Girls Soccer: Bolingbrook blanks Queen of Peace
By Steve Millar For Sun-Times Media March 11, 2013 9:48PM
Bolingbrook's Caroline Harvey congradulates Rachel Schneider after Schneider scored against Queen of Peace. | John Patsch~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 11, 2013 10:33PM
Rachel Schneider began her first season playing striker Monday night for Bolingbrook. It was quite a start.
Schneider scored twice as the host Raiders used two late goals to pull away for a 3-0 win over Queen of Peace in a hard-fought Windy City Ram Classic first-round game and the season opener for both teams.
“It was really exciting,” Schneider said. “This is what I was hoping to do all season. We had to shovel snow for three days just to practice. We didn’t know what to expect this first game, but it was a good start.”
Bolingbrook will meet Bremen in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
The Raiders wasted little time attacking Monday, creating several strong chances in the opening 10 minutes.
Queen of Peace goalie Vanessa Gonzalez (4 saves) made a sprawling stop on Caroline Harvey’s shot off a Schneider cross. Moments later, Harvey shot high on a breakaway.
Schneider broke through with 4:31 left in the first half, collecting a long pass from Sophia Sychowski on the right side of the box and beating Gonzalez with a shot to the left corner of the net.
The Pride put up a strong defensive fight the rest of the way and had a chance to draw even early in the second half, but could not connect on Kathleen Miller’s cross off a corner kick.
Harvey scored the insurance goal with 4:59 to go, putting in a rebound after Gonzalez smothered her initial shot.
Schneider scored again with 2:05 left.
“I liked not only that Rachel scored, but that we were able to make her the focal point of our offense and run everything through her,” Bolingbrook coach Martin Uscila said.
For Queen of Peace, hanging within one goal until the final five minutes was encouraging, especially since the team hadn’t had a single practice outside in the preseason.
“I think we’re a 60-minute team and not an 80-minute team yet,” Peace coach Julio Martinez said. “I’m happy for the most part, though, considering the circumstances.”
