Dukes edged by Red Devils in match shortened by weather

 

 

By Dave Owen

Junior Meghan Schick’s second big goal in three days wasn’t the only big strike in Hinsdale Central’s 1-0 win Thursday at York.

After a 30-minute lightning delay halted play with 29:08 left in the match, a second lightning flash in the sky as the teams were warming up to resume play forced the game to be called shortly before 9 p.m.

The abbreviated evening brought celebration for the Red Devils (10-3-2, 5-0) who clinched at least a share of the West Suburban Conference Silver title.

“It’s really huge for our team, especially for our confidence level,” said Schick, whose team must beat Glenbard West on Tuesday in its conference finale to wrap up the outright championship.

“This has been one of our goals for the two years that I’ve been on varsity," added Schick. "It’s huge for us. I’m so proud of our team – we work so hard. It’s awesome.”

York (10-4-2, 3-2) tried to keep a bigger picture perspective on Thursday’s outcome.

“A 1-0 score line honestly doesn’t matter in a shortened game like this,” York coach Krzysztof Halupka said.

“Whether you win or lose right now, it doesn’t matter with the (postseason) bracket set. The playoffs are what we’re really looking forward to, so we really want to focus on that.”

A major part of York’s forward focus is on the health of star striker Ellie Ordonez, who suffered a knee injury during a 0-0 tie with St. Charles North on Tuesday.

“She’s getting an MRI tomorrow,” Halupka said. “It’s obviously something a little bit more serious, and we’ll find out where we’re at when the scan comes in.

“She’s suffered serious injuries in the past, and you never wish that on any player. And unfortunately it’s a big loss to our team. We just hope the scan comes back and there’s nothing serious.”

Without Ordonez, York had even more of a battle against a Red Devils’ team riding momentum from a penalty kick win over defending league champion Lyons Township on Tuesday.

Hinsdale Central dominated play in the first half, persistently attacking the York defensive zone.

The biggest early chance came in the 15th minute, when Kristen Kozarits was robbed on a diving save of her 12-yard shot towards the lower left corner of the net by Dukes’ goalkeeper Annabelle Lansdowne.

York defenders Rachael Ogdon, Lizzy Akre, Edith Flores and Angela Guerino limited the damage on most of the Red Devils’ waves of attacks into the final third of the field.

Meanwhile, the Dukes’ first shot of the match didn’t come until 21:10 before halftime (Riley Glenn’s save of a 20-yard chip by Bryce Banuelos).

York’s Madi Fafinski and the Red Devils’ Christa Kuhlman had dueling steals to start counterattacks for their respective teams during one back-and-forth stretch, but Hinsdale Central intensified its pressure late in the first half.

“We were combining really well,” Schick said. “Me and Casey (May) on the right and Lily (Chetosky) – we were all making combinations and communicating. We knew we just wanted to possess and play our game.”

Ogdon cleared Katie Camden’s attempt off a May corner kick 11:55 before halftime, then Akre’s nice win of a 50/50 ball from two Red Devil players with 5:30 left continued the defensive stand.

But after Ogdon’s block of an Alison Cerny shot 2:40 before the half, the Red Devils used quick thinking to finally break through.

After her break in on the right side produced a corner kick with 1:38 left, Hinsdale Central’s Jenn Jarmy quickly inbounded the restart to Schick just to the right of the box.

Having netted the game-clinching score in the PK session on Tuesday, Schick delivered again by lofting a 15-yard shot into the far corner of the net for a 1-0 Red Devils’ lead.

“It’s been kind of like a redemption week for me,” Schick said, “because I messed up in the Waubonsie game (at the Naperville Invitational) and missed a PK there.”

Jarmy’s unusually quick corner kick led to Schick’s latest heroics.

“Every team has been watching our short corner play,” Schick said, “so they (York) were already set up and had one (defender) on the line and one more cutting off the angle of the pass back. So I was wide open.

“Jenn found me, and it was kind of a spur of the moment thing. She kind of just saw it and went with it.”

York wasn’t caught off guard by the play, despite the ultimate result.

“They run several short corner kick plays, and we were prepared,” Halupka said. “I think Annabelle got caught a little bit on the near post, because even on that floated ball, two steps back she could have had it. But that’s soccer. You fall asleep for a half second and they get an opportunity.”

Schick’s perfect touch on the shot was the final factor, although she hardly boasted of her nice goal.

“It was all the wind, it wasn’t me at all,” she said. “My coach (Michael Smith) said there was some weird spin on it. It was really lucky.”

York had little or no luck on Thursday. The Dukes began to generate an attack early in the second half.

Jaime Kovatchis (30-yard shot wide of the net 50 seconds in) and Alyssa Kovatchis (a 35-yarder stopped by Glenn on a short hop) had chances in the first four minutes.

Then after a Red Devil foul at the 31:40 mark, Guerino sent a 30-yard free kick over the net in what was then a heavy rain.

Just over two minutes later, lightning intervened to first delay and later end the game.

“I thought we did a good job,” Halupka said, “but we could have closed them down better in the first half. They had the wind a little bit, but besides the wind we were giving them a little bit too much space.

“In the second half in the 12 minutes or whatever we played, we did a much better job of closing them down, not allowing them to turn and putting more pressure on their midfielders.

“That’s their engine – they (Hinsdale Central) try to play through the midfield, and I think we saw what they were trying to do. You react and think for yourself on your field, and we tell our players that. The coach can only put you on the field, but you have to figure it out as the game goes on about how to defeat your opponent.”

Defeating Hinsdale Central and back line standouts like goalkeeper Glenn, Lauren Zapka, Kuhlman, Camden and Jenny Saviski has been an uphill battle for WSC Silver offenses.

The Red Devils have allowed just one goal in five conference games, and Thursday marked the squad’s eighth shutout overall.

As for York, Ordonez’s health and the road ahead are the main focus.

“Overall it was a good effort from our girls,” Halupka said, “but I still think there’s room to improve and every time you step on the field you try to do that.”