Juniors Ella Rucka and Kaitlyn Lavezzi showed great chemistry with Rucka assisting Lavezzi in two goals on March 23. But it wasn’t enough to beat Joliet Catholic.

Minooka fell short, losing 3-2.

Both teams struggled through the cold and rain to put up a fight.

“It was a great battle of two good teams. Tough fought game,” head coach Christopher Brolley said.

During the game Minooka was looking to tie the game up. They fought to the last minute with excellent effort and hustle from the team.

“My favorite part of the game was how much hustle everyone on the team was giving,” Lavezzi said.

Not only was this a high school game, it was also a fun game between great friends on both teams.

“My favorite part of the match was competing against all my friends I played club with! It was fun since I’m used to being on their team instead of against them,” senior Elizabeth Buss said.

Minooka is already showing great signs of improvement.

“Everybody gave it their all, and we worked together as a team better than we had in our previous game,” Lavezzi said. “We keep improving every game and these losses help us become a better team.”

The team’s improvement has been the best it has in a long time.

“We’ve improved in every half we’ve been in, and I don’t know if I’ve said that in a while,” Brolley said. 

With little to improve on from this game, Minooka will look to improve their transition going into the next game.

“I would have liked more shots on goal,” Brolley said. “I think our defense was good against them, but we need to transition to offense better and more efficiently.”

Buss was Minooka’s top defender this game.