Quick goal sparks Lions to WSC Silver victory over Trojans
By Dave Owen
Downers Grove North soared into Tuesday’s game on the emotional high of a 2-1 win over crosstown rival and defending state semifinalist Downers Grove South.
Visiting Lyons Township took less than a minute to deflate the Trojans’ euphoria.
Erin Fitzgerald’s goal 50 seconds into the match put the Lions ahead for good, and Emily Lange added an insurance goal 13 minutes later as LT went on to a 2-0 West Suburban Conference Silver win.
“Our player on the right back, Grace Nasenbenny, sent a nice ball behind their backs and their center forward,” LT coach Bill Lanspeary said of the early goal. “Erin was able to get behind and hit a nice shot.”
Fitzgerald’s nice chip over charging Downers North goalkeeper Christina Siddu caught the Trojans flat footed.
“A lot of people weren’t ready for how fast they (the Lions) were going to come out,” Downers North coach Bob Calder said. “Nobody was in the flow of the game yet, and our goalie hadn’t had the chance to come out on an easier one and kind of gauge what’s happening.
“And credit to that LT girl – she (Fitzgerald) had a girl right on her and popped it in right under the crossbar full speed. That’s a tough shot and she made it look easy.”
“I was disappointed that we came out flat, and that’s obviously what leads to a first-50 seconds goal,” Calder added. “We need a goal to get ourselves going, which is kind of how we’ve been going – we score, and then we get excited and our energy picks up. Just the opposite happened today.”
The Lions (5-2-2, 2-0) stayed on the offensive, as Siddu made a nice diving save of an Ari Kowalski 20-yard shot on her drive up the right side 27:40 before halftime.
Then just over a minute later, another LT blitz doubled the lead. At the 26:32 mark, Lange broke in on goal off a Fitzgerald pass, fended off defensive pressure and sent a low shot into the net.
“It started off as a connection in the center,” Lange said, “We’ve been working on it in practice where the center forward would play it back to the midfielder, and we would try to get up on offense.
“And Erin just played a great ball to me. I took a touch and had two defenders on me, and I think I poked it in with my left foot past the keeper.”
But Fitzgerald’s initial contribution was foremost in Lange’s view of the win.
“It was good to get the second goal and secure the win,” Lange said, “but Erin had a great first goal, with Grace crossing in down the right side and Erin just getting a nice touch over the goalkeeper. It was nice in the first minute to get in a zone and almost kind of set the tone for the game.”
Downers North (4-5, 0-2) did all that it could to change that tone after Lange's goal.
“The first 20 minutes were rough,” Calder said, “but I thought we played them really well for the last 60 minutes of the game. Across the board we were trying to focus on winning balls out of the air, and we came up mostly even for the last 60 minutes.”
The Trojans’ revival happened at both ends of the field – Gianna Marconi sent a 20-yard laser just wide of the net 11:20 before halftime, and freshman Mary Helen Beacom blocked two consecutive Kowalski shot attempts off a Catherine King free kick with six minutes left in the half.
Five minutes into the second half, LT defender King blocked Lexi Cittadine’s initial shot in the box, and LT goalkeeper Lidia Breen came up big on the rebound with a nice reaching catch of Marconi’s high 18-yard blast.
King, Nasenbenny, CC Holbert, Liza Gabrek and top substitutes Isabelle Scott and Sarah Drew were the wall of defenders in LT’s fifth shutout of the season, and also provided a spark to the offensive attack.
“I thought we were connecting the ball really well,” Lange said. “We also work on that in practice, and we were working the ball through our defensive mid Liza (Gabrek). From the back we were trying to find good runs and good options, and I think that really worked out for us.”
“Our defense played pretty well,” Lanspeary said, “although I thought they (Downers North) had some nice possession on us during some stretches. But we were solid enough in the back that we kept everything in front of us.”
LT’s quick transitions from the midfield to offensive attack also generated consistent threats Tuesday, including Siddu's diving save of a low 18-yard shot by Lange with 25:10 left.
“I thought Emily Lange had a very good game in the middle, and Fitzgerald did a real nice job up top,” Lanspeary said. “And Ari had a good game in the middle for us as well.”
The Lions' Abbie Pasquinelli left the game seven minutes before halftime with a leg injury, but returned 10 minutes into the second half at full strength.
Pasquinelli’s two late scoring threats included a dribble deep into the box with 19:30 left that required a strong double team defensive play by Downers North’s Kaitlin Gunderson and Arlinda Osmani to prevent a shot attempt.
Then with six minutes left, the Trojans’ offense turned up the heat.
An end-to-end rush by Downers North culminated with Alyse Dutcher’s nice cross from left wing to the right post, but LT forward Audrey Anfield sprinted back to deflect a point-blank shot attempt by the Trojans’ Maria Derrig out of bounds.
On the ensuing corner kick by Marconi, Emma Krick sent a point-blank header just over the net.
“Gianna Marconi always works hard in the middle, and particularly in the second half Emma Krick was outstanding,” Calder said. “She won everything in the air for us, controlled it and brought it in. Really all of our attack started from her. We had very good efforts from a lot of ladies, but those two in particular.
“We had some good chances – the ball landed in the six a couple of times,” Calder added. “We didn’t have that many opportunities, but we definitely gave ourselves some, which is something to say against a very quality opponent.”
The Lions had scored just 10 goals in eight games entering Tuesday, but produced consistent quick transition threats from the midfield towards the net on Tuesday.
“We're creating more and more chances,"Lanspeary said, "so this was nice to get a couple (goals) through the flow of play.
“It all started with being first to the ball, possessing the ball and making good decisions with it, which we’ve been working on. That was nice to see.”
The win improved LT’s record to 2-0 in the WSC Silver.
“We won conference last year and we really want to win it again,” Lange said. “It’s going to be tough with Hinsdale Central and also York, but we already beat York in a great game (2-1 in overtime). We just need the right mindset not to get ahead of ourselves and focus on every game as it comes.”
The Lions will need focus in their next game, as they visit defending state champion Naperville North on Thursday.
For the Trojans, Calder doesn’t see Tuesday’s loss derailing his team’s optimism heading into two more conference games in the next four days.
“I think we’re getting there in confidence, and that’s what I just talked to them about (after the game),” Calder said.
“This is a top-10 team in the state we just played, and we proved we can play even with them for 60 minutes. I think this is the most quality opponent we’ve played all year, and I thought we played them pretty tough. So moving forward I’m happy with where we’re at.”
