In terms of local rivalries, the girls soccer teams at Hinckley-Big Rock and Indian Creek have a pretty good thing going.
The two teams met again on Thursday night in Hinckley, in what was the third meeting of the year between them. The host Royals used a second-half goal from Maxzine Rossler to earn a 1-0 victory over their Route 30 neighbors.
The win pushed H-BR to 7-6-2 overall, while the Timberwolves dropped to a misleading 3-12-1.
The previous two meetings both ended in 1-1 ties, although Indian Creek earned a penalty kick win in one of the matches. The two teams will meet for a fourth time on May 13 in the quarterfinal round of the Hinckley-Big Rock Class A Sectional.
"Two ties and a 1-0 game," said H-BR coach Paul Tauber about the season series. "They know us and we know them. There are no surprises, unless we get a transfer that can play."
Actually, Thursday's match was eerily similar to the previous two meetings. H-BR held 1-0 leads in both matches, only to see the Timberwolves come back to tie on both occasions.
"After a couple ties, and after being up 1-0 both times, the girls really wanted to finish it out," Tauber said.
H-BR held a commanding 17-5 advantage in shots, but both teams could only muster a few good scoring chances.
Indian Creek had the first good scoring opportunity less than eight minutes into the match when Lindsay Richardson made a nice crossing pass from the right wing. Gretchen Tyler was in the area and appeared to have a good look at the net, but the H-BR defense got the ball out of trouble before Tyler could get a good shot.
The Timberwolves had their best opportunity just six minutes into the second half. After the Royals failed to clear an Indian Creek corner kick, an H-BR defender was whistled for a hand ball in the penalty box.
Katie Hunt put the ensuing penalty kick on net, but H-BR goalkeeper Jessica Leifheit made a huge save to keep it a scoreless game.
"Normally it's right where she wants it, but that one wasn't," said IC coach Don Hunt about the placement on the penalty kick. "And don't take anything away from their keeper. It wasn't an easy save."
The Royals finally broke through with 23:17 remaining. Alyssa Baunach gained possession and made a solid crossing pass from the right side. Rossler got control in front of the net and snuck a shot past IC keeper Kaylee Berg (nine saves).
"It was a little scramble," said Tauber about the goal. "Baunach came out with it, hit a nice cross and Rossler made a great run. That was all she wrote."
Both teams will be in action again this weekend. Indian Creek travels to Elgin Academy for a Saturday afternoon match, while the Royals play in the Burlington Central Tournament.
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