Chicagoland Soccer

Understaffed Wolves fall to Lake Park on late goal
By Bill Hupp

Nicole Moore was dealing with a migraine before the second game of the Lake Park/Rolling Meadows Invitational when Lake Park coach Chris Fruehling asked her if she thought she could play.

Moore said she could give it a go, and in doing so, gave Oswego East plenty of headaches.

The senior center midfielder was a constant threat to score and eventually netted the game-winner on a long free kick with 7:37 to play to give Lake Park a 3-2 home victory over a game but short-handed Oswego East side.

The Wolves came into the game missing three starters taking their ACTs and regular goalkeeper Alyson Newton out-of-town attending a family wedding. Center mid Megan Moran was pressed into starting netminder duty as a result.

Moran made a couple nice saves but no coach ever wants to put a field player in net.

“She’s not a goalie,” Oswego East coach Lauren Anderson said. “We don’t have a backup, it was hard enough finding a [starting] goalie this season. Megan Moran just did what she could.”

For many long stretches of the game, Lake Park dominated in terms of possession and scoring opportunities. The Lancers earned more corners (5-0) and peppered Moran with shots from near and far. Though the final shot totals were similar (16-15), the Lancers had more quality chances.

Despite the Lancers’ statistical dominance, however, Oswego East (3-6) briefly took a 2-1 lead late in the second half off a beautiful set piece. Megan Ross sent a big looping free kick from the right wing to the far post that wasn’t properly dealt with by Lake Park, and Wolves’ senior midfielder Carli Schlaker was right there to poke it past Lake Park keeper Rebecca Thorne.

“When we went down, it could go one of two ways,” Fruehling said. “You can hang your heads in frustration or they could pull together as team and fight back. We scored within that first minute and we kept getting hungrier. We fought together to come back as a team.”

Indeed, Lake Park (6-4-1) equalized less than a minute later when a Lancers corner was cleared back outside the box to freshman defender Casey Harris, who took a touch and drove a low, hard shot that found the net.

Shortly thereafter, Lake Park won a free kick just inside midfield and Moore stepped up with one thought on her mind. From 40 yards out in the middle of the field, the strong-legged senior picked out the upper left corner an arced the ball in to help Lake Park regain the lead.

“Typically, I try to [score on free kicks],” Moore said. “Most of my goals this season have been from free kicks, but that was [not their starting] goalie, so I was even more focused on trying to get a shot off.”

Moore’s strong leg helped Lake Park open the scoring in the first half when she fired a shot from distance that surprised Moran when it bounced off the post, then ricocheted off her leg for a corner kick.

Sophomore Jillian Kent’s beautiful corner fell to senior defender Ariane Monaco in the box, who deposited a shot into the left corner. Moore almost scored in the second half from another long free kick, but this one bounced once and banged off the crossbar.

Though the public address announcer didn’t even attempt to pronounce Anida Phetchanpheng’s last name in player introductions, everyone knew who she was by the end of the game. The diminutive but tough Oswego East junior was moved up from sweeper to striker because of her skill level and great speed.

Phetchanpheng gave Lake Park fits in the first half, fighting through double teams to get off five of her team’s seven shot attempts.

With 8:04 to play in the first half, Phetchanpheng received a pass with her back to goal, spun away from a few defenders, dribbled away from another to give herself space and fired a laser to the upper right corner of the net to tie the game at 1.

She also created a nice chance to equalize with two minutes left in the game, but she sent a right-footed blast just over the top corner of the net. Lake Park tried to slow Phetchanpheng by putting Harris on her as a straight mark and having senior defender Briana Small at sweeper to help. Sure enough, her touches were limited in the second half.

“She’s dangerous out there,” Coach Anderson said. “We put her up top today to get a little offensive threat because of her skill level and she can out-jump almost anyone. That’s going to be her spot moving forward.”

Anderson also cited excellent defending by junior sweeper Brenna Risch and freshman midfielder Miranda Lambert as keys to the Wolves staying in the game.

“I’m proud of [our kids], they fought to the very last minute,” Anderson said. “They played with a lot of intensity. They did the best they could under the circumstances we were given.”

The win is Lake Park’s fourth consecutive and means Lake Park advances to the Lake Park/Rolling Meadows championship game next Saturday. It was a nice confidence boost for the Lancers heading into a conference clash with state-ranked Waubonsie Valley on Tuesday.

“Those teams are the bar that we want to achieve,” Fruehling said of conference powerhouses Metea Valley, Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley. “They are first-class programs every year. My goal is to be at that caliber and I think we’re getting one step closer with each year. “