By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
The Timothy Christian girls soccer team concluded its season with a recent 3-1 loss to Chicago Holy Trinity in the championship game of the Class 1A Timothy Christian regional in Elmhurst.
Timothy finished the year with a 9-7-1 mark.
The Trojans reached the regional final after a 12-0 win over Josephinum. In that game, Emma Carter had three goals and two assists, while Maddie Schaafsma had three goals. After the Josephinum contest, Carter had 16 goals and 10 assists on the season while Schaafsma had 11 goals and four assists.
“We have been working hard at providing meaningful service into the box,” said Timothy coach Jon Hamelinck late last week. “We can get to dangerous areas on the field, but we have a hard time generating more offense once we get down there. We have been doing a better job of finding feet in the box.”
Hamelinck noted the Trojans were stung by the loss of Elena Munk on defense to an injured leg in a game against Illiana Christian. “That was a big loss,” he said.
Hamelinck noted Celeste VanderMeer, Jana Kunz and Ellie Bradley were being looked upon to pick up the slack with Matea Cummings and Alexandra Skokos filling in for Munk. “We have looked more confident and composed when under pressure and this has been our greatest area of growth over the course of the season,” the coach said.
Angel Burke has provided a steady hand in goal for the Trojans. “Angel has been pretty solid all season,” said Hamelinck. “She has had to deal with some injuries recently, but Elainy Cortes has stepped up nicely in her absence. I was happy to get a couple of clean sheets this season because the two of them have deserved it and have kept us in games at times this season.”
Hamelinck said the team continued to work on staying connected across the field. “We tend to get stretched out, which makes possession more difficult to maintain,” he said. “We’ve generated some offense off the transition, but establishing support is something we continue to work on. We also are too quick to stop trusting each other. A missed pass or a turnover and we tend to panic as opposed to playing with composure, but that is perhaps the product of a young team.”
Hamelinck cited recent strong play from the likes of Scaafsma, Carter and VanderMeer.
“Maddie has started to produce more consistently for us,” he said. “She got off to a slow start, but seems to have returned to form in the past six or seven games. She’s finishing more of her opportunities and being involved in the play. Emma has been a consistent player for us this season. She leads the team in goals and assists and has great game knowledge. Her communication on the field is improving as well. Celeste has grown significantly over the past couple years into a fine central defender. Her leadership and tackling ability have improved and she has good command of her back line.”
Hamelinck has been pleased with the development he’s seen this season from his young team. “With a young group, starting five freshmen or more in every game this season, we have made great strides from the beginning of the year,” he said. “They have been a very coachable group and our upperclassmen have done a nice job in leading them. The exciting part is we are starting a process where most of these girls will be together for a long time. It has been a bit of a program-building year, but we have been competitive both in conference and the tournaments we have played in.”
