Scouts blank Zion-Benton 5-0
By Darryl Mellema

 

CLICK HERE FOR LAKE FOREST'S TEAM PAGE

Watching Ali Danneker and Kendall Hoke dominate central midfield with a partnership that appeared effortless and fluid, you'd have gotten the idea that the Lake Forest duo had been together for years.

And of course that's not the case – in part because Danneker is a senior and Hoke a freshman. But it's also not happened even in the handful of games the Scouts have played this season.

But Danneker and Hoke were the engine that helped drive Lake Forest to a 5-0 Thursday victory at Lake Forest.

“We had nine days off for Spring Break and we scheduled practices over some of those days some of the usual starters didn't show up,” Lake Forest coach Ty Stuckslager said. “So Kendall started her first game today – and scored two goals and the Hoke twins scored two out of the five. It was nice to see the girls play well together for the fact that they normally don't play together.”

Both Danneker and Hoke mentioned the way in which they felt comfortable working together.

“It was my first time starting with her,” Kendall Hoke said. “We played really well passing together and keeping our positions, moving around and up the field together.”

While much of the 2012 season has been played in unseasonable temperatures, Thursday was more typical for early April near the Wisconsin-Illinois state line – cold, bright and windy. And in the first half, Lake Forest (5-2) attacked with that stiff wind at its back.

“The first half, it was nice having the wind at our back and it was also nice having (Marina Katz's) throw, because she can throw it all the way across the field,” Danneker said. “We were able to get our chances and Carly and Kendall scored. The second half, we tried to get it a little more on the ground and get a little more possession. I think that worked really well for us.”

The rough weather never affected Lake Forest's play as they finished a comfortable victory.

“A lot of it's mental,” Kendall Hoke said. “You want to set your mind to it because it's going to be like that for most of the game.”

The Scouts had the bulk of possession time throughout the match and Zion-Benton did not have a shot on goal in the 80 minutes. But even given that, Lake Forest showed a diversified attack that never relented.

“We played very quickly and didn't give them a chance to develop,” Stuckslager said. “They had a few long balls out and I think their keeper was outstanding. She got down low on some shots.”
While Lake Forest's attack was strong from start to finish, senior Danneker provided a level of finesse and steel to the team.

“I thought (Danneker) had her best game that I've seen her have in two or three years,” Stuckslager said. “She played in the middle and there might have been one or two mistakes. But everything else was simple and she distributed well and was a bit tenacious.”

Kendall Hoke opened the scoring after 12 minutes when she took a rebound a shot by twin sister Carly and scored. After some time in which only Zion-Benton's goalie stood in the way of Lake Forest extending its lead, Carly Hoke stabbed home a shot from close range 1:24 before halftime.

“You definitely want to take it to them and score,” Kendall Hoke said.

The Scouts' attack reached an even higher gear in the opening moments of the second half despite playing into the wind. Lake Forest moved the ball on the ground, brought additional players into the penalty area and added a third goal when Sydney Johnston sent a ball from the left that was poorly-dealt with by the Zee-Bees' defense. The ball came to Kendall Hoke on the right side of the penalty area, and she scored.

“(Stuckslager) has been getting into our head that we have to work hard the whole game,” Danneker said. “He wants us to be relentless.”

Lake Forest's fourth goal, with 18 minutes left in the match, was technically superb. Abby Shipp played a ball forward from central midfield that Catherine Trout ran onto. Trout chipped the ball into the right side netting from the left side of the penalty area.

“We're not a highly-skilled team,” Stuckslager said. “We lost 15 girls from last year's team and over 85 percent of our scoring. We're trying to be more aggressive and to be in the right place at the right time. Some of it is anticipation and some of it is taking chances and the girls are starting to get it.”

Carly Hoke finished the scoring with just under 3 minutes to play when she took a shot and had it saved. But Carly Hoke continued running and reached the ball first and scored the rebound.

On a day when a number of Scouts played in different roles, sophomore Lucy Edwards provided width as a winger, and troubled Zion-Benton throughout the match.

“This is the first game we've put (Edwards) on the wing,” Stuckslager said. “In the first half, you could see them going 'that's their back' and they didn't know how to mark her. We have a lot of versatility. We wanted to get (Edwards) on the right wing so she could go forward more, and it was effective.”

After not playing since March 21, Lake Forest's schedule now assumes a more regular flow, starting with Saturday's home match with Mundelein. Kickoff is at noon. The Scouts then open Pepsi Showdown play with a Tuesday home contest with Fenwick.

“We have two or three a week,” Stuckslager said. “It's nice because we're just starting to get back in shape.”