Warriors beat Willowbrook on PKs to take third at Reavis

 

 

By Curt Herron

When two squads drop close semifinal matches, the last thing that they're usually interested in doing is playing in a consolation match.

But that was the scenario that Lincoln-Way West and Willowbrook faced in Reavis' Windy City Ram Classic after losing 1-0 in Friday's semifinals.

Fenwick edged West and Bolingbrook nipped Willowbrook to advance to Sunday's championship match at Toyota Park of the first-year tournament.

Meanwhile, the two Warriors had to settle for a match on the grass football field in Burbank on a cold and windy Saturday morning.

While the less-than-ideal conditions would have made it easy for both sides to go through the motions, just the opposite happened.

The squads were tied at 1-1 through regulation and then played two overtime periods before the outcome was decided on penalties.

West converted its first two kicks and Kayla Lojas made saves on three of four attempts to claim a 2-0 advantage and a 2-1 victory.

It was a different match than when West (3-1) met Willowbrook (2-2) a year ago in the Bolingbrook-Romeoville tournament, which West won 4-1.

Willowbrook had allowed just a late goal in the semifinals during its first three matches and did a good job of limiting West's chances.

But while West coach Jeff Theiss would have preferred to see his team end things in regulation, he'll gladly take a hard-fought win on penalties.

"We're proud of the girls for how they did in this tournament," Theiss said. "After getting two wins, we faced a tough, seasoned Fenwick team which had a lot of upperclassmen and who was very technical and had a lot of size and our girls battled them very well and we were happy with that effort.

"Then to be able to rebound and come back not even 24 hours later and play a tough Willowbrook team and get the win showed the type of effort that the girls turned in throughout the tournament. It's mental to bounce back from a loss like yesterday's, but the girls showed their resiliency.

"I think both sides showed that. The conditions were difficulrt to play in and it was freezing and it was kind of sloppy and the ball was hopping up on us, so it wasn't pretty. We created chances in the second half and then we settled down and started targeting feet instead of playing so direct.

"We definitely would have liked to end it in regulation, but at the same time, I'm really happy to go through the experience of penalty kicks. Seeing Kayla make three key saves showed her senior leadership and we had some players who had to step up and understand the pressure of taking penalties."

In the penalties, West grabbed the advantage when Kara Winans put in the initial attempt and then Lojas dove to stop a try by Natalie Wolski.

West made it 2-0 when Lea Gindville converted on the subequent attempt and then the Lojas hauled in a liner that was sent by Melissa Rader.

Willowbrook keeper Alexis Jones dove to stop an effort from Brianna Heyer but it stayed at 2-0 after Alyssa Spada bounced one off the crossbar.

After Natalie Tannura was wide on an attempt, Lojas recorded her third save of the penalties when she dove to stop a try by Jessica Budig.

"Even though we wanted to play in the championship game, it's really good to take the win," Lojas said. "We came out and played our hearts out and never gave up. We just keep going and going and when it came down to it, we all got up and did what we had to do and got the win.

"Yesterday was warmer and it was freezing today, but everyone adjusted their games and didn't let the cold affect them. It's a big thing when everyone is saying, 'let's go, let's go' in the shootout. I trusted my players that they would be able to put it into the back of the net.

"We're definitely a young team but whenever they come in, we take them in and treat them like thety've always been a part of this team. Even though this is just the start of our season, they already are a part of our team and it seems like they've been with us throughout it all."

Willowbrook connected first in regulation, scoring with 12:27 left berfore the break on an attempt by Budig that was able to find the net.

West looked for the equalizer over the next few minutes, beginning with a shot from Cori Brennan that deflected off of the post.

A deflected try by Brennan resulted in the first in a series of corners, which ended with a free kick from Emily Wyskiel to Jones.

In the final half minute of the opening half, Tannura sent in a liner that Jones struggled to handle and which nearly went in for a goal.

West finally evened things up with 33:32 left in regulation when Wyskiel put a shot on net that Willowbrook's keeper was unable to halt.

"Knowing that we were down by one going into the second half, I wanted to get the team fired up and that goal did that," Wyskiel said. "It feels good to be confident going into penalty kicks. But we have an amazing goalie in Kayla, who saved us big time when they had chances before that.

"It feels really good to get off to a 3-1 start since we've trained really hard each day. Even though we wanted to make it to Toyota Park for the championship, we had to think positively and it was great to finish the tournament with a win to take third place, which is the next best thing.

"What I like the most about this year's team is that we're all really close and we are all dertermined to push forward in order to get better. There's not one of us who won't work hard through any kind of weather in order for our team to improve."

After tying things, West had many good opportunities with the wind at its back to move in front but Jones and her defense prevented that.

Tannura was denied on an attempt before Winans had a try deflected and after the subsequent corner, Meghann Lange saw her liner stopped.

As the final half wound down, a Winans shot was cleared by a defender and Wyskiel was denied following a long free kick from Gindville.

After West got off a long try in the initial overtime, the sides exchanged attempts by Wyskiel and Rader before moving to the penalties.

As Theiss' squad looks to duplicate last year's 6-1 start, they face tough home matches this week against Plainfield East and Lemont.

But the Warriors coach liked what he's seen during a challenging first week of play, which gives him plenty of optimism for this season.

"Emily was consistent throughout and did an excellent job dictating the pace of the game through the middle of the field to create scoring opportunities and finished with four goals and an assist," Theiss said. "And Kayla only gave up two goals in four games and made three key saves in the shootout.

"Lea Gindville did a good job of organizing our back and some of the younger players did well. I thought that Bri Heyer had an excellent tournament. She's a freshman and outside back but we moved her all over the field today. She's a workhorse who provides a great spark of energy for our group."