Lions open Pepsi with a win over Jacobs
By Matt Le Cren

Like many high school players, Lyons Township junior midfielder Emily Lange relishes the chance of being able to play at a professional soccer stadium.

The only way for Illinois prep athletes to do that is to qualify for the championship game of the Pepsi Showdown, which will be held April 21 at Toyota Park.

Lange made sure her team took the first step of that journey Saturday, scoring the game-winning goal as the Lions dealt Jacobs a rare first-round Pepsi defeat with a 2-0 decision at Olympic Park in Schaumburg.

The Lions, who are seeded fifth in the 32-team draw, will host No. 12 Huntley, which beat Maine South 1-0, in the second round on Tuesday.

“It was good to get the first goal to get a good start to the Pepsi Showdown,” Lange said. “[The Pepsi] means the world. I remember my freshman year and we made it to Toyota Park and everyone time we come out here I want to get there again because it’s just an amazing feeling. Just doing it for our school and having our name out there, it’s great.”

After attacking into the teeth of a stiff wind and a determined Jacobs defense in the first half, the Lions (3-0-2) finally broke through with a pair of goals in the 48th minute.

Lange scored the first one when she cut into the penalty area on the right side and fired a perfectly placed 16-yard shot past Jacobs goalie Ellie Samin and inside the far corner.

“I took it on my left side and my coach was telling me I’m afraid to turn left, so I turned left and I went for it and it worked out,” Lange said. “I was like, ‘thank you, Coach,’ because I just tried to hit it and place it as well as I could.”

Less than 30 seconds later, sophomore Margaret Lynch made it 2-0 with a shot up the middle from 22 yards out. The double-tap seemed to be a reward for the Lions’ ability to completely control possession for most of the contest.

“We were attacking, attacking, attacking and just couldn’t get our shot off but we had a lot of good chances,” Lange said. “And when we both got ours I think it kind of set the tone and we were just trying to keep it out of our half.”

LT had to play into the wind in the first half and impressively kept the ball in the midfield or down Jacobs’ end for most of the 40 minutes. The Lions only got four shots before intermission, including a long floater from Lynch that was knocked down by the wind and hit the crossbar.
 
Jacobs’ Amy Rigby managed a 20-yard effort that sailed wide in the 72nd minute, but beyond that the Golden Eagles (2-4) didn’t have any looks.


“They’re a great team,” Jacobs coach Anthony Cappello said. “We knew they were as good as it gets and we just knew we needed to defend tough and make life difficult for them. We knew it was going to be a battle.

“I’m very proud of the girls’ effort. That is a heckuva team.”

The Golden Eagles received a concerted defensive effort from Dani Blanchard, Margaret Rivera, Alex Gold, Kylie Dennison, Kelly Grady and Bailey Adams, who were kept busy trying to keep the pressure off Samin, who made eight saves.

But the Lions were not going to be denied once they had the wind at their backs, peppering the Jacobs net with 18 shots after the break.

“It definitely was harder [playing in the wind] but I feel it was easier going this way than trying to go against the wind because running against the wind is harder,” Lynch said. “We had more momentum and that led to more shots.”

Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary was pleased with his team’s dominance, especially given the windy conditions and the fact the Lions were playing without senior co-captain Abbie Pasquinelli, who is one of their top playmakers. Pasquinelli broke two toes in Tuesday’s 2-1 overtime win over York and is on crutches.

“I thought we played very well,” said Lanspeary, who hopes to have Pasquinelli back in a week or two. “I thought first half going into the wind we really possessed it. We did a nice job. It was some of the best possession we’ve seen. We knocked the ball around and had great movement off the ball, especially our forwards did some good things with some nice runs.

“In the second half…with the wind at our back we knew we’d get pressed in and then you run out of space, so we tried to make sure we hung back a little bit so we could knock the ball back and wide and try to create some space and I thought we did.”

Sophomore Tina Cevizovic and freshman Grace Salvino took turns replacing Pasquinelli and combined with Lange, Lynch, Erin Fitzgerald and Ari Kowalski to prevent Jacobs from keeping the ball for too long.

When the Golden Eagles did manage to get the ball into the attack zone, defenders Liza Gabrek, Grace Nasenbenny, Sarah Drew and Catherine King stopped them cold, allowing goalie Lidia Breen to record an easy shutout.

“We work on possession a lot in practice and our defenders are really comfortable with each other, so we all felt like we were moving for each other and that makes possession easier,” Lynch said.

“I think we knew we had to play it on the ground because of the wind,” Lange added. “We just put it all together and wanted to come out with a win.”

While his team was unable to say the same, Cappello still came away feeling good about his team’s improvement.

“If you would have told me we would only give up two good chances before the game, I would have been pleased with that,” Cappello said. “The first goal, we got caught stepping in a little bit. I was unhappy with that and then the second one I think we were busy with our heads down, so I wasn’t very pleased with that, but [the Lions] are a good team. They’re going to find a crack.”

The Golden Eagles were coming off a 3-0 win Thursday over Grayslake North, which was their most productive offensive match of the season. Rivera, Dennison and Kelly Grady all scored goals in that one.

“Kylie Dennison has played a great three-game stretch,” Cappello said. “She leads by example working her tail off. Margaret Rivera running the back line is always solid. Dani Blanchard back there has done a great job and we’ve got a lot of young ones who are stepping up and playing great, so it’s fun to see. I feel like each game we’ve gotten better and that’s all you can ask from your team.”

Jacobs is unlikely to see a team as good as Lyons again before the playoffs, so the strong defensive effort bodes well.

“To be able to play a team like Lyons Township is an awesome experience and especially for the young kids,” Cappello said. “It’s great for them to see where they have to go."