we’re up 2 now.’
“I thought it was going to go out the way it curved, but it was a really good ball so I’m glad that it went in.”
While Winslow said the Spartans could have made the game easier had they converted a few more of their chances in the first half, he and the players know there are few easy wins on this year’s schedule. But that’s fine with Bruce.
“I think once we start jelling with each other we can be a very good team towards the end of the season,” Bruce said. “We’ve already gotten better.
“We’ve seen a major difference within our team, so I think we’re going to be very good towards the middle and end of the season.”
Starting lineups
Rosary
GK Ellie Baum
D Alex Kackert
D Alaina Ferraro
D Grace Stumm
D Mia Zink
M Kaitlin Smith
M Abby Cibulskis
M Megan Molenhouse
M Tiller Karner
F Macey DeMoss
F Izzy Lagman
St. Francis
GK Kennedy Karl
D Alyssa Suriano
D Ella Wainscott
D Ada Suriano
D Ella Schroeder
M Shannon Brown
M Claire Reinke
M Sara Dziengel
M Sophia Roszkowski
F Ellie Bielenda
F Lauren Bruce
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Claire Reinke, sr., MF, St. Francis.
Scoring summary
First half
St. Francis - Ella Wozniak (Ada Suriano) 20:39 remaining
St. Francis – Claire Reinke 5:12 remaining
Second half
Rosary – Macey DeMoss 17:59 remaining
St. Francis – Lauren Bruce (Claire Andrzejewski) :55 remaining
St. Francis to win over Rosary
Spartans capture 1st victory of season in 3-1 conference tilt
By Matt Le Cren
WHEATON -- St. Francis midfielder Claire Reinke couldn’t recall just how many defenders she dribbled past during an amazing 35-yard run Thursday.
“I don’t know,” Reinke said. “I’m going to have to look through the film on that one.”
That’s a film Reinke is going to want to keep. The senior midfielder scored a highlight reel goal on the play in question, and it ended up being the game-winner as the Spartans knocked off Rosary 3-1 in a Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division match.
It was the first win of the season for St. Francis (1-2-1, 1-1-0), which faces a grueling schedule ahead at the 4th annual Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic, where it will face Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 Class 3A powers no. 1 Libertyville, no. 4 Naperville North and no. 8 Evanston.
“That was a huge win for us because I think it’s going to set the tone for the rest of the season,” Reinke said. “I feel like none of us are really used to playing with each other, so we can only go up from here.
“If we know that we’re capable of winning, then we’re actually going to play to our best ability.”
Reinke certainly did that on her goal, which came with 5:12 remaining in the first half. She got the ball in the midfield and proceeded to run through the rain, weaving through at least four defenders before beating onrushing Rosary goalkeeper Ellie Baum with a 12-yard roller inside the left post.
That gave the Spartans, who had scored only one goal in their first three matches, a 2-0 cushion.
“I kind of got through the first two girls and then there was a couple others there, so I was like, why not just keep going,” Reinke said. “Before I knew it, I was already at the goalie, so I just tried to slide it right by her.”
The Spartans had struck first 15 minutes earlier on a picture-perfect goal. Junior Ada Suriano raced into the right corner and crossed in front to sophomore forward Ella Wozniak for a one-timer into the lower left corner.
The two-goal advantage was a new experience for the Spartans, who have struggled with injuries and inexperience in the early going.
“I think that really helped us, because we’re such a young team and we haven’t really been up a lot this season,” Reinke said. “So that was a big confidence-booster, and I felt it helped us lift our heads up and finish the game off strong.”
But it wasn’t easy. Baum made four saves to keep the Royals (5-3-1, 1-1-0) in contention. Macey DeMoss bagged her 20th goal of the season to pull the visitors within 2-1 at the 17:59 left in the second half.
DeMoss had several earlier near-misses. The junior striker saw a 25-yard shot hit the crossbar just 18 seconds after halftime.
