Scouts strike twice in win over Libertyville
By Eric Van Dril

On a night where Lake Forest celebrated its 2-0 victory with a post-game run to its bus in order to escape the cold rain, Scouts coach Ty Stuckslager aptly chose to compare his team's offensive performance against Libertyville to a dam ready to burst.

“After our last game against Stevenson (a 0-0 draw), where we out shot them by a pretty sizable margin, I think it was just waiting until the dam broke,” Stuckslager said. “It didn't quite break, but a couple of the bricks fell out.”

Lake Forest's attack had a quiet first half in the team's first North Suburban Conference victory of the season, but the Scouts began chipping away at the proverbial dam by creating several quality opportunities in the second half. The first opportunity came with 26:50 remaining when junior Sydney Johnston struck a hard, low free kick that bounced off the rain-soaked turf and picked up speed as it approached Libertyville senior goalkeeper Elaine Sundberg.

Sundberg made the save, but the ball's acceleration allowed for a rebound, which bounced right to Lake Forest sophomore Carly Hoke. Hoke shot the ball with her first touch, but it went directly to Sundberg, who was trying to get to her feet after making the save. Hoke, closing in on the goalkeeper, hit the ball again right into her chest. After two shots, Hoke was called for a foul as she and Sundberg battled for the ball, and the match remained scoreless.

Entering Tuesday night's game, one of the Scouts' goals was to try to get goals on frame because it can be difficult for goalkeepers to judge the speed of the ball once it bounces off of a rain-soaked surface.

“We watched the JV game and our JV had a goal in front of the keeper, which kind of caught (the keeper by surprise), with the speed of the skip,” Stuckslager said. “That's why Sydney's shot was excellent. While it was kind of close to the keeper, the fact that it skipped in front of her and picked up speed caught her off guard and allowed for a rebound to Carly.”

Although Lake Forest couldn't score off of Johnston's free kick, Sheridan Weiss scored the game-winning goal six minutes and 57 seconds later.

The goal was generated by a deft pass from freshman midfielder Paige Bourne, who found Weiss alone in the middle of the 18-yard box. Weiss made a calm first touch on the ball and then, from about 12 yards away, blasted her shot high. Sundberg could only slightly deflect the shot with her right hand before it bounced into the net.

The goal was Weiss's first of her career.

“It's exciting,” said Weiss, of scoring her first goal. “I just took a touch and shot it.”

“It was great because we talked about the centers, (to not) wander too much,” Stuckslager said of Weiss's goal. “And she was right there. Paige tipped it in to spring her, and Sheridan took a great first touch. I think most coaches would have wanted her to slot it in the corner, but she blasted it. But she blasted it with skill. She kept it under the bar, right through the goalie.”

Lake Forest (4-1-5, 1-0-3 NSC) has had trouble scoring this season and, while a very strong defensive team which had earned five shutouts after Tuesday's game, had also struggled to hold onto its leads. The Scouts have had two games – 1-1 ties against both Mundelein and Hersey – where they scored first before conceding. But against Libertyville (5-3, 1-2 NSC), Lake Forest successfully put its defenders behind the ball and senior Gabby Perino's header off a perfectly-struck corner kick by Bourne put the Scouts ahead, 2-0, with 12:33 remaining in the game.

Perino's goal came just seconds after freshman Adrian Walker tested the Libertyville defense with a shot toward the near post off of a Bourne corner. That shot bounced off of a Libertyville defender, who was standing on the goal line, and trickled out of bounds.

The Scouts were extremely effective on set pieces in the second half of Tuesday night's match.

“We've been focusing on a lot of corners and free kicks just so we can get the ball in the net,” Weiss said.

Stuckslager added: “We've been working on (set pieces) in practice and we're tending to capitalize on them a little more. Part of the reason is both Carly Hoke and Paige Bourne are giving some excellent serves. And then the shots, whether it's from Brooke Green or Sydney Johnston, they're getting some great shots. They made a great save on the rebound, on Carly. Part of it, like Sheridan's shot, is if you can keep it on frame and make them make the good play.”

The Scouts dominated the final 27 minutes of Tuesday night's win over Libertyville, but needed senior goalkeeper Liz Clark to make a pair of vital stops before that stretch. In both instances, Clark was forced to sprint out from her net in the attempt to beat Libertyville senior forward Jessica Stanley to the ball.

Clark won the first foot race, booting away a poorly-judged back pass with 13:15 remaining in the first half. Stanley then beat Clark to a through ball with 29:24 remaining in the second half, but the Lake Forest goalkeeper was able stand tall and block Stanley's shot at the top of the 18-yard box to keep the game scoreless.

Clark showed her experience in both situations, playing decisively and confidently when coming out from the goal line.

“You just try to stay strong and stay big, and just know that you're going to get the ball,” said Clark, when asked how she approaches one-on-one situations. “You can't show any fear.”

Clark's second save on Stanley was the only save she had to make in the second half – Lake Forest's Kendall Hoke, Johnston, Dani Loeger, Lucy Edwards and Bailey Ehrens were all extremely effective at frustrating the Wildcats' attacking players – and came during a time when Libertyville appeared to be pressing forward and going for the win.

That save seemed to give Lake Forest all of the game's momentum, and Weiss scored the game-winning goal 10 minutes later.

“It's nice to see (Clark) is getting more confidence and getting more comfortable in there,” Stuckslager said. “I thought she played really well in the second half. She was a little tentative at times in the first half, but in the second half she came out and on that one breakaway, she stuffed the girl. That was huge. It was a time when we needed it, and that's what big-time players do.”