Jacobs earns rematch with Huntley

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CRYSTAL LAKE – In a season that has seen as many ups as it has downs for Jacobs’ girls soccer team, Friday was the high-water mark for the Golden Eagles.

Jacobs executed a clean and solid match against Prairie Ridge and held on when the Wolves pressured in the second half for a 2-1 victory in the IHSA Class 3A Crystal Lake South Regional quarterfinals. The win sets up a rematch with top-seeded Huntley in Monday’s semifinals.

Playing consistently sound soccer has not been easy for Jacobs this season, but the fifth-seeded Eagles had the rematch with Huntley – which beat Jacobs, 4-0, early in the season – in mind when Prairie Ridge tried to rally in the second half of Friday’s game.

“It was an exciting game,” Jacobs coach Jim Dzialo said.

“Prairie Ridge is a good side,” Dzialo said. “We have a lot of respect for them, and we were really glad to get the win.

“ ... [Playing Huntley again] came across here at the end. Mentally we do well when we are the underdog, and I felt we were very close to being two [goals] up on them the first time we played.

“We might not be as technically skilled as some of the players they have, but we will play them tough. The girls know there are 80 minutes of soccer they have to play, and they know it’s a very unforgiving game.”

The fourth-seeded Wolves (14-5-1) understood that Friday, when two first-half mistakes negated most of the effort Prairie Ridge put into the second half.

Molly Leopold struck first for the Eagles (11-10-2) with 11:41 left in the first half. Maria Tamburrino’s pass from the left corner of the box landed at Leopold’s feet on the right side of the goal, and her shot hit the crossbar and the left goal post before falling into the corner of the net.

Kristen Smith scored Jacobs’ second goal 7 minutes later. Midfielder KC Roller threaded a pass up top to Smith, who split two Prairie Ridge defenders and shot the ball into the left corner for a two-goal advantage.

“We worked together as a team out there and [the goal] was the result of that,” Smith said. “KC gave me a good pass, so I took the shot.”

Prairie Ridge tried to control the tempo in the second half and scored with 30 minutes remaining in the match when Becca Reitz dribbled up the right sideline and shot from just outside the box.

Despite its best efforts, though, Prairie Ridge could not tie the score and force an extra session.

“We played well in the second half, but we didn’t take care of things in the first half,” Prairie Ridge coach David O’Leary said. “I don’t think it helped that we had to play [Thursday night against Grayslake North], but we don’t want to make excuses.

“ ... I thought we had a nice year. We played some good soccer at times. We were a little inconsistent, but for the most part I was very pleased. It would have been nice to get 15 wins, but overall I thought we got better as the season went on. I thought there were some games we should have won, but I thought the girls worked very hard.”