Bartlett opens big week with win over Carmel

By Curt Herron

As it heads into a critical week filled with as many as five matches, Bartlett was looking to set the right tone when it squared off against Carmel on Monday.

That was the Hawks' opening match in their own six-team tournament, which also features play on Wednesday and possibly a couple of other games on Saturday.

Bartlett also faces St. Charles North in an Upstate Eight Conference match today, meaning that this week's play could make up a quarter of the season's schedule.

After watching his team finish strong but drop a 1-0 UEC decision at Waubonsie Valley in their lone match last week, coach Ben Beary was hoping for a positive result.

And thanks to a strong second-half team performance, the Hawks put it all together and overcame the scrappy Corsairs to claim a 3-2 victory at Millennium Field.

"This was the first time in a couple of games where we a 15 to 20 minute span in the second half where we had everyone playing on the same page at the same time," Beary said. "We're a very tough team to handle when that happens.

"I was hoping we'd start that way after we finished strong in our loss to Waubonsie. It took us into the second half to get there but once we did, things were clicking. Hopefully this boosts our confidence after the Waubonsie loss.

"Carmel's a tough team and we had troubles with their physicality in the first half. I challenged the guys at halftime and told them they needed to play with more heart to match their physicality and we did that in the second half."

After allowing a late score in the first half, Bartlett (5-2) got the first two goals of the second half and are now just one win shy of last year's victory total.

In the opening minutes of the new half, each squad got a shot on goal as Carmelo Abate sent a liner to Matt McHugh and Jeff Gal stopped a shot by Jack Stefanski.

Shortly before the midpoint of the second half, Eric Kennebeck, who made his first start of the year, nearly got his second goal but his short attempt was halted.

Bartlett finally put it all together for the eventual game-winner on a great sequence that involved at least five players and covered over half of the field.

Alex Ortiz started things in the midfield, Abate took the ball down the line, Kennebeck had a touch on it next and Brian Roman managed to get off a short shot.

McHugh came up with a nice save but Tommy Russo was in the right place to put in the rebound to give the Hawks a 2-1 advantage with 18:43 remaining in the match.

Then just under six minutes later, Bartlett got a big insurance goal when Roman was able to connect with 12:46 to go, following a pass from Marino Zaccaro.

It was a good thing that the Hawks got that score because the Corsairs kept battling, beginning with Stefanski's corner that Gal stopped short time later.

Carmel made things interesting when it closed to within 3-2 with two minutes left after Jake Changelon collected his second goal after firing in an attempt.

The drama continued until the final moments as Carmel's Aaron Ogunro was stopped by Gal on a short try in front of the net with just 10 seconds remaining.

"It feels good to win this game," senior Joe McCullough said. "They were definitely one of the better teams that we've played. This is a real confidence boost and it also gives us more energy to play harder in the next game.

"We just want to go out and play as a team. When we start playing the long balls, it doesn't work. But when we play to the feet and make smart passes, that's how you get goals. This week is where are true colors will show.

"Since we only won six games last year some people don't think we're that good, but they'll see. We've had two teams who've played with each other since we were kids and when you put the two together, we have a lot of talent."

The Hawks got off to a good start and had numerous opportunities during the initial 20 minutes of play in the match but only were able to find the net once.

McCullough started things when his early effort got stuffed by McHugh and Brett Dini sent a header that was cleared by a defender followed by a shot to McHugh.

Right after that, the Hawks just missed connecting when Fabio Aiello sent a free kick in and Kennebeck headed it toward the net, forcing the keeper to dive.

But with 26:54 left in the half, the pressure finally paid off as Aiello sent in another free kick that Ortiz got his head on, forcing McHugh to deflect it away.

The ball bounced back in front of the net and Kennebeck was there to knock it in to give the Hawks the early lead. He had another shot on goal a few minutes later.

It was a different story during the final 20 minutes of the opening half, however, as Carmel went on the offensive by sending at least five good shots toward Gal.

The Corsairs forced a 1-1 tie with 6:01 left before the break when Changelon got free and managed to fire off a shot that just found its way past the post.

"This was Eric's first start of the year and I couldn't have asked for anything more from him," Beary said. "I thought we needed more speed up front at the beginning of games.

"It's a big week for us with three games in a row and then we go again on Saturday. It won't be easy so we know that we have to bring our 'A' game each time out. If we can build off of today, it will yield so many dividends."

Man of the match: Eric Kennebeck

By Curt Herron

Eric Kennebeck earned his first start of the season for Bartlett and it's safe to say that it was a successful debut.

Hawks coach Ben Beary shook up his lineup to get a little more speed up front at the start of matches and the move paid off on Monday.

Facing Carmel in the opening round of the Bartlett Invite, Kennebeck made his presence felt when he scored the match's first goal.

The junior also played a role on the eventual game-winning goal in the second half as the Hawks went on to claim a 3-2 victory.

It kicked off a busy week for Bartlett, who also plays today and Wednesday and could have two more tournament games on Saturday.

Things have been going very well thus far for the 5-2 Hawks, who are now just one victory shy of their win total from a year ago.

"This was a pretty good win," Kennebeck said. "In the first half we played more individually than we did during the second half, when we had some good passes that led to our two goals.

"Each of those goals was from one player to another with strings of seven to eight passes. It also felt like we gave a lot more effort in the second half and we had a lot more energy.

"We found out that we can go deeper on our bench and our subs proved that they can play at this level. I like how our team never gives up and we keep going no matter what the score is."

Hawks starters vs. Carmel