Lions win 1-0 over OPRF on Shaw goal

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By Dave Miller

Kevin Shaw picked a heck of a time to score his first varsity goal.

The senior defender’s header in the 47th minute was the lone score in a match for a share of the West Suburban Silver Conference Silver Division title. It lifted Lyons Township to a 1-0 triumph Tuesday evening over host Oak Park and River Forest, which had not lost a match on its home field in two seasons.

The goal was triggered by a throw-in from the left side by Matt Thomas. The ball flicked off Elliot Borge’s head in front of the goal and continued to the right to Shaw, who headed the ball into the net.
 
All Shaw could think about in the split-second that the play developed was to not screw up his chance.

“I saw an open goal,” he said. “Going through my head was just, ‘Get this in. Don’t miss the open goal. Don’t be that kid. Make sure you put the ball in the net.’ Yeah, I was a little bit scared.”

To be technical, it was Shaw’s second goal. He was responsible for an accidental goal against his team in a 5-1 loss to Marquette University High School from Milwaukee on Sept. 24.

“In my head it’s like I’m back at zero now,” he said.

As far as LT coach Paul Labbato is concerned, Shaw is way ahead of the game.

“We put him at center back and asked him to play back there,” Labbato said. “He’s a very good attacking player, but he’s really tough and strong, and we like to sneak him up on long throw-ins and corner kicks. You know, he just hangs around the right areas. And that’s the one we needed. I’m very proud of him. It’s his first year on varsity. He’s a first-year varsity senior. He came up from the JV team, and he’s done a great job this year. He started every game and played every minute.”

LT (11-4-3, 5-1) shares the Silver title with Glenbard West, which won 2-1 at Hinsdale Central Tuesday. It’s the third-straight conference championship for the Lions.

OPRF (16-3-1, 4-2), which was seeking its first Silver title since 2007, settled for third place.

“Hey, we had chances,” Huskies coach Paul Wright said. “They had chances. They put one in. Maybe we’ll see these guys later on. I’d love to see them again (in the Class 3A Hinsdale Central sectional final). I feel pretty comfortable. It’s not like I felt like we were outplayed or outmanned.”

The first half was tightly played. Each team had a trio of quality chances, but goalkeepers Max Hadley of LT and Granger Sheppard of OPRF kept the score tied at zero. The Lions momentarily thought they scored a horn-beating goal to end the half, but Jack Thomas was called for a handball.

Once Shaw gave LT a 1-0 lead, OPRF attacked with an increased urgency. The Huskies kept the pressure on the Lions. Stephen Golz alone had six scoring chances on headers, but one hit the right post, one sailed high and Hadley stopped four.

“We didn’t do anything different,” Labbato said about defending 6-foot-3 Golz, who’s OPRF’s leading scorer. “We definitely just played our normal backs, but we did put our taller guys on him on free kicks and throw-ins. We tried to make sure he was taken care of in some ways, but he’s hard to take care of. He’s so big and strong he’s going to get his chances.”

OPRF’s second leading scorer, Ryan Huettel received a couple good opportunities in the second half, too. He had two free kicks from just inside 30 yards, but Hadley stopped both, the first to the left side and the second, with five seconds remaining, to the right.

“I knew he was going to have to hurry up and get that one off so we just wanted to get in front of that so he couldn’t take a quick one and sneak it in,” Hadley said. “We got the wall set up and after that we were good to go.”

Once the final horn sounded, the Lions could finally relax after being under attack for much of the second half.

“We just felt like we needed to flip the field and we could not kick the 30, 40-yard clearances,” Labbato said. “We just needed that one hit I felt to just flip the field and relieve the pressure, and it just really never came for the last 17 minutes.”
 
“Every kick was coming close,” Hadley said. “I felt a little more hesitant than I should have, but I came out a good amount. They’re so hard to get through. Their offense is big and it’s hard to find spaces. But I think I did a pretty good job. Matt Thomas, Kevin (Shaw) and our whole defense just did great.”

It was the Lions’ fourth shutout in a row.

Wright credited the Lions for winning the battle in the middle of the field.

“They won 50-50 balls,” he said. “We didn’t win nearly as many balls in the midfield as we’ve won in the past, and I don’t know why that was. A lot of our pockets got picked in the middle. I think that threw us off.

“The first half we didn’t get balls over the top. We had trouble moving things around and doing some things. The second half was a much better half, but we didn’t come to play today the way we normally play.”

The Lions definitely earned their share of the Silver crown by handing OPRF a rare loss on its home field.
 
“I’ve been around LT soccer as an assistant or a head coach for about 11 years, and we never do well here,” Labbato said. “Our game is just not the same here, and a lot of that has to do with how hard Oak Park is (to play). They’re tough and tough to the ball. They’re fighters, in a good way. We’ve always come here and had a struggle so we don’t like coming here.”

The bus ride home wasn’t bad on this night – thanks to an unlikely hero who wasn’t sure why it was his time to shine.

“I don’t know,” Shaw said with a smile. “It feels good, though.”