Girls soccer: Second half crucial for Knights in win over DeKalb

DeKALB –  Two evenly matched teams met Friday in an important Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference matchup. The score was tied, 1-1, at halftime, but Kaneland came on strong in the second half and won, 3-1.
Kaneland improves its overall record to 6-4-1 and 3-0 in the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference.

“It was a nice win for us. It’s always nice to win here, because it’s not easy to win here. I thought DeKalb played well.” DeKalb falls to 8-10 overall and 1-3 in the conference.

“I thought our kids put in a good shift,” Kaneland coach Scott Perillo said. “We came out here and created some chances. Today just wasn’t our day,” said DeKalb coach P. J. Hamilton.

With 37 minutes on the clock, DeKalb scored its only goal as Siobhan Gallagher scored from about 30 yards out. It was a high, lofting shot that went over the goalie.

“As a team, we showed a lot of improvement from yesterday’s game,” Gallagher said. “I had a chance to turn, and I’m happy it went in. We don’t give up. If you’re going to come, you’re going to get a match,” Gallagher said.

Two Kaneland goals came from two corner kicks. Taylor Carlson scored with 16:10 left in the first half. The goal was assisted by Rachael Lutter to tie the game, 1-1.

“I stay in the back, and I know Rachael will get them in the air, and I just hit it in,” Carlson said. “It was very hard to judge with the wind, but Rachael always puts it right there.”

The second corner kick was from Lutter, who scored with 18:07 in the second half to put the Knights ahead, 2-1.

“I felt like we had a really good attack today,” Lutter said. “We were pressuring hard and putting them under attack a lot and having them make mistakes. We were finishing off those mistakes and getting corner kicks.”

"It was a great team effort today," Perillo said. "Two goals off of corners today, that's huge."
The Knights' third goal of the game was scored by Emma Hedlund from a pass from Rachel Franck with 13:49 left.