St. Francis’ 5-foot-2 freshman goalkeeper Kennedy Karl make five saves, including a couple of leaping ones on DeMoss.
Karl jumped and got both hands on the shot that ended up being Rosary’s only goal, but couldn’t keep it from dribbling into the net.
Karl wasn’t expected to see varsity action this season but was pressed into service after junior starter Hannah Blaha suffered a torn ACL in February. The Spartans also are without sophomore forward Paige Chrustowski, projected to be one of the team’s top attackers, and they lost sophomore midfielder Sophia Roszkowski to a concussion in this game. Junior defender Ella Schroeder also had to leave the game in the second half with an injury.
“Last year we didn’t have a single injury, and this year the gods are paying us back,” St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said. “We lost our no. 1 keeper, and Kennedy has done a nice job, but she’s young.
“This season is going to be a grind.”
The Spartans will toil with a roster that includes eight freshmen and eight sophomores. The starting lineup against Rosary included freshmen Karl, Alyssa Suriano and Ella Wainscott and sophomores Roszkowski, Shannon Brown and Ellie Bielenda.
“I knew I’d be young this season,” Winslow said. “I just didn’t know I’d be this young.
“They can play, but they’re put in a tough situation. We were young last season but we had six or seven seniors. This year there is just three seniors, and they’re just trying to manage their way through it.”
Reinke and fellow seniors Lauren Bruce and Sara Dziengel are serving as captains.
“They are great kids, they’re super bright kids,” Winslow said. “Those guys are trying to grow into being captains, and it’s not an easy thing to do on the run in a weird year.
“So, we’re going to take it on the chin some games.”
This game wasn’t one of them. Bruce said that was thanks to some steady improvement at practice.
“We’re a very young team, but we’ve gotten so much better throughout practices and our games. I think it was our aggression,” Bruce said. “Our defenders really stepped it up.
“Ella Wainscott did very good in the back, and I was just really proud of our team. We kept pushing the entire time instead of just giving up. If we lost the ball, we kept going, which helped us get the win.”
Bruce sealed the victory when she scored with 55 seconds remaining. She ran onto a brilliant diagonal ball from freshman Claire Andrzejewski, cut into the top right corner of the box and beat the onrushing Baum with a shot from a severe angle that tucked inside the far post.
It was Bruce’s first goal of the season.
“That was a great ball (from Andrezejewski),” Bruce said. “(Scoring) was a relief because I was like, ‘Oh, we’re up 2 now.’
“I thought it was going to go out the way it curved, but it was a really good ball so I’m glad that it went in.”
While Winslow said the Spartans could have made the game easier had they converted a few more of their chances in the first half, he and the players know there are few easy wins on this year’s schedule. But that’s fine with Bruce.
“I think once we start jelling with each other we can be a very good team towards the end of the season,” Bruce said. “We’ve already gotten better.
“We’ve seen a major difference within our team, so I think we’re going to be very good towards the middle and end of the season.”
Starting lineups
Rosary
GK Ellie Baum
D Alex Kackert
D Alaina Ferraro
D Grace Stumm
D Mia Zink
M Kaitlin Smith
M Abby Cibulskis
M Megan Molenhouse
M Tiller Karner
F Macey DeMoss
F Izzy Lagman
St. Francis
GK Kennedy Karl
D Alyssa Suriano
D Ella Wainscott
D Ada Suriano
D Ella Schroeder
M Shannon Brown
M Claire Reinke
M Sara Dziengel
M Sophia Roszkowski
F Ellie Bielenda
F Lauren Bruce
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Claire Reinke, sr., MF, St. Francis.
Scoring summary
First half
St. Francis - Ella Wozniak (Ada Suriano) 20:39 remaining
St. Francis – Claire Reinke 5:12 remaining
Second half
Rosary – Macey DeMoss 17:59 remaining
St. Francis – Lauren Bruce (Claire Andrzejewski) :55 remaining