DIXON – Kaneland’s Senior Night is Thursday, but the Knights’ soccer team got to experience the kind of energy that the special day brings out.
Unfortunately, the night was not theirs.
Guests of Dixon’s Senior Night Monday at the A.C. Bowers soccer pitch, the Knights were stifled by a senior-laden Duchesses midfield swarm that denied them plenty of looks in a 1-0 loss.
Dixon (15-1), who has won 12 straight matches, last lost on March 29 to Sycamore. They have only allowed one goal during that stretch.
“Dixon’s very good. We knew that coming in that this was going to be a tough game,” Knights coach Scott Parillo said. “We didn’t take that for granted. Senior Night, [Dixon] came out on fire, wanting to win this game. They took advantage of the opportunities that they had.”
Kaneland (12-3-2) didn’t get an offensive strike planned up front until the 17th minute, and even that run ended with a misfired cross. The Duchesses were scrapping and clawing for every 50-50 ball they could get their feet on, and shot the ball up field toward senior forward Lexy Langloss and freshman forward Taylor Harrison.
In the 28th minute, senior midfielder and NIU commit Kylee Hermeier won possession of a ball close to the near sideline and positioned it forward to freshman Paige Stees – who then crossed it to Harrison running toward the left post. Harrison booted the ball in from about 10 yards past Knights’ keeper Emma Ball for the game’s lone goal.
“We were all jumping at the ball,” Hermeier said. “We could tell that we really wanted to win. We played as a team the whole time, from defense, to midfield, to the offense. This is one of the best games we’ve played all season.”
Kaneland’s only shot on goal came in the 32nd minute; they added two more shots in the second half, but none came close to the net. From the 67th minute to the 73rd, the Knights found themselves in more of a position to strike, but came up empty.
Dixon out-shot Kaneland 13-1 overall, and 9-1 on-target. Ball made seven saves in goal for the Knights.
“For us, it was just too little, too late,” Parillo said. “Sometimes that’s just the way things go. You can’t let a quality team do that. They were more aggressive than us.”
The Knights host DeKalb on Thursday for Senior Night.