Sportsmanship reigns as Huntley turns up heat to top Jacobs

In a demonstration of sportsmanship, Jacobs let Huntley senior Delaney Loprieno take the opening kick before a teammate sent the ball out of bounds, allowing the Red Raiders to sub for the Northern Illinois signee who came back from injury only to suffer another that wiped out her last high school season.

Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, Huntley’s other 10 seniors were then joined by scoring leader Taryn Jakubowski for a contrast in experience Thursday that showed in a 7-0 Fox Valley Valley decision.

“It’s all about motivating them to continue improving and see what it’s like to have a veteran group like Huntley. Our aim all season has been to make steps forward and stay positive,” said first-year Jacobs coach Stephanie Schuck, whose Eagles have the difficult task of returning to Huntley on Tuesday for a Class 3A regional opener.

Huntley (14-6, 4-2) has a Friday makeup game at Grayslake North for a Fox Valley crossover before focusing on the postseason.

McKenna Moffett’s through-ball feed led to an 11-yard breakaway for fellow senior Jessica Helm at 8:06. Just over a minute later, Beth Parks took a feed from Jakubowski to make it 2-0. Jacobs (3-14, 0-6) could never recover.

“Getting that second goal quickly is real important to stay on the attack and keep momentum going our way,” Parks said. “As much as it’s a nice home finale for the seniors this was a win for all of us.”

Jakubowski earned a second assist with Kaitlin Costantino finishing a tap-in on a rebound off the goalkeeper. Parks then got the first of her two assists, with a cross headed home by Abigale Enrici. Parks’ other setup was for Jakubowski’s team-high 18th goal for a 5-0 lead at halftime.

Just over a minute into the second half, Jessica Helm stole the ball and booted a seven-yarder from the left wing for a 6-0 lead. Four minutes elapsed before last year’s leading scorer, Deanna Hecht, forgot about her knee brace and broke free to score off an assist by senior Abigail Nordeen in order to trim 14 minutes off the second half.

“We try to play as a team no matter the score, opponent or circumstances,” Nordeen noted. “It wasn’t about adding to a lead, it was making the right pass and staying organized.”

“It was nice to see Deanna get a goal,” Huntley coach Kris Grabner said. “Having all 11 seniors on the field was pretty special. This group certainly represents the family atmosphere we strive for and we’re hoping they’ve got a lot more matches together.”