SOUTH ELGIN – South Elgin rarely plays Palatine and did not know what to expect from the visitors.

The Storm used the first half, which ended in a 0-0 tie, to familiarize themselves with the Pirates.

Making adjustments based on the first half observations, the Storm gained the upper-hand during the last 40 minutes for a 3-1 nonconference win Thursday.

Nevaeh Gyurko’s brace and Avianna Hernandez’ successful free kick provided South Elgin’s offense. Jolee Waddington’s penalty kick kept Palatine (7-8-1) in the match.

With its 15th victory of the season, South Elgin accomplished a second milestone in a week, the most victories in a season. On Tuesday, the Storm clinched it second-straight Upstate Eight Conference title.

South Elgin coach Jerzy Skowron wanted his squad to gain experience playing an unknown team.

“We didn’t scout them. I didn’t know anything about them other than they were coming here. I wanted these girls to get the feeling we’re going into this fight blind a little bit,” the Storm coach said. “It was a little bit of back and forth in that first half, and we probably gave up a little bit too much to Palatine.”

Palatine was acclimating to the competition too.

“I think both teams in the first half were kind of figuring out each other a little bit. I think things opened up a little bit more (in the second half).” Palatine coach Aaron Morris said. “The intensity was good in the first half, nothing wrong with that, but it just seemed like it at times,
everybody was a little disconnected. I thought the first half we played well but in the second half, we were a little bit too disconnected in the back.”

The Storm needed intermission inspiration.

“The halftime talk really motivated us. We all knew what we needed to do and what we needed to fix,” South Elgin senior Adeline Kinsella said. “We made sure we held each other accountable at halftime, and it really helped us.”

Skowron would like to see less need for the motivational halftime speeches.

“That’s been our MO, maybe more often than I would like this season,” said the South Elgin manager. “Credit to Palatine, they came out, they gave us a game. But I think a lot of it was kind of self-inflicted on us, not taking care of the ball and not kind of getting to our spots. 

“I think ironically, the wet surface played a little bit of a role in that. We didn’t understand it very well, but I think at half time they got the message.”

Palatine also had to adjust to the Storm’s pitch.

“We’re not used to playing on grass which kind of restricted us a little bit. In key parts, we played well offensively, we were able to connect the ball correctly” said Palatine senior captain Gretchen Kiesler. “I think overall we had a decent game. We just need to clean some things up
before the playoffs. I think those are easy corrections, and I think we’ll be fine.”

In an effort to jumpstart the offense, Skowron went to a 4-2-4 formation after halftime.

“We went to a more tech-heavy formation with our usual five attackers (Gyurko, Lucy Tomasi, Kinsella, Hernandez and Christina Slovik) who are incredibly talented, probably some of the best in the area.” Skowron said. “Avianna stayed as an attacking midfielder. We just wanted to put
more pressure on Palatine. We pushed that a little bit and gave up a little leeway in the midfield.

“We’re confident in our backline and in our front four, and we were able to get the job done.”

The mid-match strategy change paid off.

Gyurko scored South Elgin’s first goal in the 55th minute on an indirect assist from Tomasi. 

Dribbling up the far sideline and into the box, Tomasi blasted the ball toward the net. Palatine goalkeeper Lila Hanson (seven saves) deflected the shot back into the pitch. Gyurko, racing in toward the right side of the goal, corralled the ricochet just inside the box and returned it into the net.

As in real estate, the key to the goal was location, location, location.

“Lucy was making her run. Her shot hit the goalie,” said Gyurko, Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match. “I was just in the right spot, and I was able to put it in.”

Gyurko notched her brace and 25th goal of the season with 11:46 left to play. After bringing the ball up from midfield, the sophomore passed it to Tomasi. From outside the left post, Tomasi played the ball back to Gyurko at the left corner of the box.

“I demanded the ball back, and I took a touch,” said Gyurko. “I just shot it, and it went into the right corner of the net.”

“They took advantage of the space in the back,” Morris said about the goals.

The Palatine manager was pleased with the play of defenders Claire Zach and Maddie Rams.

“I thought Claire played an excellent game, she played really well,” the Palatine coach said. “Maddie is always throwing her body around.”

South Elgin’s 2-0 lead was short-lived.

Palatine closed the gap back to one goal in the 70th minute. After a Pirate corner kick, the Storm was assessed a penalty during a scrum for the ball in front of the goal. Waddington scored her team leading 16th goal, sending the ensuing spot-kick into the right corner of the net.

“(Waddington) was a handful tonight, but I thought the girls that played in the back today, Ashley (Gonzalez), Mia (Traver), Maddie (Baker), Riley (Goetz) and Jatem (Owens), did a fantastic job,” Skowron said.

Hernandez returned South Elgin’s margin to two with 45 ticks left on the clock. The sophomore’s well-aimed free kick from 25 yards went over the wall of Palatine defenders and into the goal between Hansen and the left post.

Jersie Speidel (one save) and Lilly Rodriguez (two saves) split goalkeeping duties for the Storm.

Speidel started and Rodriquez took over in the second half.

South Elgin finished the regular-season with a 15-6-2 record.

“It’s a program record for wins from the stats that I’ve gotten and 15-6-2 is nothing to sneeze at,” the South Elgin coach said. “These girls have done a fantastic job. They do everything we asked them to do, and I couldn’t be prouder of the team.”

Starting lineups

Palatine
GK: Lila Hanson
D: Madeline Rams
D: Clare Zach
D: Gretchen Kiesler
D: Dani Hannon
MF: Ava Millan
MF: Jocelyn Bonilla
MF: Allison Sobel
MF: Maya Virgen
F: Autumn Johnson
F: Ilianna Hernandez

South Elgin
GK: Jersie Speidel
D: Ashley Gonzalez
D: Mia Traver
D: Madelyn Baker
D: Ellie Vidic
MF: Avianna Hernandez
MF: Callie Miller
MF: Adeline Kinsella
F: Christine Slovik
F: Lucy Tomasi
F: Nevaeh Gyurko

Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Nevaeh Gyurko, so., F, South Elgin

Scoring summary

First half
No scoring

Second half
South Elgin: Gyurko, 55’
South Elgin: Gyurko (Tomasi), 69’
Palatine: Waddington (PK), 70’
South Elgin: Hernandez (FK), 79’