Porters rally past Eagles, grab the edge in SWSC Blue race

 

 

By Randy Whalen

Lockport Township girls soccer coach Todd Elkei didn't have to to say a word. His team knew what was at stake.

The defending SouthWest Suburban Blue titlists came out and took a big step toward repeating as conference champions by rallying for a 2-1 victory over Sandburg on Monday afternoon in Lockport.

Sam Calderaro and Lacey Clarida scored just over two minutes apart in the second half and the defense came up big as the Porters, who have been decimated by injuries, improved to 7-3-1 and 3-0 in the league. Sandburg fell to 7-3-2 and 1-1.

"It says a lot about the heart and character of these girls to come out, respond, and play their best game of the year," Elkei said. "It shows a lot, this was truly a team win as everyone contributed."

The Porters were pumped.

"Frannie [Vargas] had us all mentally prepared," Elkei said of one of his senior defenders getting the team ready before the game. "I didn't have to say anything. I just came in and wrote 'heart, passion, pride' on the board. It was good to see the senior group find their leadership."

Lockport, which has 11 seniors on the team, is without three players for the rest of the season. Two are senior midfielders Allison Gamperl [ACL injury] and Jessica Liutkus, who suffered third-degree burns to her leg in a house fire on April 6. Sophomore midfielder Taylor Stortz is also lost for the season with an ACL injury.

"This was Jess' first game back with the team," Elkei said of Liutkus being on the bench. "She is an emotional leader and it gave the team a lift."

Liutkus got to watch her team put together a great attack in the middle of the second half. After a scoreless first half, Sandburg struck first.

The Eagles hardly had any offensive attack in the opening 40 minutes as the Lockport defense, led by junior Taylor Burek, was marking up and not allowing and space.

Sandburg had a pair of corner kicks in the first half, but neither resulted in shots. Lockport had some opportunities, most of them by Clarida, but also had a shot by senior defender Brynn Feeley go just high 31 minutes into the half.

But Sandburg's offense got going 10 minutes into the second half. At that point, Meghan Carmody got free for a shot near the top of the box that went high, and fellow senior midfielder and co-captain Morgan Manzke followed with a cross from the left side that was deflected out.

Then the Eagles set up for a corner kick from the left side. Senior defender Carly Katalinic delivered a perfect strike to the near post and freshman forward Sarah DeWolf was there to put a touch on it and get it past senior goalie Alyssa DeYoung with 27:04 remaining in the game.

At that point, things looked good Sandburg, which was coming off a pair of 1-0 games on Saturday. One was an overtime loss to New Trier, and the other was a win over Benet Academy. Both games were in the Naperville Invite.

Plus in their first 11 games, the Eagles had five shutouts and only allowed two goals once - in a 3-2 win over visiting Lemont on March 30.

That all changed in a span of 2:14.

Lockport senior midfielder Leah Plescia took a throw in from the left side and crossed the ball to the middle. The wind, which was strong all afternoon, was going toward the goal and held the ball up in the air. When it came down Calderaro, a sophomore forward, was there to put it in net and the game was tied 1-1 with 21:56 left to play.

"I just tried to get a good cross," Plescia said of her pass. I was trying to get it all the way to the far post and it sort of sliced. But Sam is a little animal and she went after it and did her job.

"Last year we beat Sandburg for the the first time [also 2-1, in double overtime, on April 23 in Orland Park] and to me this win is equal to that. We didn't have any letdowns and this is the best we've played all season."

Prior to last year when the Porters won the SWSC Blue, Sandburg had won nine league titles in 11 years, extending back into the days of the old SICA West.

For Calderaro, the goal was well, simple.

"It just kind of landed right in front of me and I kicked it in," said Calderaro, who scored her first goal of the season just two days before in a 2-0 win at Joliet West. "I was in the right place at the right time.

"That boasted our team's morale and turned the game around."

The game really got turned around moments later. That's when Vargas played a ball in the middle of the field and crossed it to Clarida on the right side. The junior forward had the positioning and got senior goalie Nicole Kulovitz to come out and commit on her left side.

Clarida calmly put a touch on it and sent it toward the far [left] post. For a moment it looked like the ball might drift wide, but it stayed in by about a foot and settled into to net with 19:42 to play for what proved to be the game-winning goal.

It marked the return to action for Clarida, who had missed the previous week with a concussion.

"I made the run through and got the cross," Clarida said of her 13th goal of the season. "Then I just aimed for the far post with the grounder. I held my breath for a second there, but it was in. It really fired us up a lot. We had all the momentum then."

Clarida credited the Porter defense for keeping the team in the game.

"Our defense was huge," she said. "They [Sandburg] had the wind in the first half and Taylor Burek was stepping up and stopping them from doing anything."

The defense stepped up again down the stretch. The Eagles nearly knotted the game with 12:25 to play. That's when DeWolf bid for her second goal by firing a laser that was deflected by DeYoung as she came out of the net. The ball, however, started rolling toward the goal, and seemed ticketed to tie the game.

That's when Lockport junior midfielder Mary Licata ran it down, and swept it out before it could settle into the goal.

"It was only a couple of feet from going in," Licata said of her nongoalie save. "I saw it and ran all the way down. I had a couple of feet on the Sandburg girl and knew I had to get there faster than her. I didn't know if I should try to clear it or just kick it out of bounds, so I just kicked it out. I don't believe I've ever saved a goal before."

Sandburg had another corner kick opportunity from the left after the ball was hit out by Licata, but this one didn't result in a shot. The Eagles did have a couple more good opportunities in the final few minutes, however.

With about 2:40 to play, senior midfielder Eilish Mulvey took a shot at the near [left] post that was saved. But the ball was free in front of the goal and sat there for a second or so, before being cleared.

Then with 1:16 left, Carmody had a steal and ran down the left side. But her blast from about 18 yards sailed high and the Porters held on for the huge win.

"It feels amazing," Licata said. "Now we're just going to have to keep it going."