Warriors shine on dreary night at Leyden
By Mike Garofola

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First-half goals from Louisa Reese and Jess Budig sent Willowbrook (6-11-2, 2-2-0) on their way as they eased past host Leyden to earn a 2-1 victory Tuesday night in a West Suburban Gold soccer match in Franklin Park.

Reese' free-kick strike from 30 yards gave the visiting Warriors an early breakthrough, and jumpstarted a first period attack which spent nearly 40 minutes the attacking third against the Eagles (4-11-0, 1-3-0), bringing a smile to the faces of both Reese and her manager, Pete Montgomery, who watched his club play fluid soccer in the opening half despite a steady downpour.

"We did a lot of good things with the ball in the first half," began Reese, who is one of four who wears the captain’s armband for Montgomery.

"I think it helped us a lot to score first because it kind of helped build our confidence, and after that we possessed real well, and got everyone involved. But we didn't come out in the second half as mentally ready and prepared, and we had some trouble with Leyden because of it."

Reese made a strong tackle of the Eagles' top striker, Ashly Torres at 6 minutes to prevent the junior from getting in on Warriors keeper Shanti Lindberg. But the trio of Lauren Carroll, Lindsey Petersen and Budig spurred the visitors’ attack with strong runs and quick, creative passes to stretch the Leyden backline, while causing them to lose their shape.

Reese would step up and bend her long-range free-kick over the Leyden wall and inside the far post in the 9th minute to stun the home-side.

"I always go to the far post on my (free) kicks," smiled Reese.

Just moments after the goal, and against the run of play, Petersen and Budig countered with speed, but the numbers didn't add up and the Eagles' took advantage the 2-vee-4 to stop the Warriors’ duo, which was hoping to surprise the Eagles and double the lead.

Reese and her backline mates Jamie Colella and Claire Criscione, in particular, stayed air-tight against the aforementioned Torres and the rest of the Eagles. Leyden played direct most of the time, as its desire appeared to be to find the speedy Torres in space, as well as her sophomore running mate, Renee Dionisio.

"I've got complete confidence in my teammates along the back, and tonight we played very well as a unit, even though we gave up that second half goal," offered Reese.

"(They) didn't allow much at all in that first half. Some of that was us but they did a very good job of marking, and winning most of the 50-50 balls in their end," said Leyden head coach Rob Fowler, who starts just three seniors in his first-11.

As the rain picked up, so did the pace and speed of play, making for a fast-paced first period, especially if you were a fan of the Warriors.

Criscione would block a driving shot from Torres just outside of the 6-yard box, yielding a corner, but the Warriors easily defended the serve sent in from Caitie Donegan.

Budig would have a go on frame at Leyden keeper Julia Colindres to force a save at 28 minutes, but the senior was unable to stop Budig's next attempt, five minutes later.

Carroll was the architect in the Warriors’ second goal when she won the ball near the midline and quickly played it wide on the left side to Natalie Wolski.

The freshman MF raced up the left side under control and with patience, and waited for Budig to get free from her mark up the center channel before delivering a superb early ball that Budig easily collected and fired the opposite way with Colindres challenged off her line.

"Two great first half goals for us, it was fun to watch," said Montgomery.

The Warriors could have been in front by three goals at the break if not for a well-timed clearing punch by Colindres on a serve from Reese into the box, and a save on Wolski's hard shot.

"We played a really good first half of soccer, I was very pleased with the effort and with the work of everyone," said Montgomery.

"But we lost our momentum in the second half, and got away from doing what we had done so well, and Leyden took advantage of it, stepped up their play, and we struggled at times for most of the half."

Leyden would pour forward after the break, and would immediately create trouble in the Warriors’ end as it found Torres more often, with the Eagles' MF duo of Jenny Ortega and Donegan enjoying more of the touches than their Warriors’ counterparts.

Torres and Dongegan each tested Lindberg, who handled both shots confidently, while the backline did well to defend Dionisio, down low on the turn.

During the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Eagles' were able to generate two corners and freekicks, a testament to their new found energy but nothing too dangerous on Lindberg to make the Warriors' faithful nervous.

Reese would send her 35-yard freekick onto the roof of the Eagles' net in the 58th minute in the lone attempt on frame for Willowbrook of the half.

Leyden took a bite out of the Warriors’ lead when a ball spilled all the way through from the side to an awaiting Dionisio, who fired her shot past the diving Lindberg, who made a valiant stretch on the low driven blast.

"When we played (Leyden) the first time, it was a 1-0 game in our favor, so we knew they would come after us in the second half, and they did," said Montgomery.

"It wasn't an easy half of soccer, but we held tight nonetheless." 

Things got a little chippy after the Leyden strike, with each side having one of its players booked with a yellow for their behavior, but things settled back quickly and the Warriors braced for the final 10 minutes in regulation and the Eagles' attempts to draw even.

Cynthia Salgado sent a looping free-kick towards Lindberg in the 67th minute, while Donegan lifted a long serve from the left side. The Warriors’ keeper collected safely to help keep the Willowbrook secure until the end of the match.

"In that first half, we sent a lot of quality balls through and behind the Leyden defense to help keep the pressure up in their end, but we got away from that in the second half, and that's why we found ourselves defending for much of the half," suggested Montgomery.

"I was still impressed with our work rate, and how hard the girls played all night in the rain and conditions. We stayed composed, despite how hard Leyden came at us in the second half, and again, it was a very good game overall for us tonight."