Girls Soccer: Huntley opens with win over Dundee-Crown
Updated: March 20, 2012 9:12PM
Huntley’s season-opening girls soccer match went smoothly as the host Red Raiders defeated Dundee-Crown 2-0 Tuesday in Fox Valley Conference action.
Tuesday might have been Huntley’s first game, but its play on the field sure looked like the Raiders were in late-season form. The first 20 minutes was spent in the Chargers’ zone and Huntley had several chances to score. The Red Raiders were only able to convert on one of those chances when sophomore Rachel Zobott put one in the net at 33:58. Zobott’s goal was assisted by freshman Katie Costantino.
Red Raiders coach Kris Grabner was pleased with his team’s effort.
“We had a lot of opportunities and that was encouraging,” Grabner said. “Give Dundee-Crown credit for closing down quickly. All in all I was happy with our effort.”
Huntley scored its second goal at 15:35 in the second half when sophomore Delaney Loprieno stole a pass and drilled one just inside the crossbar from about 20 yards away.
Dundee-Crown (0-3, 0-1) played much better at the end of the first half and the entire second half. The Chargers started to get some nice looks on offense, but couldn’t get anything past freshman goalkeeper Kelli Rubino, who stopped all six shots on goal to earn the shutout.
The Chargers played their third game of the season Tuesday, and coach Sebastian Falinski likes the improvement he has seen in his team.
“This was the best game we’ve played this season,” Falinski said. “Our first three games have been against quality opponents, and I liked how we played today. We are improving and learning each game and just need to cut down on the mistakes. Today we started off slow, but I felt like it was an even match the rest of the way.”
The score could have been a lot more lopsided had it not been for Chargers goalkeeper Denise Maldonado, whowas peppered all game and made 23 saves.
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