Rittenhouse rocks, St. Francis rolls on
Spartans oust Latin 5-1 behind junior's hat-trick, Pasquale brace
By Matt Le Cren
RIVER FOREST – St. Francis forward Hannah Rittenhouse is probably too young to know the lyrics to AC/DC’s classic rock hit “TNT.”
But they fit her to ‘T.’
Here’s a quick refresher course on memorable lines written by Bon Scott, and Angus and Malcolm Young. They would fit as the appropriate background music to a highlight reel video from Rittenhouse’s sensational performance Wednesday at the Class AA Fenwick Sectional semifinals.
“’Cause I’m T.N.T., I’m dynamite.
T.N.T. and I’ll win the fight.
T.N.T. I’m a power load.
T.N.T. Watch me explode.”
Rittenhouse was an unstoppable force that second-seeded Latin could not handle as she exploded for three goals and came close to scoring at least three others. Fellow striker Kendra Pasquale added a brace and goalkeeper Courtney Kozak stopped eight shots, including a penalty kick, as the third-seeded Spartans routed the Romans 5-1 at the Priory.
St. Francis (14-4-3) will face fourth-seeded and host Fenwick (14-3-4) in Friday’s title game.
The Spartans, ranked 11th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, were impressive in their takedown of the 18th-ranked Romans (20-2-0). On one of the first warm days of the season, they brought the heat early and often, uncorking 25 shots, 17 of which were on frame. Three others struck the woodwork.
The main architect of the attack was Rittenhouse. The Iowa-bound junior has strength, the speed of a hurdler and the determination of a winner who refuses to be denied.
And the Romans had no answer for her.
“No, they did not,” Pasquale said. “Hannah amazes me every day. She really does.
“Even when she has nothing left to give, she still gives everything, no matter how she’s feeling or what’s going on. She’s phenomenal to play with. She always keeps me going, and she inspires me.”
Latin goalkeeper Jade Edwards kept the game scoreless for most of the first half after deflections of Rittenhouse’s first shot, which went into the right post, and after she got a tiny piece of a liner from Caroline Zimmer that struck the crossbar.
Edwards, whom St. Francis coach Jim Winslow called “a special athlete,” also came up big in the 23rd minute after Rittenhouse rushed past a defender into the left side of the penalty area. Rittenhouse fired from six yards, but Edwards caught the ball as she was falling to the ground and somehow held on.
But Rittenhouse was not to be denied. Every time she got the ball in the offensive third, she bulled her way to the goal.
However, it was her impressive speed that shone through on the game’s first goal. Rittenhouse got the ball in the open just across midfield and made a 40-yard run into the box as a defender tried futilely to stay on her hip.
Rittenhouse was just inside the 18 when she hammered a right-footed shot under the crossbar with 8:32 left in the opening half.
So, Hannah, you were really determined today, no?
“I was, I was,” Rittenhouse said with a grin. “We really wanted to win.
“From the start I think we played really well together. The goalie had great saves, but we just kept shooting, playing together and eventually they started to fall in, so I think that really started to boost our confidence after our first goal.”
Indeed, it didn’t take long for the Spartans to get another one. Pasquale, an Illinois recruit, got loose in the box three minutes later and beat Edwards with a left-footed shot from 15 yards that went off the inside of the right post and in for a 2-0 lead.
That was the score at halftime, but most of the action, including more fireworks from Rittenhouse, was still to come. But Winslow didn’t know that at the time, and he had concerns.
“There is kind of a saying that the halftime bell, does it save you or does it hurt you?” Winslow said. “Today it hurt us because we were up 2-0.
“We were owning the game at that point, but heat is a brutal enemy.”
And Latin was a determined opponent. Edwards was moved to forward for the second half, switching places with fellow senior Maggie Marrinson.
It was a good strategy on the part of the Romans, who kept the score close in the first half before inserting their best athlete up-top in an attempt to rally.
At one point, it looked like the move would pay off when Edwards was taken down in the box with 34:09 to go. Senior midfielder Lily Keiderling, a Tufts recruit, stepped to the spot to take the penalty kick.
Keiderling aimed for the lower right corner, but Kozak lunged to her left to make the save, then quickly covered up the ball. It was just the second PK Kozak has faced this season, but she was ready for it.
