Short-Handed Foxes Drop Home Soccer Opener

All the odds were stacked against Yorkville at the girls soccer home opener Wednesday afternoon.

Six players, including both goalkeepers, were on family vacations. Plus, in the words of Yorkville coach Mike Jacobs: “You don’t want to  play Rosary in the season opener."

The high-powered Royals needed barely more than three minutes to open the scoring, and the Foxes were frustrated offensively the rest of the way in dropping a 7-0 decision to the all-girls Aurora school.

Yorkville senior captains Jenny Taptich and Michelle Fabricino made the most of their opportunities.

Taptich opened the game in net, replacing normal keeper Leslie Erb. The senior made several key saves to keep the non-conference match close early, stoning five shots in all.

“I’m not unhappy about their work at all,” Jacobs said of Taptich and second-half replacement Nicki Hills. “Goalie is the toughest job on the field.”

Taptich typically plays midfield and goalie wasn't a position she's played in several years.

“I played about five minutes (in net) when I was about 10,” Taptich said.

Rosary (2-1) completely dominated the action offensively in the opening half, not allowing the Foxes (0-1) to attempt a shot on goal.

But Fabricino came awfully close on three separate occasions.

The forward got behind the Rosary defense on long feeds from her teammates all three times.

But the Rosary keeper stymied all of her efforts to attempt a shot.

“It was very frustrating,” the diminutive but quick senior said. “I don’t know if I could have run any faster.”

Yorkville was able to stay within striking distance for much of the first half, still seeking an equalizer on the Royals’ early score.

But Rosary, which had several point-blank attempts midway through the half misfire, scored twice in a two-minute span late in the half to build a 3-0 lead at the break.

“We had a lot of (potential scoring) plays but weren’t finishing,” said Rosary junior Samantha Duarte, who scored the first of her three consecutive goals with 7:56 to play in the first half.

Taptich assuming her primary role finally enabled Yorkville to get some shots against Rosary in the second half. Taptich had three of the Foxes’ four shots on goal but none was able to find the mark.

“I thought I should have scored on at least one of (the chances),” Taptich said. “It’s OK, though. We have Plano tomorrow and should be able to work on the things that went wrong today.”