Hornets put three on the board vs. Lincoln-Way East

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By Matt Le Cren

If you showed up at halftime of Saturday’s match between Hinsdale South and Lincoln-Way East, you missed all of the action that included some interesting sights.

Some of the highlights of the first half of Hinsdale South’s 3-1 victory in the consolation semifinals of the Lemont Cup included the offensively challenged Hornets tying their best output of the season by scoring three goals for only the second time, Jaime Walker notching her first two-goal game of the year and Lincoln-Way East coach Brian Papa getting ejected for the first time in his 30-year career.

Walker was paired up front with fellow senior Jackie Belmonte, who usually plays more in the midfield, and the duo produced three goals and two assists.

“They don’t play us at forward that much together but we when do we usually get a couple give-and-gos together,” Walker said.

Walker, who opened the scoring by launching a 35-yard bomb into the upper left corner, and Belmonte worked their magic in the waning minutes of the half.

The two combined to score twice within in a minute as the Hornets (9-8) broke a 1-1 tie. Belmonte set up Walker for what turned out to be the game-winner, and Walker returned the favor as they broke down the Griffins’ back line for a demoralizing insurance goal.

“We came out with better pressure and we were passing better and playing more simple like how we expect to do,” Belmonte said. “I think we just connected better.”

Walker agreed.

“I thought we played really well,” she said. “We had a lot of energy the whole game. We were playing as a team.”

While Hinsdale South was winning as a team, Lincoln-Way East (3-13-2) was losing as a team, dropping its sixth straight match.

“It’s been the same thing all season for us is that when we make mistakes in the back, we get punished,” said Griffins assistant coach Ryan Decker. “And we got punished within a minute with two goals because on one our outside left back got sucked out of the middle and then we got played behind and then we just didn’t hold the line on the second one.

“That changed the game. If we go in 1-1 at halftime, we’re in good shape. 3-1, we’re beat, and that’s the problem. It’s a mentality issue.”

Decker was forced to make his head-coaching debut when Papa was asked to leave with 18:00 left in the first half while protesting that the officials initially refused to stop the clock when a Hinsdale South player suffered an ankle injury and required medical treatment. Hinsdale South coach Pat Wolf pulled his team off the field while that was going on.

“He got tossed protecting my player,” Hinsdale South coach Pat Wolf said. “One of my players got hurt and they were running the clock, so I said, ‘let’s get off the field.’”

With his team trailing 1-0 at the time, Papa argued and was hit with a yellow card and then a red card in quick succession.

Papa was out of the game at that point but the Griffins weren’t. Lincoln-Way East tied the game at 1-1 thanks to some hustle from junior midfielder Rebecca Dobrich, who rushed in and blocked a clearing attempt by Hinsdale South goalie Vanessa Niestrom.

The ball deflected behind Niestrom and Dobrich got to the ball first and got the equalizer.

“Finally a ball bounced in our direction,” Papa noted.

But unlike the night before, when the Hornets lost to Lemont 2-1 on penalty kicks after giving up the tying goal with 1:32 remaining in regulation, Hinsdale South bounced back with its two-goal outburst, which turned out to be the last scoring chances either side had in the match.

“It was nice because they had scored when Netty came out and drilled it at their player and we got a bad bounce,” Wolf said. “We responded kind of really quick so that was nice.”

With two regular season games left against Proviso East on Tuesday and Downers Grove North on Thursday, the Hornets feel they are on a slight upswing as they prepare for their playoff opener May 18 at Argo.

“I think we keep getting better, so I think hopefully as the games go on we should keep playing better as we did today,” Walker said.

The same can’t be said of the Griffins, who face Mother McAuley May 18 in their first postseason contest at Homewood-Flossmoor. No Lincoln-Way East player has scored more than four goals this year.

“We’re definitely struggling,” Papa said. “We’ve had a rough year. We actually got our players healthy and we see good things, but there’s no confidence. When there is no confidence, they don’t believe in anything.

“So we’re trying to find the right combination, at least 10 girls that can pass the ball to one another and move off one another. We thought we had something. We moved Becca out of the back and moved her to the front line just to try something and she got a goal. She thinks she’s running around in circles but her presence up there is effective and the girls don’t realize that.”