West Suburban Sports

Lions use quick score to spark sectional semifinal win over Red Devils

By Curt Herron

Coaches are always pleased to see their teams get off to a fast start in a sectional match.

But they're even happier when their squad begins well and then maintains that type of play.

That's just what Lyons Township coach Bill Lanspeary saw from his Lions in Tuesday's Class 3A York Sectional.

LT scored just 47 seconds into their semifinal match with Hinsdale Central and then added two more goals before the break.

The Lions got two more scores early in the second half and went on to claim a 5-0 victory over the Red Devils in Elmhurst.

As a result, LT (20-4-1) advances to Friday's finals against York, which defeated Oak Park and River Forest 2-1 in three overtimes.

The Dukes (20-4-1) beat the Lions 3-2 in two overtimes on May 10 to clinch the West Suburban Conference Silver Division championship.

LT has now advanced to the sectional finals in 14 of the last 16 seasons and will be going after its 12th sectional title since 1997.

Emily Lange scored off of an assist from Emma Meyering just 47 seconds into the match to send the Lions on their way.

Abbie Pasquinelli and Lauren Moberg also scored before the break and Moberg and Sarah Mazur added goals in the final half.

Maggie Orlowski didn't face many threats from the Red Devils (11-12-2) as she secured LT's 19th shutout of the season.

"I thought we played real well," Lanspeary said. "We got lucky and got a couple of breaks early and finished them and that changed the game.

"What was nice to see was that not only did we get off to a fast start but we kept it up. Our backs did a nice job of limiting their chances.

"Obviously everyone in this sectional knows each very well and there are no surprises. It's a matter of effort and execution and we had that."

Pasquinelli gave the Lions a 2-0 lead when she put in a rebound of a deflected shot by Kelsey Holbert in the 25th minute.

Then in the 37th minute, Moberg got her first goal after putting in a short attempt following a pass from Ari Kowalski.

Hinsdale, which fell 2-0 to LT in the teams' April 26 meeting, had a couple of good chances right before the break.

Orlowski deflected a liner by Jackie Gutman and stopped a short try by Jenn Jarmy following a Mallory Feinstein corner.

"We've struggled in the first couple of minutes of halves," Red Devils coach Skip Begley said. "So it was disappointing to see that early goal.

"In the second half, we thought we'd try to roll the dice and see if we could get one, but instead, they got two. LT's ranked high for a reason.

"We played well against Fenwick and played as if we wanted to win. We wanted to win tonight, but when they scored early it had an impact on us.

"I'm proud of our girls to be able to get to play in the sectional. But LT is well-coached and has a good team, so my hat is off to them."

The Lions delivered the knockout punch when they scored a pair of goals during a 31-second span shortly after the break.

Moberg found the net for the second time when she connected following a pass from Coco Corrigan in the 35th minute.

Not long after that, Mazur got past the Red Devil keeper and put a shot into an open net to complete the scoring.

"It was real important that we stepped up against a good team today and played very well and put the game away," LT senior Elise Gordon said.

"We're just trying to take everything one game at a time and not look too far ahead. We knew what we wanted to do today and accomplished it.

"We're very excited to be playing in the sectional final on Friday. I think it will be a good game since we're playing an excellent York team."