Red Devils top LT in a shootout
By Matt Le Cren

The match had two unusual goals, several near-misses, aggressive defense, physical battles for nearly every loose ball and a fantastic finish.

Did you expect anything less from a Hinsdale Central-Lyons Township game?

The archrivals met again Tuesday night at Dickinson Field in Hinsdale and not surprisingly, first place in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division was on the line.

The match started 45 minutes late for a bizarre reason, delayed due to a JV boys' track meet that took six hours over two days to complete. When it ended nearly three hours later at 10 p.m., the host Red Devils had beaten the Lions 2-1 on penalty kicks.

“For both teams it was a battle royale,” Hinsdale Central coach Michael Smith said. “It was one of those things where both teams took those heavy punches in the beginning but stayed with it.”

After both teams scored in the first half, the game settled into a familiar rhythm, or lack of one: neither team could gain an edge as players on both squads fought tooth-and-nail for every ball, refusing to give an inch. Two yellow cards were handed out, including one to Meghan Schick, who would play a prominent role in the outcome, and several more could have been issued.

Smith had reason to be concerned when the game went to the shootout given his team’s performance in its last shootout. The Red Devils beat Waubonsie Valley 3-2 on penalties on April 20 but the shootout score was only 2-1.

Imagine his surprise when all five Hinsdale shooters – Lily Chetosky, Casey May, Katie Camden, Kaitlyn Livingston and Schick – all converted their kicks. Schick’s shot gave the Red Devils a 5-4 lead.

“I had to redeem myself for the Waubonsie game,” Schick said. “I went first and missed and I was really, really mad at myself. I went last this time, so I was mentally preparing myself because sometimes you think too much about it.”

Erin Fitzgerald, Emily Lange, Abbie Pasquinelli and Ari Kowalski all made their penalties for LT, meaning Catherine King had to convert to extend the shootout.

Hinsdale Central goalie Riley Glenn had guessed right but come up empty on two of the previous kicks, but this time she fully extended on a dive to her left and stopped King to end the match.

“I knew the situation going into it that if I saved it we would come out with the win,” Glenn said. “And then it was all just saying in my mind, ‘save it, save it.’

“I read it off her foot right away. I felt I was more confident on that one than the other four.”

The victory means the Red Devils (9-3-2, 4-0) control their own destiny in the race for the Silver title. They lead the Lions (9-4-2, 3-1) and York (10-3-2, 3-1) by a game with two league matches left. Hinsdale Central and York play on Thursday.

“We’ve been talking about this all week, just that it’s conference, more importantly it’s our rival, so we just had to come out strong and I think we did that,” Glenn said. “We kept it up through the whole game and the five penalty kicks were just phenomenal.”

Ironically, King and Schick were the main protagonists in the two plays that resulted in goals in the first half.

It was King who helped LT take a 1-0 lead with 23:13 left in the half when she boomed a 50-yard free kick that bounced over the head of Glenn and hit the crossbar flush. Freshman Grace Salvino alertly rushed in and buried the rebound.

“I definitely should have been more decisive on that one,” Glenn said. “My backs did a really good job of keeping that line there all game. I knew I had to redeem myself somehow.”

Smith was not surprised Glenn did exactly that.

“She’s become a star for our team,” Smith said. “Could she have done better [on the goal]? Maybe, but when we needed her to step up, she did step up.”

Glenn finished with three saves, two of which came in overtime. That included stopping a 38-yard free kick from King that came whizzing in head-high with 3:45 to go in the first extra session.

LT goalie Lidia Breen also made three saves, all in the first half. She stopped May’s running shot from the left wing in the fifth minute and then leaped to save Chetosky’s 40-yard free kick on the left post.

Breen made an easy catch on a Camden’s 45-yard free kick with 3:00 left before the break and the Red Devils did not muster a shot the rest of the match.

But Glenn didn’t face much pressure in the run of play as Camden, Chetosky, Christa Kuhlman, Lauren Zapka and Jenny Saviski all contributed to a stellar defensive effort and the midfield led by Schick, Livingston, Kozarits, Caitlin Smith, Madeline Engelking and Alex Otto made life difficult for the Lions to gain traction.

“They play hard and today they made us play in a style that is not the way we like to play,” Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary said. “They do a very good job defensively and they force you into some things that are uncharacteristic of us. We need to relax and find open players.

“We had a hard time finding space out there and that’s a credit to them. They’re disciplined defensively and get back nicely, so we had a hard time finding space and when we did, especially in counterattacks, we had some chances going forward and just one little pass away here or there from really creating some better opportunities.”

The Lions also were tough on defense, with King, Grace Nasenbenny, Sarah Drew and CC Holbert all playing well. They did have a couple opportunities to extend the lead but two free kicks from the dangerous Erin Fitzgerald, who scored the only goal in LT’s 1-0 victory over Glenbard West on Monday, missed the mark.

Then the Red Devils tied it up on another unusual play. May was knocked down in a battle for a loose ball in the LT penalty area and the Lions called for obstruction, giving Hinsdale an indirect free kick about 12 yards from the goal.

Kozarits tapped the ball to Schick, who ripped a shot past the LT wall and into the upper right corner with 10:43 left in the half.

“I saw an opening,” Schick said. “Their wall was kind of to the left and the corner was wide open. I practice those and I just tried to hit it because I saw it was wide-open.”

Despite the loss, Lanspeary was satisfied with the performance.

“It was a good game. I thought we played pretty well in the first half and I think they had us on our heels in the second half and then in the overtimes both teams created a few chances,” Lanspeary said. “I thought we had one in the second half off the corner kick that missed wide [in the second overtime]. Lange got in and got a piece of it, so we had some chances.”

Hinsdale Central is the top seed and Lyons the No. 2 seed at the Hinsdale Central Sectional, so the two squads could meet again on the same field in the sectional final on May 24. The Lions, who were knocked out of last year’s playoffs by the Red Devils in a regional final, won’t lack for motivation.

“They’re a strong team,” Smith said. “I told their girls, ‘we want to see you back here in a few weeks,’ but [first] we’ve got to clean some things up offensively and defensively.

“But I’m proud of the girls’ effort. I’m proud that they played with a confidence and a sense of urgency that made it a great game.”