Crystal Lake South, Bartlett settle for draw

Updated: April 5, 2011 2:16PM

Despite playing in a game that began in the rain and finished in snow showers, Crystal Lake South goalkeeper Elizabeth Quinn somehow was able to stay warm Friday.

"It was definitely cold," Quinn said. "I just kind of was dancing around in the goal, kept talking and that kept me nice and warm."

Quinn kept the Gators in the game, making five saves as Crystal Lake South held favored Bartlett to a 0-0 tie on the final day of pool play at the South Elgin Invitational at Millennium Field in Streamwood.

It was the first shutout of the season for the Gators (1-3-2), who went 0-1-2 in pool play and will play in the fifth place match on Saturday. Bartlett (5-1-1) won the pool with a 2-0-1 record and will play defending tournament champion Rolling Meadows in the title game at 4 p.m.

"I was really excited today," Quinn said. "I had a good warm-up, so I was hoping that we'd get the (result) that we got today."

So was Crystal Lake South coach Brian Allen, whose team has struggled offensively this year, scoring just twice.

"We're connecting well, we're doing some things right, but in the final third we've got to be more dangerous," Allen said. "We created a few more chances today, which was good to see.

"My big thing was we got our first shutout of the year, so that's going to be a big confidence-builder for us as we move forward, so we can take stuff away on both sides of the ball. I thought the defense shut down a pretty high-powered Bartlett attack."

Bartlett, which recorded its fourth consecutive shutout, had the better opportunities, outshooting the Gators 13-7. The best chance for the Hawks came with 15:00 left in the second half when Nicole Gobbo got a clean shot off from 10 yards out, but Quinn sprawled to her right to make a one-handed save.

Eight minutes later, a 25-yard shot by Trisha Donlon skimmed the top of the crossbar and with 2:10 remaining, a pass from Gobbo sprung Nicki Noreen on a partial breakaway. Noreen's shot rolled untouched through the crease after Quinn charged out to cut down the angle.

"I couldn't get the ball in the net," said Noreen, who shot several other balls over the bar. "My touches were bad. Playing on the field is definitely different with the (weather) conditions, but I think we did good. We moved the ball well. We've just got to keep finishing."

"(Noreen) is probably our quickest player, deceivingly quick," Bartlett coach Heather Thomas said. "She had some good opportunities. Unfortunately, most of them went over, so we just need to work on a couple things and hopefully get them worked out before tomorrow's game."

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