It's like Derrick Rose and the Bulls. If you asked Lincoln-Way East coach Brian Papa and senior midfielder Erin Mangia for a scouting report before the game, one Providence Catholic name resembled the thorn.

Chris Reed.

And while Reed, the Cincinnati-bound senior forward, continued to blossom on a deep-chill Monday night with a pair of goals and an assist, the Griffins found out the Celtics also can play like a bouquet.

"I've been playing soccer with her in club since I was six," Mangia said of Reed, who has scored 93 goals in her high school career, including 30 last spring. "We talked about her as a team and Coach Papa told us what to expect, but we just didn't listen and we just didn't execute."

Meanwhile, Providence executed all over the place en route to a 4-0 nonconference victory at Frankfort.

Freshman forward Marybeth Galick scored two goals, freshman midfielder Kyleigh Maday added two assists and senior goalkeeper Megan Hettinger notched the shutout.

Although Hettinger helped Providence (1-1-1) with the majority of her eight saves in the second half, by that point, the deficit was a land too far to overcome for East (0-2-1). Sophomore midfielder Hannah Nichols had an assist for the Celtics as well.

It took a mere eight minutes and 35 seconds into the first half for Providence to pick up the game-winner. Maday's through-ball pass split the Griffins' defense before Reed filled the gap for a breakaway and popped a low, crisp shot into the far-left corner.

Yes, Reed. And, well, no.

"Reed did a great job, and I thought we did a good job of defending her for most of the first half," Papa said. "The first goal was our mistake. We got caught standing next to her, not on her, and that's all she needed. She was gone and that was that."

"We worked the ball through for a couple of sick opportunities," Reed nodded. "East was playing flat in back, so we had to make our runs and get the ball past them. East has always been a big rival for us and I don't think we've ever beaten them."

The beat was on for the 1-0 halftime lead, but the deep freeze caused by Reed occurred in the following 40 minutes – beginning with 35:33 remaining when Galick buried into the upper-left corner the rebound of a Reed shot that caromed off the near-side left post.

"We know Chris Reed is always going to be a strong player, always going to be dangerous and create opportunities," Providence coach Dan Potempa said. "She does a nice job of drawing defenses over to her. We want to crash the net and finish and Marybeth found a way to do it."

After sophomore midfielder Jamie Noonan nailed a direct kick off the crossbar, Providence pounced on the momentum as Nichols served up a perfect cross from the right flank and Galick kicked open the back door for the back-to-back strike and a 3-0 edge at 33:44.

"We wanted to play the ball through the midfield and get it over to the sides," Galick said. "We felt that would make it easier for us to score, and it was exciting for me. I'm only a freshman, and starting out with a couple of goals right away, that's pretty good."

The result was as good as gold with 19:19 to go. Reed completed the scoring as Maday popped a pass over the Griffins' defensive wall, and using those defenders as a screen, Reed then bounced a sizzler of a shot into the far-left corner.

And East had been rallying.

"We had our chances," said Mangia, the North Central College recruit. "It stinks that they didn't go in. We kept working hard and they kept scoring goals, but we didn't let down. We played hard until the end, but we couldn't score on anything."

"I'm disappointed in the outcome, but I'm not disappointed in the effort," Papa said. "I mean, come on, it's as cold as winter out here and we're down 2-0, 3-0, but we were still going after it and we had our opportunities in the second half."

Actually, the sequence that was symbolic of the Griffins' game came in the first half. Senior midfielder Maggie Wojtulewicz and freshman forward Samantha Fiorella fired shots from point-blank spots inside the box, but both were blocked.

"We never, ever shot the ball or accomplished getting the ball to a place where it was dangerous," Papa said. "We have to work on that and make the adjustments where we can get ourselves into better positions to score goals."

Still, East emptied the jar of scoring chances early in the second half, especially only 1:12 in when Mangia sailed a direct kick over the crossbar after senior forward Nicole Ernat was fouled. Freshman midfielder Mallory Stegmueller followed with a shot through the goal posts.

In the final 10 minutes, Mangia forced Hettinger (7 saves) into a couple of juggling stops to preserve the shutout. It's why, afterward, Potempa mentioned Reed's goal to begin the first half as being so very important for the visiting Celtics' psyche.

"To come out and get that first goal was certainly a confidence builder," he said. "We had a little lull at the end of the first half. We asked the girls, 'Who wants it? Who wants to score a goal?' I have no complaints. It was a total team effort and everybody played well."

Playing the best for either team was Reed, but that remained no surprise even in the aftermath to Papa or his Griffins.

"She is," Mangia said, "that good."

As good as a rose.