Lions struggle to find their attack against York

 

YORK VS. LYONS TOWNSHIP PHOTO GALLERY

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By Gary Larsen

They did it again.

First off, no goalkeeper on earth reaches the two balls that York’s Christina Ordonez put in net against Lyons Township on Tuesday, both of which drew her side even in the game and the second of which forced overtime.

Second of all, all the running that teammate Angela Bianchi does in a game culminated in a terrific burst in a second overtime that put the game-winning shot on the York senior’s foot, in the title-deciding game of this year’s West Suburban Conference’s Silver Division race.

Thirdly, the fight and speed on the ground and the strength in the air that York (16-4-1, 6-0) simply dictated how the game was played from start to finish against visiting Lyons Township (16-4-1, 5-1) in Elmhurst.

“We all come together in games like this, where we know we’re the defending conference champs,” Ordonez said. “This is a huge game for us. LT always gives us our best game and they bring it out in us.”

“They beat us to a lot of balls in the air tonight,” Lions’ coach Bill Lanspeary said of York. “And uncharacteristically, we got into a little bit of a kick-ball match instead of trying to play soccer, and that’s not our strength.”

Bianchi essentially put on the hat that teammate Danielle Vujovic wore in last year’s WSS-deciding game against the Lions. Vujovic’s overtime goal in last year’s game against LT its second league title in program history. All three titles have come in wins over the Lions.

“Mary Kate Cicinelli sent me the ball and I saw that the defender was letting it go through,” Bianchi said. “I knew right then that I only had one little split-second to get through. The keeper was coming out to the left so I kicked it to the right.

“I thought we played really well as a team. We knew that they were ranked pretty high in the state but we also know that we have a really good team. We’re the underdogs. We knew it was going to be a good game.”

Bianchi’s goal also gave Krzysztof Halupka a conference title in his first season as head coach of York’s program. One year after former coach and current assistant AD Rachael Sheperd led York to a WSS title, Halupka took a Gatorade bath after Tuesday’s game and then talked about the pride he felt in his girls’ effort this season.

“It’s obviously a happy moment for me and the team, and the program,” Halupka said. “It’s all the hard work the girls put into it and at the end of the game we were able to find some chances and I think that gave us the edge in the end. But it all comes from the hard work on the field the girls are willing to provide.

“A very good opponent scored on us early in the game, and that backed us into a corner. The girls had to respond and I thought they did a really good job of doing that.”

The game itself saw Lyons Township take a 1-0 lead just five minutes in when Kelsey Holbert drove across the top of York’s penalty area before sending a through-ball to Coco Corrigan. Corrigan went in alone on Dukes keeper Anna Bell Lansdowne.

For the next 30 minutes, York established its dominance in the air and hammered away at creating in its final third. Ordonez’s first goal came 5 minutes before halftime on a ball sent over the top from the midfield stripe.

“I saw (Vujovic) look up and she saw me calling for it,” Ordonez said. “She sent a perfect ball, I ran onto it, and cut it in from my defender and I just kind of shot it.”

At 61 minutes, disaster seemingly struck for York on an own-goal that gave LT a 2-1 lead. The lead held until Ordonez gathered a ball in the final third and ripped a shot from distance in off the near post.

“Sam Hamilton kind of left it for me. She kind of touched it a little bit and I just hit it,” Ordonez said.

Ordonez “just kind of”  blistered her first goal to the upper ninety and then “just hit” a missile that tore off the post and into the side netting at the opposite post.

Ho-hum. All in a day’s work for the York striker, who now has “just” 19 goals on the season. “She sent on in off the post and the other one upper ninety,” Lanspeary said. “Those were great finishes.”

The junior netted 34 goals last year but has had to carry less of the scoring load this season thanks to Bianchi’s 13 goals, sister Ellie Ordonez’s 7 goals, and additional offensive firepower shown by Vujovic and company at midfield.

“I keep telling the girls to play attacking soccer, keep going forward, and keep applying pressure,” Halupka said. “We have a lot of people that can be offensive weapons and it’s paying off.”

LT fought well through the first overtime before Bianchi’s game-winner sent the Dukes into celebration mode. A few minutes after she’d been extricated from beneath a pile of screaming teammates, Bianchi talked about what keyed her side’s win.

“I thought our defense stepped it up and so did our keeper, Anna Bell,” Bianchi said. “She saved us a lot. And just (the defense) connecting to the midfielders and them getting the ball up, allowed us to get shots off. Danielle, Sam Luke, and Sam Hamilton were all controlling the middle.”

Lanspeary was pleased with the work that Emily Lange and Abbie Pasquinelli put in offensively, and he applauded the effort and play of goalkeeper Maggie Orlowski and defender Ari Kowalski in the loss, but he hopes that Tuesday’s loss serves as a warning.

“You have to give York credit. We needed to settle down, get the ball, play our feet and get good movement off the ball, but we looked like we had some tired legs tonight,” he said. “And when you’re not moving off the ball, things break down. We didn’t have the options that we normally do.

“Their strength is speed up top and physical play. They got called for a ton of fouls tonight but still, they won everything in the air. We need to be ready for that kind of physical play and match it, and tonight we didn’t. But if we play fast and get movement off the ball, it eliminates some of that.”