Warriors beat Plainfield East to claim new program's first win

By Curt Herron

History was going to be made one way or the other on Tuesday when Lincoln-Way West and Plainfield East faced off.

The first-year varsity programs both dropped their openers meaning that whoever won would claim their initial victory.

Lincoln-Way West scored a pair of goals in the first 22 minutes to grab the early advantage over host Plainfield East.

The Bengals closed to within 2-1 shortly before the break but the Warriors got a goal back in the second half and claimed a 3-1 win.

Junior Kalin Winans scored her squad's first goal and also added their third score, with both being set up by junior Kylie Hermanson.

In between those two scores, freshman Cori Brennan also connected, following an assist from Winans.

Sophomore Kayla Bryant recorded eight saves to post the victory in goal for the Warriors (1-1).

West opened up its season with a 5-0 defeat to highly-regarded Homewood-Flossmoor last Thursday.

Tuesday's victory was a rewarding one for coach Jeff Theiss, who has led many of these players for the past two seasons.

Click to hear coach Jeff Theiss interview

With no seniors and 12 juniors taking up all but five of the spots on the roster, the Warriors are certainly a young team.

But the group seems to possess a special bond since many have been together since they were freshmen at Lincoln-Way Central.

Their experiences over the past two season figures to make the Warriors more successful than most first-year programs.

Winans, who is a holding midfielder, put her name in the Warrior record book in a variety of different ways Tuesday.

She not only collected her team's first-ever goal but also becomes the first West player to score multiple goals during a match.

And with her assist on the other score, the junior is the initial Warrior to have a hand in all of her team's scoring in a game.

Click to hear Kalin Winans interview

West's first goal was scored with 21:05 left in the opening half when Winans connected off of an assist from Hermanson.

The Warriors were back on the scoreboard less than two and a half minutes later when they claimed a 2-0 advantage.

With 18:40 remaining before halftime, Brennan was able to find the net, following an assist from Winans.

Both squads had good chances to score during the remainder of the first half and the hosts eventually did just that.

East nearly cut the deficit in half with 9:45 left before the break when Lauren Clark smacked a shot off the post.

Winans tried to increase her team's lead to 3-0 with six minutes remaining but her short shot attempt was stopped.

The Bengals (0-2) finally broke through with 3:09 left before the break when Clark connected to make it a 2-1 game.

So despite possessing the upper hand during the first 40 minutes of play, West only found itself up by one score.

That realization seemed to spark some more-inspired play after the break and the Warriors often threatened the net.

Junior Traci Bianchi had a shot deflected that resulted in a corner kick about three minutes into the new half.

The Warriors looked like they grabbed a 3-1 on the subsequent corner but the goal was disallowed due to a hand ball.

As the second half continued, Hermanson and junior Kelly Forbus were both halted on a line drive scoring attempts.

West finally got an insurance goal with 18:02 left when Winans put in a long shot following a pass from Hermanson.

Click to hear Kylie Hermanson interview

The defense of juniors Katelynn Alexander, Emily Kowalski and Ashley Sichak and freshman Lea Gindville limited East's chances.

Left mid Hermanson and center mid Bianchi were joined by freshman Kara Winans, Kalin's sister, on the right side.

Forbus joined Winans at the other holding midfield spot while Brennan played forward in their team's 4-2-3-1 alignment.

Other juniors are Caity Constein, Ashley Gardner, Brittany Pole, Ashley Ryba and Erin Stai while Corissa Wolak is a sophomore.

The Warriors have two home matches this week, taking on Minooka on Thursday and then meeting Bradley-Bourbonnais on Saturday.