Girls soccer notes: Crystal Lake Central overcomes adversity in win over Dundee-Crown

Crystal Lake Central players didn’t just earn a critical 3-1 Fox Valley Conference win over Dundee-Crown on Tuesday afternoon.

The Tigers also learned how to respond to adversity, something they’re likely to experience again in the final weeks of the regular season and the postseason.

D-C turned up the pressure in the second half and scored quickly after halftime to make it a 2-1 Crystal Lake Central lead. After that goal, the rhythm of the match changed and the Tigers had to adjust.

“We’re going to see games where the momentum has shifts and changes, when we get scored on when it’s 2-0,” Crystal Lake Central coach Sarah Fack said. “That’s a big switch, 2-1 from 2-0, the scoring team has the momentum. It’s something for us, we figured it out and turned it around and [did] not let it get to us.”

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Dundee-Crown's Araceli Mendez, right, tries to kick the ball away from Crystal Lake Central's Jillian Mueller during a Fox Valley Conference soccer match Tuesday April 26, 2022, between Crystal Lake Central and Dundee-Crown at Dundee-Crown High School. (Gregory Shaver - gshaver@shawmedia.com/Gregory Shaver for Shaw Media )

Dundee-Crown’s key strategy shift in the second half was changing where its top-scorer Berkley Mensik played. The Chargers moved Mensik from the top of the formation to the middle, which forced the Tigers to adjust their defense as Mensik created more chances for her team moving the ball up the field.

Central players responded by not allowing another D-C goal, and Brooklynn Carlson scored her second goal of the match with less than two minutes left to seal the win.

The Tigers earned sole possession of first place in the FVC after the win, coupled with a McHenry overtime loss to Hampshire on Tuesday. Central has four more matches left this season against Crystal Lake South, Burlington Central, McHenry and Prairie Ridge.

There’s still some work left to be done before the Tigers can win a conference title, but matches like the one against D-C on Tuesday have Central players ready for whatever they’ll face.

“Don’t get too comfortable,” Carlson said. “Anything can happen, so they can score at any time. We need to be ready and just keep going, keep scoring. Don’t relax.”

Slow starts for Dundee-Crown

Dundee-Crown fell into the same trap that has caused it issues all season once again against Crystal Lake Central.

The Chargers fell behind, 2-0, in the first half and left D-C coach Rob Moulton’s team trying to overcome another slow start.

“It’s something that we’ve had going on all season,” Moulton said. “When we get scored on, we wake up when we’re down, that’s when we start to really give it our all. It’s a bad habit that we created.”

The D-C coaching staff talked with their players after Tuesday’s match about what changes they need to make in order to start matches with the same intensity they play with after they fall behind.

The Chargers have a young roster, so Moulton is relying on his senior leaders to be vocal, get the younger players up to speed and show them how physical they need to be in order to start a match at the right speed.

“Losing these close games exposes those weaknesses, exposes those mistakes, it makes you want to improve, want to be better and have that fire in you,” Moulton said. “Winning hides a lot of weaknesses. We were on a good stretch where we were winning a lot of games, but at the same time it hid those mistakes, and this exposed us to it.

“For us, it’s learning from our mistakes and moving forward. Taking it a day at a time.”

Hampshire battling through injuries

Hampshire started the season by winning seven of its first nine matches but injuries caused the Whip-Purs to go through a rough stretch over its next five matches.

The Whip-Purs lost four of five matches before winning against McHenry in overtime Tuesday.

Coach Kelly Madison didn’t specify which players have been in and out of the lineup, but knows knee and ankle injuries are just part of playing soccer.

“It’s just a handful of players here and there, coming and going,” Madison said. “They’re fine this week, hurting next week.”

Class 1A postseason set

The IHSA released the playoff schedule for the Class 1A tournament.

Richmond-Burton earned the top overall seed in one of the subsectionals in the Marian Central Sectional. Johnsburg earned the No. 2 seed, while Marengo (No. 3) and Marian Central (No. 5) will all play in the same subsectional as Richmond-Burton.

DePaul College Prep earned the top seed in the other subsectional in the Marian Central Sectional.

R-B starts the postseason against either Woodlands Academy or Schaumburg Christian on May 10 at the Cristo Rey St. Martin Regional. Johnsburg will begin the postseason against Harvest Christian Academy on May 10 in the Marian Central Regional while Marengo and Marian Central will play against each other May 11 in the other semifinal match of the Marian Central Regional.

The winner of the Marian Central Sectional will play in the Concordia University Supersectional on May 24. The Class 1A state state final tournament will take place May 27-28 at North Central College in Naperville.