Warriors roll in regional opener vs. Streator

|CLICK HERE FOR WARRIORS' TEAM PAGE

By Bill Scheibe

The scene was seemingly something straight out of a Stephen King novel. A cold, overcast Saturday morning prompted athletic director Ted Robbins to turn on the stadium lights at Lincoln-Way West before a steady, annoying mist began to spray the turf like a gardener going after those darn dandelions.

But 29 seconds into the first half, roaring like a lion was senior outside midfielder Kylie Hermanson. From the left of the circle, she handled a cross from sophomore forward Cori Brennan that bounced dangerously through the box and powered a shot with her right foot that went right on the goal.

And, voila, right in.

“I think that was really important,” said Hermanson, who predominantly shoots and passes with her left foot, a plot twist that King would love. “It started off the game with a good tempo, we got a good tempo going, and we had our heads up after that. The weather didn’t matter to us. We just wanted to win.”

Boosted by a goal and an assist from Hermanson and another two goals and an assist by Brennan, the Warriors got that win in the quarterfinals of the Class 2A Lincoln-Way West Regional, snapping a brief two-game losing streak in the process with a cruise-control 4-0 victory over fifth-seeded Streator.

Sophomore forward Kara Winans also notched a goal and an assist and freshman defender Kendall Watson contributed an assist for fourth-seeded Lincoln-Way West (8-10-1), which advanced to Tuesday’s 4:30 semifinal vs. top-seeded Joliet Catholic – a rematch of last year’s regional title game.

Supported by sophomore sweeper Lea Gindville, Watson, senior defender Emily Kowalski and a troika of stoppers, sophomore goalkeeper Kayla Lojas and senior goalkeeper Ashley Sichak recorded the shutout. Both made a pair of saves, with Sichak moving to center midfielder for the start of the second half.

By that juncture, the Warriors were well on their way, holding steady like the rain with a 4-0 halftime lead. And Hermanson’s first-minute goal proved to be the perfect tonic after consecutive losses over a three-day stretch to conference and district rivals Lincoln-Way Central and Lincoln-Way North.

“It set the tone,” Lincoln-Way West coach Jeff Theiss said of Hermanson’s goal. “That was the biggest part of the pregame speech: we needed to come out fast. We’ve seen both sides with this team. We punch one in like we did against Eisenhower and continue the snowball effect in the positive direction.”

“That was a really big goal,” said Brennan, who would know since she leads the Warriors with 16.

“We know that if we don’t score right away, we have a tendency to start putting our heads down after every shot. After that one went in, we knew we had to keep shooting on goal and that they would go in.”

Even with the early 1-0 lead, the Warriors kept going. With 28:40 left, Winans stole a Streator goal kick that stalled into the wind. She slid a pass across the box that Brennan buried into the right corner. It tied Winans for the team lead in assists – with senior midfielder Kalin Winans, her sister – with seven.

She dished off the credit as well.

“I think Kylie’s goal gave us the confidence to get going,” Kara Winans said. “We came out hard, just like we’re supposed to do, and that goal definitely benefited us. After halftime, I don’t think we did get the results we wanted, but we kept working and our effort in the first half made it all work out in the end.”

That’s because the Warriors ended up a dominant opening 40 minutes with Watson’s long clear at 3:40 left setting up Winans, who turned at the top of the box and converted under the crossbar. With 6:26 left, Brennan controlled a Hermanson through-ball feed and blasted a shot into the far-right corner.

As the Warriors had during a span that produced a 4-1 record over five games, Brennan and Winans became the two forwards, with Hermanson and freshman Katie Brncich as the outside mids. Kalin Winans, Sichak and sophomore Shelby Rossborough took over at center mid in the 4-4-2.

“We’re really connecting together now and it’s great,” said Brennan, who previously had been West’s lone warrior at forward. “It’s fun. We know where each other is going to be and it’s nice knowing you have someone else there up top. With Kara there with me, I don’t have to do all the running.”

“It’s exciting,” Winans said. “We’ve been building off of each other. We work well together. We know where each other is going and how to play with each other, and I think it gives us more opportunities. You don’t have just one player left alone up top working back or struggling to get downfield.”

Sometimes, Theiss has felt compelled to field a shutdown team by using an extra defender. Teaming up Brennan and Winans at forward, however, has boldly increased the Warriors’ balance in scoring.

“I would love to go with that system all the time,” Theiss said. “With those two, Cori and Kara, you can tell that they’re best friends. The chemistry is there up top and they work off of each other very well. They’re dangerous up there, and I think that makes us more dangerous offensively as a team.”

Defensively, West rarely allowed Streator on the porch, so the Bulldogs barely even knocked on the door. It was the Warriors’ seventh shutout this spring, the fourth for Lojas and the first for Sichak. Kalin Winans, Sichak and, in particular, freshman Bree McCabe rotated between midfielder and stopper.

“I thought Bree did some really nice things at stopper,” Theiss said. “Leah does a great job of giving depth at sweeper, and Emily and Kendall are feeding off of each other as outside backs. They were on their toes, anticipating and stepping up, and Kendall ended up with an assist because of that.”

In the end, though, the start sparked by Hermanson’s goal in the first minute and her assist in the final 10 minutes meant West would not wither. Neither gray skies nor mist nor rain nor cold could keep the Warriors from the 4-0 halftime lead, but the second half needed Stephen King as a script doctor.

“We had our ups and downs in the second half,” Hermanson said. “Our communication dropped a little bit, but we picked it up and we held it together and it got us the win. That’s all that really counts.”
Right on. Just like her first shot.