Phoenix blank Panthers to kick off Pepsi Showdown

By Eddie Burns

Coaches always give advice and make suggestions.

It is an added bonus when the advice sinks in and the players take the information and put it to use.

Lincoln-Way North coach Michael Murphy pulled Jessica Bean and Rita Craven aside for a quick moment in the early stages of their match at Oswego. Murphy reminded his players about how to successfully beat a flat back.

The tip worked as the duo connected on the first of two goals North would score on its way to earning 2-0 victory at Oswego in an opening round match of the Pepsi Showdown on Tuesday afternoon.

Craven set up the goal when she played a pass through the Oswego defense, and Bean ran down the ball and did the rest.

"It was a beautiful through pass," Murphy said. "We talked about that when teams play a flat back the way to exploit that is to play balls through or play them over the top.

"I just took (the players) off the field and talked about that and not even two minutes later, they got that goal. It is always a nice thing when you see something like that happen."

It was Bean's second goal as she found herself in a one-on-one situation with Oswego goalie Laura Gallardo.

"I was just trying to juke the goalie to one side so that I could get a better shot on goal," Bean said. "I saw (Gallardo) leaning toward the other side and I shot it the opposite direction."

Bean's goal came in the ninth minute and then Craven gave the Phoenix (6-1) a two-goal advantage when she accepted a pass from teammate Leigh Larocco and proceeded to dribble past two Panther defenders before placing a shot on net, which beat Gallardo in the 25th minute.

"I did a nice job dribbling, but my shot was pretty weak," said Craven, who leads the squad with eight goals. "Sometimes you just have to shoot the ball and when you do that, you get lucky and they go in."

Murphy said it's been a challenge of the coaching staff throughout the season to get the players to put shots on net.

"One thing Rita does do a good job on is taking shots on goal," Murphy said. "We'd like to see more of that. Today she did take more shots and good things usually happen when you put the ball on the net."

Murphy said he felt really good about his team's play through the first 40 minutes, considering it scored twice going into the wind, but the second half had a much different tone.

The Phoenix did not play as well and they allowed Oswego the better of the play. The Panthers (1-3) outshot the Phoenix 16-6 in the second half.

"We didn't play our best, but good teams find a way to win when they are playing poorly and that is what we did today," said Murphy, whose squad advanced to a 4:30 pm match at St. Ignatius on Thursday.

North goalie Michelle Balcerzak made several nice saves, including one off a restart midway through the second half.

The match also became very physical by virtue of the two yellow cards that were delivered throughout the match.

"It was a good thing we scored right away because that second half featured a lot of dirty soccer," Craven said. "Both teams were getting on each others' nerves."

For Oswego coach Jamie Bartkowiak, this was hardly the start she had envisioned to a potentially big week. The Panthers are in the midst of playing four matches in five days, including three straight.

"I've never had that as a coach or as a player – to play three games in three days during the regular season," Bartkowiak said.

The Panthers entered the week having played three matches, but by Saturday they will have played seven.

"It is rough when our opponents have played twice as many games as we have," Bartkowiak said. "You can see it because we are a step behind in our tactics compared to everyone else and it is rough. We were the better team today, but we just didn't get it done."

Bartkowiak admitted the Panthers did not play that well in the opening half.

"My girls were slow today," she said. "We were caught standing a lot in the first half. It was not good. We started to pick it up in the second half.

"In the last 10 minutes, we started to play like we’re more capable of, but it can't take 70 minutes to get going. That is something we're going to have to work on mentally."

Oswego midfielder Austin Wilson said the Panthers will find out a lot about their team this week, but they won't be overwhelmed.

"We have to find that drive," Wilson said. "We're all about taking one game at a time because we have such a full schedule this week. We have go focus on each day.

"It is always hard in the beginning of the season because we're still trying to figure things out, but once we find what we need to figure out – we'll get it."

The Panthers play a 6:30 pm nonconference match at Waubonsie Valley today before resuming Pepsi Showdown competition on Thursday and Saturday.