Warriors blank Wilmington to kick off own invitational

By Curt Herron

After seemingly being on the defensive during each of its past few matches, Lincoln-Way West welcomed a different role on Friday.

The Warriors kicked off play in their own round-robin invitational by being on the attack for much of their match with Wilmington.

But they struggled to make things click during the opening half and only claimed a 1-0 advantage at the break.

It was a different story during the second half, however, as West scored three times to claim a 4-0 win over the Wildcats in New Lenox.

A couple of firsts happened for West (4-7), with the most noteworthy accomplishment being the program's first shutout.

Warrior keeper Kayla Bryant stopped everything that came her way to post the shutout victory in goal.

She was supported in that role by defenders Ashley Gardner, Emily Kowalski, Lea Gindville and Ashley Sichak.

Coach Jeff Theiss' squad also converted their first corner kick for a goal, although that nearly didn't happen.

West collected its final score with just two seconds remaining in the 70-minute match following a corner kick.

On the play, Kowalski sent a perfect ball toward the front of the net and Kalin Winans headed it in for the score.

Winans also scored West's third score and assisted on the team's second goal, which was recorded by her sister, Kara.

Cori Brennan put West ahead for good less than four minutes into the match, following an assist from Kara Winans.

Click to hear coach Jeff Theiss interview

The Warriors hope to enjoy continued success when they take on Peotone and Crete-Monee in Saturday's competition.

Peotone defeated Crete-Monee 5-1 in the first game of the competition, which also marked West's initial tournament play.

West got back on the winning track after dropping its last three matches to Lincoln-Way West, Andrew and Stagg.

Things couldn't have started much better for the hosts after Kara Winans sent a pass toward Brennan early in the match.

Brennan got free and darted toward the net and sent a liner that found the mark just 3:51 after play had begun.

While Kara Winans and Brennan continued to apply pressure to the Wildcat goal, nothing was able to reach the net.

Meanwhile, Wilmington threatened throughout the first half, collecting six corner kicks which all came up empty.

Click to hear Lea Gindville interview

West kept up its attack in the new half, with Brennan placing two shots on and one over the net in the opening minutes.

The Warriors finally got back on the scoreboard with 24:41 remaining when the Winans sisters teamed up for a goal.

Kalin sent a pass toward Kara, who connected from close range to give the hosts a little insurance with a 2-0 lead.

Click to hear Kara Winans interview

With just under 11 minutes left, Sichak grounded a shot toward the net but the Wildcat keeper deflected the attempt.

Kara Winans tried to knock the loose ball in for a score, but Wilmington's keeper was able to shut the play down.

Brennan looked like she might score again with just over six minutes to go but her open-net shot went high of the mark.

West collected its third score with 1:13 left when Gindville sent a pass toward Kalin Winans, who lined in a shot.

That's how it looked like it would end before the Warriors clicked on the corner kick during the final seconds.

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