Griffins claim third straight after edging Tigers in overtime

 

 

By Curt Herron

Lincoln-Way East's Meaghan Grady has missed much of her senior season due to various health issues.

But she finally got the opportunity to see some significant playing time on Thursday at Joliet West.

And to cap off her big night, Grady happened to be at the right place at the right time, and that meant good news for the Griffins.

Grady flicked in a short try following a Kelsey Elam corner kick in the 86th minute of the SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue match.

As a result, the Griffins pulled out a 2-1 overtime victory over the Tigers in a contest where they dominated but struggled to connect.

It was the third straight win for East (6-4-1, 2-1), which played a scoreless half with Joliet Central two days earlier that was suspended.

The Griffins converted a penalty early in the final half and looked like that would suffice but the Tigers wouldn't give up easily.

West made the most on an opportunity in the 77th minute to deprive Brian Papa's squad of its fifth shutout in its last six matches.

"We did a good job tonight in terms of possessing the ball, but we did nothing dangerous in the first half," Papa said. "Defensively we were sound all day but we just had a breakdown at the end of the game where the ball bounced in the middle, the clear went up in the air and when the ball spins, things happen.

"As I told the girls, you don't get points for possession, we want them to possess and make connections, and I thought we did a real good job of that in the second half. But we never made anything dangerous other than the first goal. We were knocking the ball around pretty good, but again, it was to no avail.

"Nothing is going onto the net with any pizzazz, so we have to work on that. But we've been working on so many things in practice that maybe it's time to work on our finishing. We had nine corner kicks and when you get that many, it means that you're doing something right. We usually get something from them.

"Our goal at the end of the year is to be one tough team to beat. You're going to have to beat us because we're not going to give you anything."

As has been the case during its recent successes, East has relied on the backline of Tracy Brinkman, Lindsey Murphy, Jessica Bicek and Elam.

The Griffins have now won three straight and five of their last six matches and have gone 6-1-1 since opening the year with three defeats.

But a victory was far from assured after the Tigers started to apply some late pressure and then got the equalizer from Cynthia Garcia.

Sam Fiorella and Jill Kilrea were both denied on long tries as regulation play ended and the Griffins went to a second-straight overtime.

Unlike Monday's scoreless draw at Bolingbrook that ended in an East win, Papa's 300th as a girls coach, this one wouldn't reach penalties.

In short order, McKenna Fugett had a shot cleared by a defender and Kilrea sent a liner from the side, which resulted in a corner kick.

On the subsequent corner, Elam placed a ball in front of the Tiger net and Grady was there to put in the short shot for the winner.

"Kelsey's corner was loose in front of us and I got a toe on it and just tipped it in," Grady said. "It's been very frustrating but it's good to be back so I'm happy about that. Scoring that goal was a nice reward for me.

"We're building a lot of positive things and have good teamwork so we're able to work well together. We're keeping our heads up and pushing through. Every game we're going out there with our heads up and staying positive."

The Griffins moved in front for the first time in the 50th minute when Kilrea sent a pass into the box to Fugett, who was then fouled.

East was awarded a penalty and Fiorella promptly connected to put her team ahead but the visitors struggled to build on that score.

A few minutes later, Elam was denied on a long free kick and Grady was thwarted on two efforts, setting the stage for West's equalizer.

Despite seeing her squad fall short of claiming one of its biggest wins, first-year West coach Ashley Veigelt was proud of the effort.

"Our goals have been extremely small this year," Veigelt said. "We went from just seeing how we'd do, to scoring our first home game goal and then to keep the goals against us at a minimum and we did that against Lockport.

"Today our goal was to get a win, so it's good to go overtime against teams like East. We're obviously still in the learning process because of the Township split in programs and this is my first year as a head varsity coach.

"These kids have been working hard from day one of conditioning back in January. Our number one goal this year was to bring back family values. We wanted to start fresh and we've been doing a great job of redeeming our name."

As the Griffins exited the field, they surprised their coach by presenting him with a nice trophy honoring him for his 300th victory in their sport.

The Griffins finish up with Joliet Central on Monday and play Homewood-Flossmoor and Sandburg before taking part in the Lemont Cup.