Chicagoland Soccer

Lions stay on top of WSC Silver with win over Red Devils

By Matt Le Cren

It was Senior Day at Lyons Township on Tuesday but a freshman stole the show.

The Lions honored seniors Olivia Minshall, Maggie Orlowski, Mackie Furlong, Juliet Lusson, Kristina Fiflis, Sarah Mazur and Emily Thuma during halftime ceremonies.

While all six played well against visiting Hinsdale Central, it was Liza Gabrek who made the difference as the Lions beat their rivals 1-0 in a key West Suburban Conference Silver Division match in LaGrange.

Gabrek, a rookie defender, scored the first goal of her career with 28:18 left in the opening half, then teamed with fellow fullbacks Mazur, Thuma and Ari Kowalski to make that tally stand up.

As a result, LT (10-2-4, 4-0) stayed a game ahead of Oak Park and River Forest and York in the Silver race while knocking the Red Devils (5-9-2, 2-2) out of contention.

“I’m just a freshman and I’m a defender so it’s not very likely for me to get a goal,” Gabrek said. “So I’m pretty excited about it.”

Gabrek’s goal came as a result of aggressive play by LT’s defense. Kowalski made an overlap run into the left corner before crossing into the middle of Hinsdale Central’s box.

The Red Devils cleared the ball out of the 18 but Gabrek alertly raced in to win the loose ball before launching a 23-yard shot that skimmed off the head of a defender and the gloves of Red Devils goalie Jenna Blodgett and into the net.

“We tell all our backs that when they get in the offensive third, if the ball swings around to them, if they can dump it in there or put it on frame, to go ahead and do it,” Lyons assistant coach Andy Newcomb said. “She gave it a chance and on a day like today, anything can happen.”

Indeed, weather conditions played a large role throughout the contest and especially on Gabrek’s goal. The pouring rain was on Gabrek’s mind when she unleashed her shot.

“It’s extremely rainy and the weather’s terrible so the goalies are going to be pretty nervous,” Gabrek said. “So I just thought why not take a chance. It’s wet out, so they might bobble it and fortunately it went in.”

Blodgett, who made all five of her saves in the second half to deny the Lions an insurance goal, said she would have caught Gabrek’s shot had it been dry.

“It was crazy wet. Everyone was slipping everywhere and the ball was slippery,” Blodgett said. “They just got that one touch on the ball and it slips through. It’s hard to grab it and hold on. It’s just hard with the rain and the water.”

Blodgett, a sophomore who was a field player until this year, did better after intermission, bobbling only two shots, both of which she quickly covered up.

All nine of LT’s shots came from distance as the Red Devils’ back line of Caitlin Smith, Casey May, Lauren Shroyer and Katie Camden denied every attempt at penetration.

“Any shot that was on frame, especially at that pace, and then you have wet gloves, that’s where technique comes in hand,” Hinsdale Central coach Michael Smith said.

“But it’s the game of soccer; we’re going to play in the rain, so you’ve got to deal with it. But I thought other than that, Jenna played well, dealing with balls and being a presence.”

Blodgett was making her third appearance between the pipes after taking over for starter Riley Glenn, who was injured against OPRF. Smith likes what he sees so far.

“Jenna stepped in and she’s stepped to the challenge, which is all you can ask for [from] a player who has limited experience as a goalie,” Smith said. “She’s been getting some training. Coach [Harrison] Bull has been working with her and Riley, but she’s learning quickly through some fire.

“That mental fortitude, that I-want-to-help-out-the-team, it goes a long way and just establishing that rapport with her teammates. If you’re willing to sacrifice for us, we’ll sacrifice for you.”

Blodgett wasn’t the only goalie who had a difficult time with the wet conditions. LT star Orlowski bobbled several balls but let nothing past her, coming up with five saves to record her 11th shutout with help from Kowalski, Gabrek, Thuma and Mazur, who did not allow the Red Devils a shot after halftime.

“We told her to make sure to get her hands and get her body behind all the balls,” Newcomb said. “If not, when in doubt, punch it out.”

Hinsdale Central had two decent chances to tie the game late in the first half. Orlowski saved Lily Chetosky’s one-hopper from 22 yards out with 4:20 remaining and then made a diving stop on an Alison Cerny shot with 55 ticks to go.

The Lions controlled the play in the second half, with sophomore Erin Fitzgerald putting three hard shots on frame and Thuma and sophomore Emily Lange each getting off one shot on goal as LT added to its victory total after tying its last three matches.

“It definitely feels good,” Gabrek said. “I think this is only going to help us. This is going to push us through. We had a bit of a bad streak for a while. We weren’t playing as well as we wanted to, but this game I think will help us and give us some momentum.”

If the Lions beat Proviso West on Thursday, then at least a share of the conference title will be on the line next Tuesday when they host Oak Park and River Forest.

But the Red Devils can still impact the race. They host York on Thursday and can knock the two-time defending Dukes out of the picture.

“I keep telling the girls we’re close and eventually a ball is going to bounce our way, but we have to keep doing the right thing,” Smith said. “We’re putting ourselves in position to be dangerous. It’s one positive touch here, one slip there and it’s a whole other deal.

“The fact that we’ll play York on Thursday, it will be good for us to be battle-tested going into the playoffs.”

The Red Devils have now lost five 1-0 decisions, four of which have come in the past five matches, so they know why they fell short against LT.

“It was a rivalry game and we wanted to win it, but I think from this game we just got to say that we want to put goals away,” Blodgett said. “We’re taking a few chances but definitely not enough. We’ve got to get some numbers on the board.”

As the players filed out soaked to the skin in the pouring rain, Gabrek was still relishing the atmosphere.

“I love this,” she said. “This is my favorite condition to play in. It’s most dramatic.”