Pjesky’s late strike lifts
Hinsdale Central over Young
Hosts win 2-1 in finale of City-Suburbs Connect Invitational
By Matt Le Cren
HINSDALE -- It takes a simple yet often elusive quality to do what Hinsdale Central forward Hannah Pjesky did Saturday.
How can it be described?
“One word: confidence,” Hinsdale Central coach Tony Madonia said. “She’s confident, and she took a chance. I’m proud of her.”
Pjesky’s display of confidence came on a daring play late in the second half of a tie game. She stole the ball from a defender about 35 yards from the goal and had an unimpeded path toward the goal.
Instead of embarking on the breakaway as most spectators anticipated, Pjesky took just one dribble before scoring on a 30-yard shot that proved to be the difference in Hinsdale Central’s 2-1 victory over Young in the finale of the City-Suburbs Connect Invitational.
It was the second goal of the game for Pjesky, whose snap decision caught Young goalkeeper Zoe Adelstein just far enough off her line. Adelstein leaped as she was retreating and got a hand on the ball, but not enough to prevent it from going in with 10:55 left in the second half.
“It was kind of a split-second decision,” Pjesky said. “I was like, I can either dribble it and have a 1-on-1 with the keeper or give it a go and shoot it.
“So I just decided to give it a go, and it worked out.”
That wasn’t the only thing that worked out. Madonia termed the inaugural tournament, which featured Fmwa between suburban powers Lyons and Hinsdale Central and top Chicago sides Young and Jones, a success.
The first two games were played Monday. Hinsdale Central beat Jones 2-0; and Lyons edged Young 3-2. Lyons beat Jones 6-0 in the early game Saturday.
“I’m just really happy this city-suburb invite worked out,” Madonia said. “The idea was to have schools from the city play teams that typically don’t play them other.
“Then when sectional rankings come along, it’s hopefully a little bit more realistic.
“But this gives me an idea of how tough those city schools are. People need to notice that.”
Hinsdale Central (2-0-0) took notice. They had their hands full with Young (0-2-1) in a game played in cold and miserable conditions. Much of the match was played in a steady drizzle and while that limited the scoring chances, especially early on, it didn’t put a damper on either team’s determination or enthusiasm.
“It was rough in the beginning,” Pjesky said. “It was a little cold, but our team really stuck it out. We came together and found a way to put two awesome goals in the back of the net.”
Pjesky opened the scoring at the 14:39 mark of the first half when she fought off two defenders to knock home a cross from freshman Peyton Rohn.
That was one of only four shots the two sides combined for in the first half. The Red Devils kept the lead until Young senior Ella Koleno tied the game on a shot from the middle of the box with 35:24 to go in the second half.
It was the second goal of the season for Koleno, a Washington University (St. Louis) recruit. But it was the only one for the Dolphins, who had only two other quality chances.
Hinsdale Central goalkeeper Sydney Pjesky – Hannah’s twin sister – deflected one shot off the crossbar and made a nifty diving save on an open shot from Daphne Murray with 27:40 left in the game. That turned out to be Young’s final scoring chance.
“Today was definitely a tough loss,” Koleno said. “We started out slow, not our best, but I think the second half we really picked it up, on offense at least.
“It was not the result we hoped for, but we’ll keep building off this.”
Young coach Ross LeBeaux agreed that the Dolphins have a firm foundation.
“I thought it was a slow start by us,” LeBeaux said. “They were dominant in the first 20 minutes. Then I thought we settled in the second 20 minutes of the first half.
“Second half I thought we were all over them, got the equalizer. It was just a couple plays here and there where we kind of fall asleep, and they punish us.”
Both teams were happy with the new event, which gives teams a chance to measure themselves against rarely seen opponents.
“I think it’s great playing these suburban teams, especially early on because they’ve got the speed and the physicality,” Koleno said. “And the speed of play is always very fast, so it was a great challenge for us to see where we are at the beginning of the season.”
It also gives city teams such as Young a chance to grow their brand and enhance their reputation.
“It was nice of the coaches on both sides who decided, let’s start a little tournament and hopefully it can grow and more teams will participate,” LeBeaux said. “It’s good to play top competition early because then you can kind of see where everyone else is at and do a little reflecting of your own to see where you’re at.
“I know we can compete.”
The Red Devils have no doubt about that.
“They came out there, and they were an awesome team,” Hannah Pjesky said. “I knew they would be.”
The new tournament drew rave reviews from players like Hannah Pjesky.
“I think it’s awesome,” Pjesky said. “It’s a great opportunity.
“We haven’t really played many city schools, so it’s awesome to play outside of our conference and play people who we normally wouldn’t play. It’s really fun being out here with teams we normally wouldn’t play with.”
Starting lineups
Young
GK Zoe Adelstein
Maisy Connolly
Nelly Gurry
Ella Koleno
Lauren Roche
Chloe Garton
Alexis Sassower
Daphne Murrray
Moira Koleno
Celeste Garton
Sydney Koleno
Hinsdale Central
GK Rania Arain
D Claire Kumskis
D Ava Elliott
D Nina Sarros
D Sidney Turnbull
M Maddy Panveno
M Peyton Rohn
M Kate Kocoras
F Hanna Florence
F Delaney Marringa
F Hannah Pjesky
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Hannah Pjesky, sr., F, Hinsdale Central.
