West Suburban Sports

Porters connect, possess well in 7-0 victory over Warriors

By Curt Herron

After getting plenty of chances during the first 20 minutes of its match on Thursday, Lockport Township's players were feeling awful frustrated.

Although the Porters controlled the play against Lincoln-Way West and created all sorts of shots and corner kicks, they had nothing to show for it.

But shortly after the midway point of the opening half things began to click for coach Todd Elkei's squad, and once that happened, the drama ended.

LTHS proceeded to score three goals in just over five minutes and then added another goal shortly before the break to grab a 4-0 halftime advantage.

Then they added two more scores in just over 11 minutes at the start of the final half as they went on to capture a 7-0 victory over West in Lockport.

Frannie Vargas and Ally Brehm each had two goals and added an assist while Julie Divita, Lexi Cozzi and Gina Collesano also got into the scoring act.

The defense of Brynn Feeley, Lauren Labanauskas, Leah Plescia, Hannah Pilch and Divita helped to assure that keeper Alyssa DeYoung had an easy outing.

It marked the third straight shutout for the Porters (6-2), who limited the Warriors (2-5-1) to very few opportunities on the cold and windy afternoon.

LTHS benefited from a strong wind in the opening 40 minutes and continued to keep up the pressure even though it headed into the same after the break.

"Sometimes when teams pack it in like they did in the first half, it's kind of frustrating," Elkei said. "And then once you get that first one, it opens the door a little bit and the kids relax a little and start playing a little quicker.

"We were happy that we were switching the field and that our goals weren't breakaways, they were off crosses. It wasn't just individual effort, it was due to building up. In the second half, we were just worried about increasing our speed of play.

"We've pretty much rotated five girls on defense and they're starting to get comfortable with each other and they take pride in not letting the other team score. They understand what we expect of them now and they've been getting better each week.

"The expectations are higher for the kids than they've been before since we're not people who just want to have an average program. The kids have been great with the change and you can see that they're trying to process what we've been doing."

A long shot by Feeley kicked off the pressure on Warriors keeper Kayla Lojas, who made some big stops to prevent the Porters from scoring any more goals.

LTHS controlled the ball throughout the opening half and repeatedly set up nine corner kicks from Cassie Pullia, but they didn't lead to many good chances.

Shortly after the midway mark of the first half, Pullia sent a cross to Cozzi, who had a short try blocked by Lojas and a rebound deflected by Lea Gindville.

But the Porters finally connected in the 22nd minute when Feeley sent a pass toward the net which Brehm got a touch on just before the ball found the net.

Divita contributed another score about half a minute later and then Vargas fired in a line drive in the 28th minute to give the hosts a 3-0 advantage.

The quick trio of scores was a tough pill to swallow for Warriors coach Jeff Theiss, whose team had allowed only two goals in their last seven halves.

"We knew that Lockport's a very good team so we started with numbers behind the ball, especialy with the wind in our face," Theiss said. "Ten minutes in I felt that our shape looked good, even though they were obviously possessing the ball.

"We did a good job of keeping them from having many dangerous opportunities but then they got the first goal, which was fine since it was bound to happen. My disappointment came with the next three goals since there was a massive letdown.

"Our goal in the first half was to not them score and when they did, the heads went down. That's not the type of soccer that we play and I told the girls that's where someone has to step up so that something like that doesn't happen again.

"Up until today, we'd had a nice little turnaround and gone 2-1-1 in our last four games. The girls have been turning things around and I'd been very happy with what I've seen behind the ball. Today was just a letdown from our standpoint."

After grabbing the 3-0 lead, the Porters threatened again shortly before the break with a liner from Plescia and a short try by Brehm that Lojas dove for.

LTHS managed to connect again in the 39th minute when Brehm sent a cross in front of the net to Vargas, who put in a short attempt to make it a 4-0 match.

"We got a lot of good shots on goal and had good possession up top today," Cozzi said. "The first half was a little shaky but we put it all together during the second half.

"We tried to connect passes together and that set up some good runs and give-and-gos. We could have done better, but overall, it was a good game and we played pretty well."

It was more of the same for the hosts following the break, beginning with a shot from Vargas that was cleared by Gindville less than a minute into the half.

Vargas contributed on the next score when she sent a pass toward Cozzi, who lined an attempt over the keeper's head during the 44th minute for a 5-0 lead.

The Warriors finally put together their first good scoring opportunity during the 46th minute when Cori Brennan was denied on an attempt from close range.

Cozzi and Divita responded with shots a short time later and in the 50th minute, Cozzi bounced a try off the post and Divita's rebound effort was halted.

LTHS extended its lead to 6-0 in the 52nd minute when Brehm connected for the second time and the hosts kept up steady pressure over the next quarter hour.

Sam Spencer, Kelly Wetherald, Labanauskas, Pullia and Pilch were all turned away in their efforts to get the seventh goal which would shorten the match.

It finally came in the 71st minute when Pullia's first corner of the second half went toward Collesano, who flicked in a short try to conclude the scoring.

"We created a lot of opportunities and could have had more goals, but we scored seven times so we can't complain," Pullia said. "We all worked together well today.

"We've started off pretty well this season and just built off of that. We're still trying to get used to working with each other and creating opportunities to score.

"We're adjusting well to our new coaches. I think we all have been working together well and when we have bad games we don't get down on each other, so I'm pleased."

The Porters play again at 5 p.m. today against Lincoln-Way East at Toyota Park while the Warriors return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Andrew.