“I was pretty confident going into it,” Kozak said. “I look at penalty kicks as if it goes in, it’s not my fault if it does. It’s just one more goal, and we keep going.”
Latin didn’t get the goal and the Spartans did indeed keep going and got their third eight minutes later.
Marrinson had denied Rittenhouse at the 37:10 mark, tipping a hard shot off the right post after the St. Francis star had gotten around a defender, but she wasn’t as lucky when senior Kaitlyn Joniak, the daughter of radio broadcaster Jeff Joniak, began a play that gave the Spartans something to shout about.
Joniak had the ball just outside the top of the circle when she dribbled to her right under pressure, then circled back to the left and passed to her left to Pasquale.
Confronted by a double team at the top of the box, Pasquale dumped a pass to freshman Katherine Lemke, who took the ball into the corner and sent a high cross over the lead of Marrinson to the far post, where Rittenhouse was waiting to body it home to make it 3-0.
“With Hannah, the difference between last year and this year is last year she would get a bump, and it would deter her,” Winslow said. “That doesn’t happen anymore. That is not an issue.
“She is a handful, and then you’ve got to deal with Erin (Peck) and ‘Keni’ (Pasquale). And then Claire (Hensley) and Caroline have done a good job out of the midfield.
“At the end of the day, you have to deal with a lot of pieces.”
But the Spartans still had a wounded opponent to deal with. Kozak did well to tip a 30-yard free kick off the toe of Eleanor Pontikes around the right post with 22 minutes remaining, but the Romans broke the shutout bid when Edwards headed home Pontikes’ ensuing corner kick.
That made the game a little too tight for Winslow’s taste.
“We could have wrapped things up after we got that third goal,” Winslow said. “Just before that, Hannah had the one that went off the post. If she hits that it’s 4-0 at that point. So this game ended up being much more interesting than it needed to be.”
But that just meant more chances for Rittenhouse and Pasquale to do their thing.
Marrinson, who made eight of Latin’s 12 saves, stopped Emily Thill on a breakaway attempt just 48 seconds after Rittenhouse’s second strike and the Romans caught another break at the 18:26 mark when Ava Hensley hit the left post with a hard shot.
But Pasquale made it 4-1 with a top shelf blast with 12:58 to go and then Rittenhouse completed her hat-trick, and the scoring, when she broke free in the left side of the box and poked a shot past Marrinson 97 seconds later.
“After I scored and (Pasquale) scored (in the first half), I figured it’s 2-0 and it’s still close,” Rittenhouse said. “So I wanted to go out and keep scoring, just to keep our confidence level up and keep pushing.”
That’s something Pasquale has come to expect from her fellow Big Ten recruit.
“She’s got the drive, and I think it really helps everyone keep going,” Pasquale said. “And it helps when she finishes, too, because she’s on (her game) the whole time.”
Kozak was on her game, too.
“She did amazing,” Rittenhouse said. “She saved the PK. She saved so many great shots.”
The Spartans know Kozak may be called upon to make more great saves, starting Friday against a tough Fenwick team that is 5-0-3 at home this season. The two teams tied 2-2 at the Priory three weeks ago.
“I’m excited,” Pasquale said. “They always come out really hard.
“We’re ready, though, and I think going into playoffs we always have that extra bit of drive with us, so we just keep pushing and want to be better. Every day we come out and practice hard and really give it our all.”
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK Courtney Kozak
D Jill DiTusa
D Christine Fasana
D Emma Armbrust
M Caroline Zimmer
M Claire Hensley
M Adeline Shaw
M Kaitlyn Joniak
F Erin Peck
F Kendra Pasquale
F Hannah Rittenhouse
Latin
GK Jade Edwards
D Katy Burg
D McKenna Lahti
D Emma Weiss
D Maya Edwards
M Eleanor Pontikes
M Charlotte Cronister
M Alessandra Kaestner
F Lily Weaver
F Lily Keiderling
F Maggie Marrinson
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Hannah Rittenhouse, jr., F, St. Francis
Scoring summary
First half
St. Francis – Hannah Rittenhouse (unassisted) 8:32
St. Francis – Kendra Pasquale (unassisted) 5:06
Second half
St. Francis – Rittenhouse (Katherine Lemke, Pasquale) 26:43
Latin – Jade Edwards (Eleanor Pontikes) 21:20
St. Francis – Pasquale (unassisted) 12:58
St. Francis – Rittenhouse (unassisted) 11:21
Spartans oust Latin 5-1 behind junior's hat-trick, Pasquale brace
By Matt Le Cren
RIVER FOREST – St. Francis forward Hannah Rittenhouse is probably too young to know the lyrics to AC/DC’s classic rock hit “TNT.”
