Brennan collects first Warrior hat trick in Oak Lawn win

By Matt Le Cren

Lincoln-Way West is an expansion team, but it didn't look like one Monday.

Led by a pair of freshman forwards who play with a skill and maturity beyond their years, the Warriors crushed visiting Oak Lawn 5-1 in New Lenox to break a two-game losing streak.

It was their biggest offensive output to date and included the first hat trick in school history.

Freshman striker Cori Brennan led the way with three goals, giving her seven on the season, while fellow rookie Kara Winans and junior midfielder Kylie Hermanson both had two assists.

"I had two great passes from Kara and a good one from Kylie," Brennan said. "We all push forward and don't give up and keep trying.

"We all know that we can compete with other teams and we can beat teams now. We got a big win, so it boosts us even more."

Brennan and Winans, who were track teammates in eighth grade, give the Warriors (3-4) a formidable combination of speed and toughness at the top of their 4-4-2 formation.

Both showcased their sprinting ability and a willingness to attack no matter how much defensive attention they receive.

"[Winans] is one of my best friends and the whole team just pushes us forward and keeps us running," Brennan said. "It's good to have someone you can count on up there."

Brennan started the scoring with 27:40 left in the first half. Hermanson’s corner kick from the right side was blocked, but she got it back and sent another ball into the box.

That's where it deflected off a defender to Brennan, whose 14-yard shot went off the hands and over the head of Oak Lawn goalie Megan Clifford.

Just 2:33 later, Hermanson launched a free kick from midfield that led to a rare 2-on-0 breakaway for the Warriors.

Junior co-captains Ashley Sichak and Kalin Winans found themselves alone behind the defense and Sichak beat Clifford with a 13-yard shot to the left post.

West increased the lead to 3-0 at the 8:11 mark on Brennan's second strike.

Taking a pass from Kara Winans 30 yards out, she spun past her defender, raced into the penalty area and finished from 13 yards away.

Even though she didn't score, Kara Winans made some crowd-pleasing plays.

The most impressive came midway through the first half as she got the ball on the left wing and dribbled alone two-thirds of the way across the field against three defenders.

She then managed to turn into the right side of the box and get behind the defense before Clifford stopped her eight-yard shot.

"We love having them up there," Sichak said of the freshmen. "We work so well as a team and they are just always working and hustling out there.

"They're always ready to run through balls and it shows. They get the results that they deserve."

Oak Lawn (1-4) ended the Warriors' attempt at the first shutout in school history when Katie Gulino deflected a long shot up the middle from Michaela Sheeran past Bryant with 23:11 left in the second half.

Despite being denied the shutout, West coach Jeff Theiss was pleased with the victory.

"As a whole, they're clicking," Theiss said. "Last week we had two 2-1 losses. Today I think they really deserved to get this result.

"Kara Winans and Cori Brennan up top, they've really added a lot. We talk about we don't care about wins and losses at this point because we're building, but they deserved this one."

The Warriors responded to Oak Lawn's goal by reestablishing their dominance in the midfield and began creating chances again, outshooting the Spartans 17-8.

Brennan completed her hat trick with 6:06 left as Kara Winans assisted, and Brittany Pole gave West its first five-goal outing at the 1:34 mark off an Erin Stai feed.

"We just ran through everything," Sichak said. "We played tough. I've never seen us come out with that fire and we wanted to win this one. We've had a few rough ones and we as a team knew this was going to be our win."

In addition to supporting the attack, Sichak teamed with sophomores Colleen Kinsella and Eva Roesel and juniors Emily Kowalski and Traci Bianchi on West's strongest defensive showing to date in front of Bryant, who made two saves.

"We're happy with where we're at but we're never satisfied and we want to improve that [record] even more," Sichak said. "We are trying to show people that we are not just a first-year program and we're trying to turn some heads."

The Warriors are off the rest of the week and won't return to action until April 13 when they travel to Lincoln-Way East.