Scoring summary
First half
Hinsdale Central – Hanna Pjesky (Peyton Rohn) 14:39 remaining
Second half
Young – Ella Koleno 35:24 remaining
Hinsdale Central – Pjesky 10:55 remaining
Hinsdale Central over Young
Hosts win 2-1 in finale of City-Suburbs Connect Invitational
By Matt Le Cren
HINSDALE -- It takes a simple yet often elusive quality to do what Hinsdale Central forward Hannah Pjesky did Saturday.
How can it be described?
“One word: confidence,” Hinsdale Central coach Tony Madonia said. “She’s confident, and she took a chance. I’m proud of her.”
Pjesky’s display of confidence came on a daring play late in the second half of a tie game. She stole the ball from a defender about 35 yards from the goal and had an unimpeded path toward the goal.
Instead of embarking on the breakaway as most spectators anticipated, Pjesky took just one dribble before scoring on a 30-yard shot that proved to be the difference in Hinsdale Central’s 2-1 victory over Young in the finale of the City-Suburbs Connect Invitational.
It was the second goal of the game for Pjesky, whose snap decision caught Young goalkeeper Zoe Adelstein just far enough off her line. Adelstein leaped as she was retreating and got a hand on the ball, but not enough to prevent it from going in with 10:55 left in the second half.
“It was kind of a split-second decision,” Pjesky said. “I was like, I can either dribble it and have a 1-on-1 with the keeper or give it a go and shoot it.
“So I just decided to give it a go, and it worked out.”
That wasn’t the only thing that worked out. Madonia termed the inaugural tournament, which featured Fmwa between suburban powers Lyons and Hinsdale Central and top Chicago sides Young and Jones, a success.
The first two games were played Monday. Hinsdale Central beat Jones 2-0; and Lyons edged Young 3-2. Lyons beat Jones 6-0 in the early game Saturday.
“I’m just really happy this city-suburb invite worked out,” Madonia said. “The idea was to have schools from the city play teams that typically don’t play them other.
“Then when sectional rankings come along, it’s hopefully a little bit more realistic.
“But this gives me an idea of how tough those city schools are. People need to notice that.”
Hinsdale Central (2-0-0) took notice. They had their hands full with Young (0-2-1) in a game played in cold and miserable conditions. Much of the match was played in a steady drizzle and while that limited the scoring chances, especially early on, it didn’t put a damper on either team’s determination or enthusiasm.
“It was rough in the beginning,” Pjesky said. “It was a little cold, but our team really stuck it out. We came together and found a way to put two awesome goals in the back of the net.”
Pjesky opened the scoring at the 14:39 mark of the first half when she fought off two defenders to knock home a cross from freshman Peyton Rohn.
That was one of only four shots the two sides combined for in the first half. The Red Devils kept the lead until Young senior Ella Koleno tied the game on a shot from the middle of the box with 35:24 to go in the second half.
It was the second goal of the season for Koleno, a Washington University (St. Louis) recruit. But it was the only one for the Dolphins, who had only two other quality chances.
Hinsdale Central goalkeeper Sydney Pjesky – Hannah’s twin sister – deflected one shot off the crossbar and made a nifty diving save on an open shot from Daphne Murray with 27:40 left in the game. That turned out to be Young’s final scoring chance.
“Today was definitely a tough loss,” Koleno said. “We started out slow, not our best, but I think the second half we really picked it up, on offense at least.
“It was not the result we hoped for, but we’ll keep building off this.”
Young coach Ross LeBeaux agreed that the Dolphins have a firm foundation.
“I thought it was a slow start by us,” LeBeaux said. “They were dominant in the first 20 minutes. Then I thought we settled in the second 20 minutes of the first half.
“Second half I thought we were all over them, got the equalizer. It was just a couple plays here and there where we kind of fall asleep, and they punish us.”
Both teams were happy with the new event, which gives teams a chance to measure themselves against rarely seen opponents.
“I think it’s great playing these suburban teams, especially early on because they’ve got the speed and the physicality,” Koleno said. “And the speed of play is always very fast, so it was a great challenge for us to see where we are at the beginning of the season.”
It also gives city teams such as Young a chance to grow their brand and enhance their reputation.
“It was nice of the coaches on both sides who decided, let’s start a little tournament and hopefully it can grow and more teams will participate,” LeBeaux said. “It’s good to play top competition early because then you can kind of see where everyone else is at and do a little reflecting of your own to see where you’re at.
“I know we can compete.”
The Red Devils have no doubt about that.
“They came out there, and they were an awesome team,” Hannah Pjesky said. “I knew they would be.”
The new tournament drew rave reviews from players like Hannah Pjesky.
“I think it’s awesome,” Pjesky said. “It’s a great opportunity.
“We haven’t really played many city schools, so it’s awesome to play outside of our conference and play people who we normally wouldn’t play. It’s really fun being out here with teams we normally wouldn’t play with.”
Starting lineups
Young
GK Zoe Adelstein
Maisy Connolly
Nelly Gurry
Ella Koleno
Lauren Roche
Chloe Garton
Alexis Sassower
Daphne Murrray
Moira Koleno
Celeste Garton
Sydney Koleno
Hinsdale Central
GK Rania Arain
D Claire Kumskis
D Ava Elliott
D Nina Sarros
D Sidney Turnbull
M Maddy Panveno
M Peyton Rohn
M Kate Kocoras
F Hanna Florence
F Delaney Marringa
F Hannah Pjesky
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Hannah Pjesky, sr., F, Hinsdale Central.
Scoring summary
First half
Hinsdale Central – Hanna Pjesky (Peyton Rohn) 14:39 remaining
Second half
Young – Ella Koleno 35:24 remaining
Hinsdale Central – Pjesky 10:55 remaining