Griffins blank rival Knights for fifth shutout in six matches

 

 

By Curt Herron

There's nothing quite like beating your school's oldest rival and it's a bonus when that win is a shutout and comes after a loss.

That's just what unfolded for Lincoln-Way East on Thursday when it met Lincoln-Way Central in the original District 210 matchup.

Two days after a four-match shutout streak ended in a 3-2 loss at Andrew, the Griffins looked to bounce back against the Knights.

East took advantage of an opportunity shortly before the break and its defense did the rest as it claimed a 1-0 win in Frankfort.

Freshman McKenna Fugett scored her initial goal off of a corner kick from Hannah Dolan-Cook in the 28th minute for the only goal.

Kelsey Elam turned in a fine performance in the net, halting several good chances by Central, which had won its last three matches.

She was boosted by a backline which featured Jessica Bicek, Lindsey Murphy, Tracy Brinkman, Meaghan Grady and Annie Gerdes.

The match also featured East's Brian Papa and Central's Dan Radz, who coached together during Lincoln-Way's run of success.

As a result of Thursday's play, Papa moved to within a win of 300 in his career as a girls coach at Sandburg, Lincoln-Way and East.

"It was good to see the girls bounce back," Papa said. "Our biggest thing right now is trying to build confidence and I think the girls are gaining confidence. We had a run of four straight shutouts before losing to Andrew. It's a big win for us because it's a rival and seeding purposes.

"Kelsey made two very good 1 on 1 saves and kept us in the game and we were able to preserve the win. During practice the ball was skipping up so we wanted the girls to settle down, but it never did. The game was fast-paced and everyone was pinging the ball all over the place.

"But then we caught a break to create the goal and McKenna got her first goal and after that she played awesome and was all over the place. We've got a long ways to go so I'm just hoping that we stay healthy enough to be able to compete in conference now."

After seeing his squad yield three goals in the loss to the T-Bolts, Papa was particularly pleased to see another shutout posted.

"Our defense has been very good all year," Papa said. "Jessica, our captain, and Lindsey are our two center backs. Jessica is an outside mid with her club team. But when Meaghan was out at the start of the year she said that she would go back to center back, which is where she was at last year.

"We started out the season kind of rugged since the weather was bad. But once we got practices in, we've been good and everything has been corrected. Tracy has really been solid on the outside and I can't say enough about Kelsey. We put her in the goal by necessity but it takes away a weapon on the field.

"The big story today was when Meaghan went down with an injury, we brought in Annie, who had never played at outside back. She just played without thinking and she did some good things and played hard and didn't come off of the field after that. This has been a team effort all of the way through."

Little happened during the opening 20 minutes as most of the play remained in the middle of the field on the cool, damp evening.

One of Elam's first challenges came a bit later when Alexis Aguirre had a short attempt that the backup keeper was able to thwart.

East (4-4-1) caught a big break in the 27th minute when Central's reserve keeper picked up a ball that was passed back to her.

That set up an indirect free kick from inside the box. After Dolan-Cook got the touch, Sam Fiorella smacked a shot off the wall.

The deflected attempt set up a corner from Dolan-Cook, who sent a liner in front of the net and Fugett headed it in for a goal.

Central (4-4-1) had some chances to get the equalizer before the break but Elam and her defense were able to make some big stops.

A corner kick from Brooke Mejdrich was cleared by a defender and her rebound was denied by Elam, who later denied Anita Fournier.

Late in the half, Fournier got free for a 1 v 1 opportunity but Elam came out of the net and managed to shut the threat down.

After Gerdes beat defenders on the other side of the field before sending a try high, Fournier's effort at the whistle was halted.

"With Central being our rival, we were hoping to win this game," Elam said. "We had some struggles in the beginning trying to get used to the wet turf but we connected on a lot of stuff. This win is going to pick us up for next week.

"It's good to stay out so that if there's a ball played back, you're there and also to always have your back for the defense so they don't have to run back all of the time. You have to just keep fighting no matter what the score is."

Things seemed to click better for the Griffins following the break, as was seen by a few good chances during the first 20 minutes.

The Knights nearly evened things in the early going but a liner from Sara Petrone smacked off the crossbar to preserve East's lead.

Shortly after Stefanie Cetera had an effort halted, Meaghan Grady had to be helped off of the field and Gerdes stepped in for her.

Around the midway mark of the half, Jessica Rajca sent a shot over the net and then Elam stopped an attempt from Katie Bartuch.

After coming out of the net a couple of times to alter threats, Elam thwarted a try by Mejdrich as play entered the final minutes.

And then moments later, the Griffin keeper charged out to make a deflection of a Mejdrich shot to preserve the win and shutout.

"Kelsey is not really a goalie but she played really well," Bicek said. "We've been working a lot on defense, but we've also played together for awhile, so we're pretty unified. And Hanna made a really nice cross to McKenna for our goal.

"We've figured out a lot of problems that we had in the beginning of the year and I think that we're starting to get our stuff together. When we talk on the field we're really constructive and not negative, so our communication is good."

East kicks off SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue play on Thursday with a match at Bolingbrook, its lone competition of the week.