Griffins rally from 2-0 deficit before falling to Dukes

By Rusty Silber

Lincoln-Way East overcame was able to overcome an early 2-0 deficit to York in Saturday's Pepsi Showdown at Schaumburg's Olympic Park.

But the Griffins were unable to stop a late surge during which the Dukes were able able to score three goals in the last 21 minutes of play.

Christina Ordonez collected a hat trick as York went on to capture a 5-2 victory over the Griffins.

"We're just letting our goalkeeper stop everything," said East coach Brian Papa of Arianna Nie, who had eight saves.

"Our defense stopped and watched everything. We can't do that and the defense has to pick it up and help out.

"We did play good soccer for about the first 30 minutes."

Although it's been awhile since the Dukes (8-2) won on a Saturday, they're hoping that this may be the start of something new.

"I'm glad we can win on a Saturday," York coach Rachael Shepherd said.

"We actually practiced on Friday morning trying to help us for playing on a Saturday morning. I believe it had to help us out."

Ordonez broke a 2-2 tie in the 59th minute, which led to three unanswered goals for the Dukes.

She had two of the three scores in a 15-minute span with the other going to MaryKate Cicinelli.

The eventual game-winning goal for Ordonez came off a touch pass from Courtney McHugh. Ordonez then placed an outstanding shot into the corner.

"I just cut in and saw an opportunity for a shot," said Ordonez, who has 14 goals.

"I was just able to get the shot off and it felt good when I hit it."

Cicinelli connected in the 66th minute and Ordonez scored her third goal of the match in the 75th minute off an Angela Bianchi assist.

Bianchi scored the opening York goal in the 35th minute on a rebound of a shot by Taylor Navarro.

Ordonez scored her first goal in the 45th minute, which made the score 2-0 in favor of York.

East (6-5) rallied with a pair of goals. Hayley Gerdes launched a long free kick in the 48th minute.

Then Kelsey Kurey scored off a touch pass from Erin Mangia in the 58th minute to briefly tie things up.

"It was a perfect pass from Erin (Mangia)," said Kurey, who scored her first goal of the season.

"I was just there to put it in. It helped us tie the game at that point."

After East got back into the game, it struggled in the back defensively and the Dukes took advantage.

Meanwhile, York keeper Anna Bell Lansdowne made three saves.

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