How this Chatham Glenwood junior stepped up to the challenge and delivered in CS8 win
ROCHESTER — Katie Bell kept snuffing out Haden Vlcek’s penalty kicks in practice.
It prompted the latter to switch up her tactics. It seemed to do the trick.
Vlcek scored a pair of PKs and Chatham Glenwood dispatched host Rochester 3-0 in a marquee Central State Eight Conference girls soccer match on Tuesday.
“We've been working on them in practice — and shoutout to Katie,” Vlcek said, referring to the senior backup goalie. “She saved like three of my PKs, but then I changed it and they've been working a little bit better for me, so it was nice.
“I felt confident. It's just something I know and it was nice to step up and be able to put two in and have a bigger security net.”
Up to the challenge
Ella Gorrie, The State Journal-Register's two-time Large School Girls Soccer Player of the Year, previously handled PKs before departing to Indiana State University.
Vlcek, a junior center back and an Indiana University commit, made a strong case to be the next in line.
“Those are the first penalties we've had this year, so we hadn't really said anything about who's going to take it,” Glenwood coach Jay Lipe said. “A lot of times I like to wait until the first one happens and see who wants to step up because I think a lot of penalty kicking is who feels confident and wants to do it.
“Haden stepped up tonight, and even the second one she didn't hesitate, so she did a nice job. I think we've got a couple of other girls that would like to do it too, but we'll see."
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A handball led to the first penalty kick with 22 minutes, 37 seconds left in the first half.
Senior forward Savannah Bell assisted the following goal to sophomore forward Rylann Law with 36:16 remaining in the second half. Vlcek capitalized on the second PK with under 15 minutes left after a foul in the box.
Junior goalkeeper Abigail Stephens had a spectacular diving save toward her left with under 24 minutes left and totaled three saves.
Glenwood (8-4-1 overall, 6-0 CS8) now only shares first place in the CS8 standings with Springfield High. The Senators (9-5, 6-0 CS8) knocked off Decatur Eisenhower/MacArthur 11-0 on Tuesday.
The Titans recently put their mettle to the test against a series of teams from St. Louis. That included a scoreless tie against Incarnate Word Academy and narrow losses to St. Joseph’s Academy 1-0 and Cor Jesu Academy 3-2 — not to mention a 2-0 win over Quincy on Thursday and a 5-2 loss to O’Fallon on Saturday.
“Our nonconference schedule, we usually try to play a lot of bigger schools and quality opponents,” Lipe said. “But the opportunity to go play those three private schools down there that are traditionally strong St. Louis powerhouse teams, that's only going to make us stronger.
“Our girls competed well there, and we knew that coming here to Rochester on their home field, they were going to come out and battle every minute of the game. The coaching staff did a nice job tonight. Fortunately, we were able to play well and finish the chances and get the win.”
Day proves her toughness
Rochester junior goalkeeper Alyse Day chalked up six saves.
She briefly exited late in the first half after a violent collision in front of the net but returned before the break.
Rochester coach Chad Kutscher said he was impressed with how she responded.
“She was making some saves that were phenomenal. There was one ... fingertip save, she had to get low, pushed it out and it went out of bounds and then they got a corner out of it,” Kutscher said. “But that's a save that most goalkeepers don't make.”
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Although the Rockets fell to 12-3-1 overall and 5-1 in the CS8, Kutscher beamed about the team’s progress so far this season. That includes the senior leadership.
“If your seniors are leading the show, if they're the ones working the hardest, if they're the ones that are setting the tone for everything, your season is going to be a good season,” Kutscher said. “I don't even care what your record is, you're going to have everybody on board and everything's going to work out.
“That's what we've got right now, and I'm very proud of these seniors and I'm very proud of this team so far. I think it's a good team.”
Contact Bill Welt: 788-1545, bill.welt@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/BillWelt.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA girls soccer: Haden Vlcek, Chatham Glenwood top Rochester
