Lindbert hat-trick leads Lancers over Streamwood
By Gary Larsen

Kent State-bound Megan Lindbert missed all of last season with a torn ACL so she’s making her senior year count.

The Lake Park midfielder scored three times in a 5-1 win over visiting Streamwood, giving her 19 goals on the season for the 10-4-1 Lancers. The last time Lindbert scored a hat-trick in a game was her sophomore year.

“Megan is very humble, she’s a hard worker, she’s a great teammate, and I’m so excited for her and the success she’s having now,” Lake Park coach Chris Fruehling said.

Lindbert and Rachel Garippo were active early in the attacking third and Lexi Ruffolo fired a ball that Streamwood keeper Nathalie Guindon saved at the 8-minute mark.

Lindbert began the day’s scoring at 10 minutes when she ran down a through ball and poked a shot inside the post. Lake Park’s Casey Harris, Jessica Berkshire, and Jacey Kent took turns on net before Streamwood knotted the game.

The Sabres’ Tawny Carroll found teammate Kim Jimenez in front of the goal and Jimenez netted her 20th goal of the season at the 17-minute mark.

Lindbert made it 2-1 at 26 minutes when she blistered a shot from 20 yards out that nicked the underside of the crossbar on its way into the net.

“Megan has the full package. She has speed, strength, soccer smarts, and a really good touch,” Fruehling said. “With all of those assets she has – along with the desire and the work ethic she has – she’ll continue to be successful at the next level.”

Guindon saved a hard shot off the foot of Lake Park’s Caitlyn Ryba before Jimenez raced up the right flank and fired just wide at 25 minutes, and Carroll forced a diving stop from Lancers keeper Rebecca Thorne a minute later. Jimenez crossed a ball that Thorne cut off at 32 minutes.

Kent took a ball deep on the left side but Streamwood defender Ilma Skrgic was there to dispossess her, and Kent fired wide from the left side just before halftime.

Lake Park’s halftime talk involved patience in the attack.

“For our team in general it was more about getting back into possession, because once we did that we knew we’d get chances and the goals would come,” Lindbert said. “Then it was about defending so they couldn’t get that goal and then finishing the chances we were getting.”

Streamwood (8-3-3) may have eventually lost 5-1, but from halftime to the game’s 65th minute the Sabres were a goal away from tying the contest. Lindbert and Lancers’ teammate Emily Adelman both found dangerous space while Jimenez got deep twice in the 61st and 62nd minutes.

Carroll and Jimenez have the speed and skill to cause havoc in the final third, but Thorne and Lake Park defenders Mary Reid, Casey Harris, Lauren Bolnius, and Lindsey Troyke stayed on guard throughout.

“We threw everything we could at them,” Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. “Tawny and Kim up top were flying by…we just couldn’t get another one.”

Fruehling applauded the work that outside defenders Bolnius and Troyke did handling the Sabres’ strikers.

“(Carroll) and (Jimenez) -- those two are a great combo up top,” Fruehling said. “We had to watch them all night long and you had to stay sharp for eighty minutes because at any time they could catch fire and take us deep.

“Streamwood was very competitive and they played hard for eighty minutes. That’s one of the strongest Streamwood teams we’ve seen in a while and Matt (Polovin) is doing a great job with them.”

The curtain fell on Streamwood in a two-minute span down the stretch, first when the Lancers’ Rachel Garippo crossed hard from the right corner to the near post, where Lindbert charged on and buried it.

“Those are things we’ve been training in practice – those crosses and getting there on the front post and looking for that six-yard (goal),” Lindbert said.

Garippo was her usual tireless self on the outside at midfield.

“With Rachel, she gives a hundred and ten percent and makes those hard runs even though she doesn’t always get it,” Fruehling said. “She does it for her team. You can’t put what she does in a stat book but as a coach you just love it. She’s crucial to the team.”

The Lancers made it 4-1 at 67 minutes when Adelman scored on a head shot off a corner kick taken by Kent. Kent finished the day’s scoring with a goal in the game’s final minute.

“Lake Park is having a great season and they’ve got a lot of wheels out there,” Polovin said. “Their outside mids just fly up and down the field and (Lindbert) is a very nice player. She got on top of everything.”

Polovin was pleased with the lunchbucket efforts that central defenders Sharice Ellenwood and Hannah McGlone gave on Thursday, and Carroll was happy to see her side fight hard for 80 minutes.

“We could have done better but we were trying our hardest,” Carroll said. “I think some of us hear ‘Lake Park’ and we hear so many good things about them that you can go into the game with a little timid or scared. But we realized we could get a goal against a team like this and I think that brought up our confidence. We always give a hundred and ten percent no matter what and I’m proud of our effort.”

Thursday’s win was also a bittersweet one for Lake Park.

“Lexi (Ruffolo) just came back to us today. Her sister (Nicole) is in a hospital in Indiana after getting involved in a hit-and-run (On April 20),” Fruehling said. “We loved having Lexi here because she’s part of our family. Our hearts go out to her. I give her tremendous credit just to come out here and play tonight.”

According to The Daily Iowan, 22-year-old Nicole Ruffolo was struck by a hit-and-run driver on April 20 near the campus of Purdue University, where the University of Iowa senior was visiting a friend. After being listed in critical condition and put in a medically-induced coma due to bleeding and pressure on her brain, according to the family’s donation site, Nicole has opened her eyes and is becoming responsive.

To help support Nicole Ruffolo, CLICK HERE.