But they fit her to ‘T.’
Here’s a quick refresher course on memorable lines written by Bon Scott, and Angus and Malcolm Young. They would fit as the appropriate background music to a highlight reel video from Rittenhouse’s sensational performance Wednesday at the Class AA Fenwick Sectional semifinals.
“’Cause I’m T.N.T., I’m dynamite.
T.N.T. and I’ll win the fight.
T.N.T. I’m a power load.
T.N.T. Watch me explode.”
Rittenhouse was an unstoppable force that second-seeded Latin could not handle as she exploded for three goals and came close to scoring at least three others. Fellow striker Kendra Pasquale added a brace and goalkeeper Courtney Kozak stopped eight shots, including a penalty kick, as the third-seeded Spartans routed the Romans 5-1 at the Priory.
St. Francis (14-4-3) will face fourth-seeded and host Fenwick (14-3-4) in Friday’s title game.
The Spartans, ranked 11th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, were impressive in their takedown of the 18th-ranked Romans (20-2-0). On one of the first warm days of the season, they brought the heat early and often, uncorking 25 shots, 17 of which were on frame. Three others struck the woodwork.
The main architect of the attack was Rittenhouse. The Iowa-bound junior has strength, the speed of a hurdler and the determination of a winner who refuses to be denied.
And the Romans had no answer for her.
“No, they did not,” Pasquale said. “Hannah amazes me every day. She really does.
“Even when she has nothing left to give, she still gives everything, no matter how she’s feeling or what’s going on. She’s phenomenal to play with. She always keeps me going, and she inspires me.”
Latin goalkeeper Jade Edwards kept the game scoreless for most of the first half after deflections of Rittenhouse’s first shot, which went into the right post, and after she got a tiny piece of a liner from Caroline Zimmer that struck the crossbar.
Edwards, whom St. Francis coach Jim Winslow called “a special athlete,” also came up big in the 23rd minute after Rittenhouse rushed past a defender into the left side of the penalty area. Rittenhouse fired from six yards, but Edwards caught the ball as she was falling to the ground and somehow held on.
But Rittenhouse was not to be denied. Every time she got the ball in the offensive third, she bulled her way to the goal.
However, it was her impressive speed that shone through on the game’s first goal. Rittenhouse got the ball in the open just across midfield and made a 40-yard run into the box as a defender tried futilely to stay on her hip.
Rittenhouse was just inside the 18 when she hammered a right-footed shot under the crossbar with 8:32 left in the opening half.
So, Hannah, you were really determined today, no?
“I was, I was,” Rittenhouse said with a grin. “We really wanted to win.
“From the start I think we played really well together. The goalie had great saves, but we just kept shooting, playing together and eventually they started to fall in, so I think that really started to boost our confidence after our first goal.”
Indeed, it didn’t take long for the Spartans to get another one. Pasquale, an Illinois recruit, got loose in the box three minutes later and beat Edwards with a left-footed shot from 15 yards that went off the inside of the right post and in for a 2-0 lead.
That was the score at halftime, but most of the action, including more fireworks from Rittenhouse, was still to come. But Winslow didn’t know that at the time, and he had concerns.
“There is kind of a saying that the halftime bell, does it save you or does it hurt you?” Winslow said. “Today it hurt us because we were up 2-0.
“We were owning the game at that point, but heat is a brutal enemy.”
And Latin was a determined opponent. Edwards was moved to forward for the second half, switching places with fellow senior Maggie Marrinson.
It was a good strategy on the part of the Romans, who kept the score close in the first half before inserting their best athlete up-top in an attempt to rally.
At one point, it looked like the move would pay off when Edwards was taken down in the box with 34:09 to go. Senior midfielder Lily Keiderling, a Tufts recruit, stepped to the spot to take the penalty kick.
Keiderling aimed for the lower right corner, but Kozak lunged to her left to make the save, then quickly covered up the ball. It was just the second PK Kozak has faced this season, but she was ready for it.
“I was pretty confident going into it,” Kozak said. “I look at penalty kicks as if it goes in, it’s not my fault if it does. It’s just one more goal, and we keep going.”
