Hawks tough it out, earn win over Kaneland
In a sense, Wednesday's Bartlett-Kaneland boys soccer match looked a lot like the kind of football they play that used all the stripes that covered the Kirk Road field that is used for some of St. Charles East's Invitational matches.
This had all the elements of classic gridiron football -- gritty stuff, lots of tackles and a number of passes that crossed the goal line but outside the space where soccer puts its nets.
While neither team walked off the field ecstatic, Bartlett gained a 1-0 victory thanks to a Joey Macchione second half penalty kick. So the Hawks could at least assuage their feelings of not playing well with a win.
"Today was not a great Bartlett soccer day," Bartlett coach Steve Buchs said. "If you've watched soccer, this was definitely not a good day for Bartlett soccer."
The potential was there, and showed itself in spots. But for the majority of the match, linking those solid moments was beyond the Hawks.
"When our guys play like they're supposed to play and like they're told to play, we get the ball to where we want it and we get our opportunities," Buchs said. "It's those times in-between where we're doing other things that's causing problems. The more we get on the same path, the more we'll play better."
The Hawks (5-6-1) won at nearly the midpoint of the second half. Doug Digiovanni was taken down in the penalty area and Macchione struck home the penalty kick.
One area of the match where Bartlett excelled was in defense. Kaneland (4-5-2) had its chances too, but the Hawks kept the most dangerous threats from becoming goals.
"It's good to win, but we're taking one small step at a time," Bartlett's Lenny Szakowski said. "We had spurts of good play."
Bartlett is playing a brutal stretch of matches and is in its second consecutive week of varied tournament play. The matches are coming almost daily, with rest and practice shoved to the side for now.
"We're coming together," Szakowski said. "We changed a few players around. All credit to (Buchs.) He put me back in defense and moved some people back. The defense has been stepping up recently."
Kaneland is in a long series of matches as well -- and has yet to play a home match this season.
"We played well and dominated in some points," Kaneland coach Scott Parillo said. "They dominated in some points. Our passing was pretty decent today. Our trapping and first touch wasn't that great."
The Knights finally have a home match next week.
"I'm tired of being on the road," Parillo said. "Our kids are tired of being on the road. Our families are tired of being on the road. We'll get our first home game on Monday."
Boys soccer
Burlington Central 2, St. Charles East (JV) 0: In the St. Charles East tournament, the Rockets (4-4-2) defeated St. Charles East's junior varsity team 2-0. Senior Dan Zagorski scored the first goal for Burlington Central on an assist from Enrique Alvarado. Alvarado then was able to keep the Rockets going when he scored the final goal of the game unassisted. Kyle DeRaedt was in goal with 3 saves.
Men's soccer
Judson 1, St. Xavier 0: Judson University (5-3-1, 1-0) started off its CCAC season with a victory over St. Xavier in overtime. Senior Mark Howlett was able to find teammate Milos Bajic to score the winning goal for the Eagles. Neil Thompson tallied 6 saves in his second shutout of the year for Judson.