Scouts use quick start to capture easy victory over Zee-Bees

 

 

By Jonah Rosenblum

Lake Forest coach Ty stuckslager hoped that his squad would come out of the gates quickly in Thursday's home match with Zion-Benton.

The Scouts pounced on Zion-Benton 9-0 on Thursday in a game that was eventually shortened due to an 8-0 advantage at the intermission.

"The good news is sometimes in games like this, it takes a while to get going," Stuckslager said. "We talked before the game that this is a game that we should come out from the start and we did."

The Scouts (5-1-5, 2-0-3) wasted no time building a huge lead in the North Suburban Conference Lake match, as they scored four goals in the opening 4:59.

Brooke Green started the scoring, following an assist from Paige Bourne and then Green helped out on a score by Lucy Edwards.

Shortly after that, Amanda Bourne connected, following a pass from Sydney Johnston. Paige Bourne made it 4-0, following an assist from Amanda Bourne.

"We came out pretty strong," junior forward Amanda Bourne said. "Our main focus for the game was to pressure so we did a lot of that in the first five minutes and that really set the pace for the game and it really kept us motivated to keep scoring."

She noted that the Scouts' forwards did a nice job of making wide runs, thus setting up opportunities for the Lake Forest midfield. The Scouts would ultimately tack on four more goals to take an eight-goal advantage into halftime.

Mackenzie Adams later connected off a pass from Val Wood and then Jenny McKendry scored, following an assist from Courtney Ardell.

The last two goals of the half were scored by Ardell, with McKendry and Gabby Perino handing out assists on those efforts.

"After we got the first goal, we kind of just wanted to keep getting more," sophomore forward Ardell said.

In the final 20 minutes, Lake Forest was a little more muted. Sophomore midfielder Bailey Ehrens had an unusual shot at the net, in which a loose ball lay untouched for what seemed like an eternity, allowing Ehrens to get a 10-yard running start on a ball that she kicked toward the left post. It was ultimately saved.

Freshman forward Allie Banta put the icing on the cake with the Scouts' ninth goal, coming back from a bloody nose to finish a two-on-two with a little roller into the net, after the goalie's attempt to disrupt the fast break was unsuccessful.

Junior back Mackenzie Mick nearly joined the party with a quick steal and a fast break in which she easily outran everyone down the field. The goalie was able to dive out and poke it away, but Mick pounced on the deflection, only to boot it off the left post. Still, there was no need to worry about missed opportunities in this one.

"It felt good," Amanda Bourne said. "It was really relaxing. I don't know. Relaxing isn't really the right word, but it felt really good to get one under the belt that we obviously dominated."

Though the second half was more reasonable as it related to the scoreboard, the Scouts still easily controlled possession. The Zee-Bees, for the most part, spent the afternoon fending off repeated Lake Forest drives, booting the ball out of bounds and then setting up for the next Scouts' push.

"I don't think it was ever pretty much on our side," Ardell said.

For a Lake Forest team that has already endured a number of ties — and a number of grueling games this season — Thursday provided a pleasant respite. As a result of the game's lopsided nature, Stuckslager was able to empty the bench and a number of girls who don't usually fill the scoresheet for the Scouts were able to tack on goals.

"When you can throw in 10 other girls after eight minutes, it's a pretty good game," Stuckslager said. "Girls who don't usually get to play got to play more than half the game today, so it's a plus for them."

He said he was pleased that freshman midfielder McKendry, freshman midfielder Paige Bourne, junior midfielder Edwards and sophomore forward Green were able to knock home goals — Stuckslager said that he has held high expectations for the quartet for quite some time.

Perhaps, more than anything, on a warm day in northern Illinois, a Lake Forest team that has struggled to score goals — tallying a single goal or fewer in seven of nine games this season — exploded.

"It's really nice to finally win with a lot of goals," Ardell said. "We've kind of just been low-scoring this year, but this game, we really came on strong and got a lot."

With their most recent explosion, the Scouts are in position for a high seed in the postseason, and that's something that was brought up in the postgame huddle.

"We definitely put it in the back of our minds, because we try to focus on the day to day," Amanda Bourne said. "It's definitely there pushing us."