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Larkin dispatches crosstown rival Elgin
Updated: May 3, 2011 10:47PM
ELGIN — Regardless of the type of season either team is having, any Elgin-Larkin matchup leaves one side celebrating and the other disappointed.
Thanks to a quick start, Larkin put an even bigger damper on Elgin’s senior night than the constant first-half drizzle as the Royals posted a 5-1 victory in order to also enjoy the feeling of back-to-back victories. With the win, Larkin improves to 2-12-2 overall and 1-3-1 in Upstate Eight Conference River Division play while the hard-luck Maroons fell to 0-14-0 and 0-4-0.
“We’ve been waiting for this match for a long time and it not only feels great to beat them but to have two in a row,” Larkin goalie Diana Hernandez said.
“Knowing their coach and many of their players makes it fun and also motivates us.”
The Royals certainly came out motivated, jumping out to a 3-0 lead within the first 12 minutes. The contest was only 4:36 old when Jessica Mancilla’s cross found Kaylee Sullivan in place for a 4-yard tap-in by the left post. Four minutes later, Leslie Avalos broke free on the right wing and after a 15-yard carry, booted it home from 11 yards out.
Three minutes later, Amanda Lane got a memorable night started when she finished another breakaway with a 12-yarder from the right.
“We really wanted to get off to a good start since we had circled this game on our schedule after they beat us for the first time last year,” Larkin coach Ken Hall noted. “I thought a key to the game was Amanda being all over the place along with Leslie (Avalos) and Abby (Alvarez) controlling things so well for us.”
To the Maroons’ credit, they took control at the start of the second half, and after not registering a single shot on goal in the first 40 minutes, started testing Hernandez. At 54:25, Jennifer Lopez blasted a 21-yard direct free kick into the upper-left corner to thrill the home fans.
But before Elgin could seriously consider a comeback, Larkin countered with Wendy Guadarrama setting up Lane for a 7-yarder out front. The sophomore midfielder then made it a hat trick eight minutes later when she used a Jaci Bridges assist.
“That’s my first hat trick ever and coming against a rival makes it a little more memorable,” Lane admitted. “I wasn’t trying to blast any of them because it was slick, so I was more worried about kicking with control into the corner.”
Elgin, which is down 13 players from an early season roster of 24, suffered a major blow in Monday’s practice when season-long keeper Kayla Rodriguez collided with starter Amani Salinas. The latter is gone for the season with a broken left leg while eight stitches put Salinas on the sideline along with sweeper Makena Heffernan, who was sitting out due to having received five yellow cards.
“It’s certainly been a struggle and I believe if we were at full strength, this could’ve been a much different contest,” Elgin coach Sarah Marks said. “At halftime I did have to fire them up a little and it was good to see them respond but we needed more of that from the start.”
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