Scouts edge Lincoln-Way North in Pepsi Showdown opener

 

 

By Jonah Rosenblum

Lake Forest couldn’t seem to kick the ball into the goal on Saturday afternoon in the opening-round of the Pepsi Showdown at Schaumburg's Olympic Park.

So, the Scouts tried something new, as junior midfielder Val Wood used her knee to give No. 10 seed Lake Forest a 1-0 victory over No. 23 Lincoln-Way North.

The victory earns the Scouts a second-round match at No. 7 New Trier on Tuesday. The Trevians opened the tournament with a 5-0 victory over Marist.

After spending much of the game right by the North net, and dominating the battle for time of possession, a Scouts’ throw-in finally led to an elusive goal.

It was a play that coach Ty Stuckslager had requested for quite some time.

“We talked about it today because the fields are so narrow, 60 yards, and Kendall (Hoke) has a good, long throw so we drew it up before the game and no one ran it,” Stuckslager said.

“We had three on that side in the first half and no one ran it so we got on them at half and said we’d put the whole bench in and pull the starters if they didn’t run it correctly and they either ran it correctly or wised up, either one, maybe both.”

Even so, the play didn’t develop exactly as planned.

“(Sophomore midfielder) Kendall (Hoke) has a really powerful throw-in,” Wood said. “Someone had to get a touch on it. It got past a couple of girls. We were all scrambling to get a touch on it and I just got my knee in there.”

The Phoenix nearly equalized it when junior midfielder Lexi Cesario was the beneficiary of a deflection toward the top of the goalie’s box and sent a shot just wide of the net.

“Oh, I know, right there,” North coach Michael Murphy said. “We also had (senior forward) Unique (Manns) shoot the ball right at the keeper the one time, so we had a few opportunities.”

All in all, though, it was the Scouts posting opportunity after opportunity all afternoon long.

Junior forward Mackenzie Adams was able to position herself perfectly on a corner kick but was unable to connect with the ball in the first half.

North responded with a close call of its own as senior forward Katie Pergolizzi tracked down a long ball and sent a shot high over the upper left corner of the net.

The back and forth continued as Lake Forest sent a header wide right of the net and North’s Manns sent a free kick an inch over the crossbar.

Freshman midfielder Paige Bourne had two opportunities for the Scouts toward the end of the half, but with an open look at the net, she looped her shot a little too high over the goalkeeper.

Then a little later on, after a couple of headers put the ball at her feet, she was unable to send it home, as the goalie dived out and took the ball from her.

Ultimately, North’s defense was just too strong. Though Lake Forest had plenty of chances, the Scouts couldn’t quite get that elusive easy goal.

“You hate to be on Lincoln-Way’s side of the field, because they defended us well,” Stuckslager said. “We never got a good final touch. They clogged it up back there.”

With the wind howling, and dust blowing all over the field, there was a certain havoc surrounding the contest, as long clears would die in the wind forcing the defense to go right back to work.

“The wind was kind of frantic,” Wood said. “It was kind of dusty and all that.”

The Phoenix remained in the game for a long time with persistent defense, something they have exhibited all year long.

Murphy mentioned that his team has surrendered just three goals in nine games. He credited senior defender Becca Morris with organizing his defense and blocking shots.

“I’ve got to give my girls credit,” Murphy said. “We battled to keep it 1-0.”

At the end of the day, however, it was Lake Forest that emerged with the 1-0 victory.

“The best team won today,” Murphy said. “I’ll be honest with you. The best team won.”