Girls soccer: Pineda’s career day leads Plainfield East past Plainfield Central

PLAINFIELD – Friday was a career day for Plainfield East senior girls soccer player Xcaret Pineda.

The fact that it came against a District 202 rival made it that much sweeter.

Pineda matched her career high with four goals as the Bengals defeated Plainfield Central, 5-1, in a Southwest Prairie Conference matchup at Central.

“That matches my career high,” Pineda said about her four-goal outburst. “I also scored four against Romeoville, but this one was extra special.

“We get up for all of our conference games, but when it’s against another Plainfield school, we get a little more excited.”

It wasn’t Pineda, but teammate Madi Fauth that got things going for East early.

Very early.

Right off the opening kickoff, Fauth took the ball down the left side and booted a shot that hooked into the side of the net for 1-0 lead only 13 seconds into the game.

“That really set the tone,” Pineda said about Fauth’s goal. “When you can score early like that, it makes things easier.”

About six minutes later, Pineda scored her first goal, giving the Bengals (11-2, 7-0 SPC) a 2-0 lead with 33:29 left in the first half. And, with the Bengals having nine shutouts in their first 12 games, it looked like the lead would be safe.

But Central’s Jenny Brooks arced a shot over the East goalkeeper with 21:29 to play in the first half to make it a 2-1 game.

“This was a solid game for us,” East coach Cosimo Patano said. “We scored right off the kickoff, which helped us get the momentum early.

“Defense has been one of our strengths this year. We have nine shutouts, so we do pretty well defensively. Give credit to the Central girl [Brooks]. She made a nice shot and scored.”

With 14:20 to go until halftime, Pineda scored again, this time launching a laser over the Central goalie from the 20-yard line to give East a 3-1 lead they took into halftime.

“Xcaret is a terrific player,” Patano said. “It’s no secret that she’s special. Not only does she have the physical ability, but her soccer brain is outstanding. They had two or three girls on her at times, and she still scored four goals.”

Midway through the second half, Central (6-10-1, 2-4-1) had a scoring chance on a breakaway by Grace Bardachowski, but East keeper Anna Jenkins made the save. On the ensuing trip down the field, Pineda scored again to make it 4-1 with 10:39 to play. She added her fourth goal with 2:25 to go.

“I like to fire away and take as many shots as I can,” Pineda said.

Central coach Ken Schoen noted the turning point.

“We had a chance to make it 3-2,” he said. “It was a great effort by Grace to get into a 1-on-1 with the keeper. She did all she could, but the girl made a good save. Then, they went and scored and instead of 3-2, it was 4-1.

“Getting scored on 13 seconds in is a tough way to start. That shot was from a nearly impossible angle, and she got it in the side. We have a good defense, but we aren’t full strength right now. We hope to be full strength by the time regionals start.

“Also, [Pineda] is a special player. I am glad she’s a senior. I can appreciate her talent, but it will be nice to not have to go against her again.”