Lions top York on King FK in overtime
By Dave Owen

If the opening minute of Tuesday’s Lyons Township-York conference opening game was unusual, the contest's moment of decision was downright bizarre.

The host Dukes scored just 38 seconds into the game in a key WSC Silver showdown that eventually went into the second overtime tied 1-1.

Then after LT’s Catherine King fired a high 35-yard free kick into the net to put the Lions up 2-1 with 5:32 left in the second session, York (3-2-1) seemingly forced penalty kicks with just nine seconds remaining when Jaime Kovatchis perfectly placed her own 30-yard blast off a throw-in into the upper right corner of the net.

But York’s emotional lift was soon deflated. During the break before PK’s, a phone call clarified the conference rule: the golden goal (first goal scored in overtime) should have ended the game, meaning King’s score had earned the Lions (2-0-2) a 2-1 win.

LT coach Bill Lanspeary had his doubts when play continued after King’s goal.

“They (the officials) started telling us they had changed the rule,” Lanspeary said. “We said we think the conference rule is the same, and they said ‘we’re going to play it out.’

“We called our AD (athletic director John Grundke), who’s the head of the conference AD’s for soccer, and he confirmed that (the rule) was golden goal.”

King’s first goal of the season capped a big night for her. The junior defender’s 60-yard free kick had set up LT’s first half goal, and her strong leg generated multiple other threats off restarts.

“I’ve been hitting a lot (of free kicks) today and they all felt good,” King said. “I felt like one either had to go in or someone would get a head on it. I just felt it was going to happen. Good teams have good luck, and that pulled through for us today.”

York felt anything but lucky, as the post-overtime ruling added disappointment to the Dukes’ utter exhaustion from 100 minutes of soccer in bitter cold conditions.

“We played five more minutes, we got our hopes up that we just scored a goal and then end up not even being able to count that goal,” York senior defender Rachael Ogdon said. “It makes the loss worse.”

The game couldn’t have started better for the Dukes. Miscommunication defensively by LT allowed York’s Kylie Bowman to drive in on right wing, and Alyssa Kovatchis took a cross from Bowman and drove a low 8-yard shot into the net for a 1-0 York lead 38 seconds into the match.

“It was miscommunication – we weren’t on our toes,” King said. "It was a lot of people’s faults. It caught us by surprise, but it woke us up.”

Lanspeary agreed with that alarming impact, but wasn’t overly impressed with his team’s play the entire night.

“That may have lit a fire under us,” he said. “Looking back, that may not have been the worst thing that happened. But it’s not how you draw it up.

“We had stretches where I thought we did OK, but otherwise we played panicked. A lot of times we were just kicking the ball – not the way we want to play at all. I thought we played hard, but our communication in the back has to get better. We have to connect passes better and more consistently, and we got tired out there. You could see with our movement off the ball that the options weren’t available, and that’s why we started kicking the ball and giving it away.”

But King’s strong leg on set pieces saved the night for the Lions.

With 15:02 left in the first half, King’s powerful 60-yard direct kick connected with Ari Kowalski in the box, and the LT co-captain nicely chipped a 10-yard shot past York goalkeeper Annabelle Lansdowne to tie the score 1-1.

“I didn’t know it coming in, but so far that (set pieces) has been huge (this season),” Lanspeary said. “We have kids that can strike the ball and are dangerous for sure. I’m thrilled with that, but it would be nice to get more through the flow of play."

Before the tying goal, York’s defense had stood tall: Lansdowne made a diving save to her left in the 19th minute on a hard 30-yard direct kick by Erin Fitzgerald, and Ogdon had a nice steal to blunt an LT attack.
But after the Lions drew even at 1-1, it was York that dominated the scoring chances through the rest of regulation.

Lions’ goalkeeper Lidia Breen was up to every challenge. Breen made a nice reaching grab of a high cross by York’s Lizzy Akre 9:40 before halftime, and her best save of the night came with 26:30 to go in regulation.

Off a Bryce Banuelos pass, York’s Bowman broke free up the middle. But her 10-yard shot was denied on a brilliant diving save to her left by Breen.

Another great York chance followed with 21:40 left when Ellie Ordonez beat Breen to a loose ball in the box and chipped a 15-yard shot towards the empty net – but inches wide of the right post.

"She told me the ball curved on the line and went out (of bounds)," York coach Krzysztof Halupka said. "Even the other team thought it was going in.

“I think our girls had the better of the run of play, with a lot of chances in the second half."

Alyssa Kovatchis was another courageous catalyst for the York offense. Knocked from the game after a late first half collision bloodied her nose, she returned with a new jersey (number 4) and renewed intensity. She initiated three strong threats after the break, the best a pass that freed Ordonez for an eventual stop and cover by Breen near the top of the box with 15:50 left in regulation.

The Lions had the best chance of the first overtime, when combination passes by Amanda Kocimski and Kowalski led to a 25-yard Liza Gabrek shot just wide of the net with 2:30 left.

Then in the second OT, King’s free kick was decisive.

“Obviously their long free kicks gave us trouble,” Halupka said. “We didn’t do a good enough job on those, and we got punished for it.

“The girl hit a good shot and it went in. What can you do? We’re not giving up anything necessarily from the run of play, but we have to do better on those set pieces.”

Lanspeary also praised his offensive star's play at the other end of the field.

“I thought Catherine King did a nice job defensively,” Lanspeary said, “and CC (Holbert) at outside back played very well. Everyone played pretty well in the back, but we have some communication issues and spacing stuff that needs to be worked out. I’m glad it’s early in the season and not later.”

Despite the tough emotional swing after the second overtime, York remained upbeat about the game’s long term impact.

“We worked more as a team than we have before,” said Ogdon, who joined Akre, Edith Flores and Jaime Kovatchis in anchoring York’s defensive unit.

“Everyone worked really hard – I know a lot of girls are hurting pretty badly. A lot of defenders were not feeling well, but we had to keep saying ‘five minutes left’ and calmed down. We learned to push through, but also learned we need to work on those free kicks from other teams.”

The Lions’ free kick mastery proved pivotal, but also didn’t hinder Halupka’s optimism.

“Even though we didn’t get the result, we continued to fight every minute of the game,” Halupka said. “We were able to pass the ball around, we dominated stretches of the field, and I don’t think they (LT) were dangerous from the run of play.

“So I’m confident in our ability to play good teams and continue to do well against them. It’s just a matter of luck being on our side and getting those bounces to go in.

“It was a tremendous team building game for us,” Halupka added. “It really shows what the girls can do when they all work together.”

Meanwhile, LT hopes the wild win is the first building block towards a conference title.

“It’s huge,” King said of the win. “York is great competition. We have a huge rivalry with York, and it’s good to come out with a first win.”