H-F executes well against short-handed Warriors in opener

By Curt Herron

An opening match featuring a veteran squad who's executing well against a young team battling injuries almost always results in a lopsided outcome.

That's exactly how things played out on Thursday when Lincoln-Way West travelled to Homewood-Flossmoor as both squads kicked off their 2011 seasons.

The host Vikings struck early and often against the short-handed Warriors, grabbing a 5-0 halftime lead before settling for an 8-0 win in Flossmoor.

With returning all-stater Kelly Lewers leading the way with two goals and three assists, H-F gave new coach Charlie Ward a nice victory in his debut.

The longtime assistant with the program takes over for Todd Elkei, who left to become coach at another SouthWest Suburban Conference school, Lockport.

"The girls played well and had fun, which is great," Ward said. "Nobody was nervous, which is a hard thing to find for the first game of the year. Our possession was crisp and we were able to finish in tight spaces near the goal when they had eight or nine kids in the box.

"The fact that our possession is already so crisp is a tribute to coach Elkei, who did a great job working on that. Todd put so much hard work in with these girls, so it's a blessing to take over this team from him. I've just had to make a couple of tweaks here and there."

Meanwhile, it was a rough beginning for West, which came in with high hopes after returning all of their players from a successful first varsity season.

But coach Jeff Theiss' Warriors were far from being at full-strength since it was missing several key performers who were sidelined with injuries.

Beside both of his young keepers, Theiss also was missing the services of two of the four seniors on his squad, Kalin Winans and Kylie Hermanson.

As a result, West had to juggle its lineup, with the biggest move featuring senior Ashley Sichak going from her usual spot as a defender to keeper.

Sichak did a fine job in the difficult role and stopped several potential scores, but the Warriors clearly suffered due to her absence on the field.

"We knew what H-F is capable of doing and we tried to prepare for this game as best as we could," Theiss said. "We worked on a system where we put some numbers behind the ball. In the first four or five minutes the girls were shifting and talking and our shape looked good.

"But the problem is that we're a young team so once the ball ended up at the back of the net, you kind of saw the snowball-effect occur. We've talked about getting to the next level, so it was nice for the girls to see a team like H-F and it's something we can build off of.

"We've got some players injured, like Kalin Winans, and we're hoping to get both of our goalies back fast. Ashley played great and she's not a goalie but our center mid. But as well as Ashley did, it hurt not having her leadership in the middle of the field."

As if the Warriors (0-1) needed more obstacles to overcome, the Vikings (1-0) had a strong wind at their backs during the initial 40 minutes of play.

The Vikings got the only score that they would need in the sixth minute when Lewers sent a pass from the side that found Kate Vendrely, who connected.

In the 12th minute, Lewers was at it again, sending a similar pass that found Haley Hruska, who saw her short attempt hit the crossbar before going in.

H-F took a 3-0 lead in the 22nd minute when Emma Kay found Ali Farkos in front of the net and the Vikings' leader in the midfield scored on a header.

Lewers connected for unassisted scores in the 29th and 34th minutes to give the hosts a decisive 5-0 advantage as they headed into the halftime break.

"This was a great way to open the season," Lewers said. "We've been working really hard so far so it was a great feeling to get a win like this. Usually it's a little bit of a rough go in the opener but everyone came ready to play and stepped up.

"This team is not much different than last year since we're all close and are good friends. There's great chemistry all the way down the line, and that's a great thing to have. We want to go out and do better this season than we did last season."

While the Warriors got the wind at their backs in the final half, the hosts continued to enjoy the advantage in both possession and shot opportunities.

One of West's few good scoring chances came right after the break when Corinne Brennan sent a shot from the side that was stopped by keeper Kim Boehm.

The Viking defense, led by sweeper Chelsea Moss and outside backs Chrissy and Kelly Coderre, did a good job of keeping the Warriors from threatening.

Ward was particularly pleased with the efforts of Moss, who has moved from stopper to sweeper because Emily Johnson is currently out with an injury.

H-F took a 6-0 lead when Kay scored on a counter-attack and the match was shortened right after that when Farkos scored off of an assist by Lewers.

West had a series of chances a short time later when a long free kick by Emily Kowalski was cleared away, leading to a throw-in by Sydney Schumacher.

After a foul was called on the throw-in, Therese Schultz got a free kick just outside of the box and Shelby Rossborough was wide on a short shot try.

"We've worked really hard in practice and it paid off in this game," Moss said. "We were making good passes and connections. We always work on possession and finding open seams. We wanted to get a win so we could get off to a great start this season.

"I love the girls on this team. They're awesome people and it's fun to play with them. We all have so much in common and we love soccer so much. And that makes it easier for us to play together, make connections and to do well."