Latin didn’t get the goal and the Spartans did indeed keep going and got their third eight minutes later.
Marrinson had denied Rittenhouse at the 37:10 mark, tipping a hard shot off the right post after the St. Francis star had gotten around a defender, but she wasn’t as lucky when senior Kaitlyn Joniak, the daughter of radio broadcaster Jeff Joniak, began a play that gave the Spartans something to shout about.
Joniak had the ball just outside the top of the circle when she dribbled to her right under pressure, then circled back to the left and passed to her left to Pasquale.
Confronted by a double team at the top of the box, Pasquale dumped a pass to freshman Katherine Lemke, who took the ball into the corner and sent a high cross over the lead of Marrinson to the far post, where Rittenhouse was waiting to body it home to make it 3-0.
“With Hannah, the difference between last year and this year is last year she would get a bump, and it would deter her,” Winslow said. “That doesn’t happen anymore. That is not an issue.
“She is a handful, and then you’ve got to deal with Erin (Peck) and ‘Keni’ (Pasquale). And then Claire (Hensley) and Caroline have done a good job out of the midfield.
“At the end of the day, you have to deal with a lot of pieces.”
But the Spartans still had a wounded opponent to deal with. Kozak did well to tip a 30-yard free kick off the toe of Eleanor Pontikes around the right post with 22 minutes remaining, but the Romans broke the shutout bid when Edwards headed home Pontikes’ ensuing corner kick.
That made the game a little too tight for Winslow’s taste.
“We could have wrapped things up after we got that third goal,” Winslow said. “Just before that, Hannah had the one that went off the post. If she hits that it’s 4-0 at that point. So this game ended up being much more interesting than it needed to be.”
But that just meant more chances for Rittenhouse and Pasquale to do their thing.
Marrinson, who made eight of Latin’s 12 saves, stopped Emily Thill on a breakaway attempt just 48 seconds after Rittenhouse’s second strike and the Romans caught another break at the 18:26 mark when Ava Hensley hit the left post with a hard shot.
But Pasquale made it 4-1 with a top shelf blast with 12:58 to go and then Rittenhouse completed her hat-trick, and the scoring, when she broke free in the left side of the box and poked a shot past Marrinson 97 seconds later.
“After I scored and (Pasquale) scored (in the first half), I figured it’s 2-0 and it’s still close,” Rittenhouse said. “So I wanted to go out and keep scoring, just to keep our confidence level up and keep pushing.”
That’s something Pasquale has come to expect from her fellow Big Ten recruit.
“She’s got the drive, and I think it really helps everyone keep going,” Pasquale said. “And it helps when she finishes, too, because she’s on (her game) the whole time.”
Kozak was on her game, too.
“She did amazing,” Rittenhouse said. “She saved the PK. She saved so many great shots.”
The Spartans know Kozak may be called upon to make more great saves, starting Friday against a tough Fenwick team that is 5-0-3 at home this season. The two teams tied 2-2 at the Priory three weeks ago.
“I’m excited,” Pasquale said. “They always come out really hard.
“We’re ready, though, and I think going into playoffs we always have that extra bit of drive with us, so we just keep pushing and want to be better. Every day we come out and practice hard and really give it our all.”
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK Courtney Kozak
D Jill DiTusa
D Christine Fasana
D Emma Armbrust
M Caroline Zimmer
M Claire Hensley
M Adeline Shaw
M Kaitlyn Joniak
F Erin Peck
F Kendra Pasquale
F Hannah Rittenhouse
Latin
GK Jade Edwards
D Katy Burg
D McKenna Lahti
D Emma Weiss
D Maya Edwards
M Eleanor Pontikes
M Charlotte Cronister
M Alessandra Kaestner
F Lily Weaver
F Lily Keiderling
F Maggie Marrinson
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Hannah Rittenhouse, jr., F, St. Francis
Scoring summary
First half
St. Francis – Hannah Rittenhouse (unassisted) 8:32
St. Francis – Kendra Pasquale (unassisted) 5:06
Second half
St. Francis – Rittenhouse (Katherine Lemke, Pasquale) 26:43
Latin – Jade Edwards (Eleanor Pontikes) 21:20
St. Francis – Pasquale (unassisted) 12:58
St. Francis – Rittenhouse (unassisted) 11:21