Sycamore striker Cortni Kruizenga didn’t just score a goal in the 34th minute to break a scoreless tie against rival DeKalb in El Classicorn, she made a spectacular defensive play in the 73rd minute to preserve the Spartans’ 2-0 home win over the Barbs.

For the second time in three games, Kruizenga shifted to defense late in the game to fend off a relentless attack. She did the same Monday in a 4-2 win over Ottawa, despite a lightning delay and injuries to key players.

On Thursday against the Barbs (3-10-2), Quinn McLane rocketed a free kick from the left side. Sycamore goalie Lana Walker had been wrapping up most everything fired her way, but this shot slipped past her as the DeKalb offense closed in.

Kruizenga sped in and cleared it, ending the Barbs’ final scoring chance and best scoring opportunity of the second half after a first half filled with them.

“I was thinking just get it up, get it out, kick it,” Kruizenga said. “I wanted to make sure we got that clean sheet.”

Addi Rodriguez pushed the lead 2-0 with 13:41 left, just 12 minutes after she left the game after being shaken up. Kelsie Ryder played her a perfect feed from the middle of the field that gave her plenty of time to catch up to the ball.

Rodriguez was the only one who had a play on it, and she beat goalie Beth Meeks as Sycamore (12-8) pushed the lead to two goals.

“Kelsie played a perfect, perfect pass,” Sycamore coach Kevin Bickley said. “Addi with her speed was able to get it and got good power on it.”

Kruizenga helped stabilize the backline on Monday. The Spartans were up 4-0, but gave up two goals to the Pirates.

On Thursday, she said she asked Bickley if he wanted her back there again after Rodriguez connected.

“I was like sure, yeah, let’s do it,” Bickley said. “She wants to win. Whatever it takes. She puts herself in the back, and she clears one off the line to keep it 2-0.”

Kruizenga broke through four minutes into the first half. Rodriguez played the ball up from the left side and found Kruizenga in the middle.

“I saw the defender in front of me and all I was thinking was I got to get around her,” Kruizenga said. “I knew I just had to get it past Meeks knowing she’s a really good goalie, long and big, and I just had to get it right past her.”

Sycamore wasn’t getting anything past Meeks in the first half. It was DeKalb that controlled the offensive flow early and tested the Sycamore defense and Walker.

“The first 10 or 15 minutes, I’m like, we’re in trouble,” Bickley said. “They took it to us for sure. Then we kind of settled in.”

McLane had a nice corner kick in the fourth minute, but it got by a couple of DeKalb attackers without a shot being made.

McLane had a shot a couple of minutes later but it ended up right in Walker’s hands. DeKalb controlled the goal kick and McLane fired another shot, but this one went high.

“We had a couple missed opportunities,” DeKalb coach Kaylyn Brooks said. “That corner, we could have put that in the back of the net. But our through balls were working great today, and playing around defenders. We had some solid shots too.”

Brooks said the game was comparable to the Naperville North game, a 4-0 loss but to a 10-3 team that’s undefeated in the DuPage Valley Conference and ranked highly in the state. The effort in that game was high, Brooks said, and she saw that again today.

The Barbs had a pair of 1-1 ties against Kaneland and Elgin last month that Brooks said could have been wins. Overall, she said the team’s record doesn’t reflect how they’ve played this year and she’s optimistic heading into the postseason.

“We make the schedule tough on purpose because we know when we head into the postseason that’s where our toughest teams are that we’re going to play,” Brooks said. “And we’re in one of the hardest conferences that you can be in in northern Illinois. I don’t think our record correctly reflects on how hard we play as a team. ... It’s just some unfortunate mistakes have led to teams scoring on us.”