Hawks head into playoffs on a high note

By Darryl Mellema

If Bartlett was hoping for a confidence-booster in its final regular season match, it certainly got one in its 2-0 Upstate Eight Conference victory at St. Charles East on Saturday afternoon.

The Hawks (14-5, 7-3) controlled possession through the first half and matched the Saints (10-8-2) when the hosts increased their tempo in the second half.

Importantly, Bartlett turned those positives into goals, the all-important deciding factor in any soccer match.

"We've been able to compose ourselves pretty well the last couple of games," Bartlett coach Ben Beary said.

"We've got some talented players but sometimes we played head games with ourselves. Earlier in the year, if we get scored on, we'd play down or start yelling at each other. That hardly happens now."

The Hawks needed a few minutes to settle against St. Charles East.

In fact, the Saints had a solid shot in the very opening minutes, first with a shot that was saved and then a corner kick that needed to be defended. Bartlett stayed together, however, and worked its way into ascendancy in the match.

"We've gained a lot of experience by playing together," Beary said. "The evidence of that is playing and not getting on everyone's case.

"We're able now to pick each other up and to have one steady pace, regardless of what the score is. We're showing a lot of maturity these last few games."

The Hawks took the lead after 20 minutes following a goal mouth scramble after an Alex Ortiz free kick.

The ball went into the net off a Saints player defending that free kick though, by high school rules, the result is not an own goal but a goal to Ortiz.

"That's a part of the game," Beary said. "Sometimes you're lucky and sometimes you're unlucky.

"We had a bit of luck in the first half. But sometimes, the work you put in at practice determines the kind of luck you have."

Each team had chances to score in the final 20 minutes of the opening half. Charlie Sordini came close for Bartlett while Danny Danny Muzzalupo had a good opportunity for St. Charles East.

"I felt like we played well from the start," Bartlett senior Eric Kennebeck said. "They are a physical team but, although we aren't a very large team, we were able to combat that with speed. We passed the ball well today."

St. Charles East's best chance to level the scores came 19 minutes into the second half when Robert Shone headed off the crossbar.

"Right from the beginning, they had a run into the box," Kennebeck said. "It was only 1-0 and we realized we had to step up and couldn't let them score because we wanted to win this game."

Three minutes later, Bartlett put away the contest. Joe McCullough passed infield from the right to Anthony DiNuzzo, who hit an unstoppable shot that went off the Saints goalkeeper's hands into the upper left corner of the net.

"If you keep fighting and keep working, eventually, you get your opportunities," Beary said. "That's what happened in the second half."

Despite the loss, St. Charles East could take positives from the match.

"To be honest, there wasn't much between the two teams," St. Charles East coach Paul Jennison said. "They had three shots on target and scored two. We had a total of 10 shots on target or wide, and that about sums it up."

Jennison also pointed to errors that led to each of Bartlett's goals.

"On the first, there's no one around and the defender's stuck out a leg," Jennison said.

"It's a weak shot and it's gone in the bottom corner. We haven't had a break on one of those all season. On the second, the kid's hit a great strike. But we've let him shoot unchallenged from 20 yards."

The Saints had Christian Beardsley and Frank DiNatale leave the field with injuries, though the severity of those knocks won't be fully known until early this week.

"It's like I said 'do we really want to be playing on the Saturday before the tournament starts?'" Jennison said. "At the same time, you can't go in thinking 'we might get a player hurt.

"You've got to play every game. I told them that everyone was playing for places on Tuesday and it was just like every other game. If we got knocks, we got knocks, and that's life."

Bartlett enters postseason play on Wednesday when it begins play in the semifinals of the Wheaton North Class 3A Regional.

"We are ready," Beary said. "We can't wait to get this underway. We are playing our best and feeling our best. This is the time to have the tournament, the perfect time for us."

Man of the match: Joe McCullough

Saturday's 2-0 victory over St. Charles East was one of those matches where captains need to stand tall, and Bartlett senior midfielder Joe McCullough stood out like Paul Bunyon.

Especially in the first half, when the Hawks held most of the possession, the Bartlett senior was central in most attacks.

His diversity in choosing whether to hold the ball or to increase the pace and move quickly into attack helped Bartlett control possession.

"I think we controlled most of the game," McCullough said.

In the second half, St. Charles East rallied, but that was the point when McCullough got onto the scoresheet, providing the pass from which Anthony DiNuzzo scored.

"I thought it was pretty nice," McCullough said. "It was a good pass, but he put it away extraordinarily."

Hawks starters vs. St. Charles East

Hawks Schedule