Warriors can't overcome halftime deficit to Porters

By Curt Herron

After collecting a goal to pull to within 2-1 early in the second half, it looked liked Lincoln-Way West might have the spark it needed against Lockport.

But just as things seemed to be pointing in a positive direction for the Warriors in Thursday's match, the Porters responded by keeping the pressure on.

Although West enjoyed a strong wind advantage in the second half of its SouthWest Suburban Conference match, scoring chances were pretty even after the break.

In fact, the Warriors needed good efforts from keeper Kayla Bryant and non-goalie saves from Eva Roesel and Emily Kowalski to avoid any falling further behind.

Lockport continued to threaten the Warrior net throughout much of the final 40 minutes and that helped it to capture a 2-1 victory over West in New Lenox.

The Porters (1-2), who had the early wind advantage, scored a pair of goals within a 42-second span midway through the opening half to grab the lead for good.

West (2-4) scored its lone goal just 4:39 into the new half when Cori Brennan found the net, following an assist from Kalin Winans.

The Warriors nearly scored less than two minutes later and had a few other good chances shortly after that but didn't threaten much down the stretch.

As a result, West dropped its second straight 2-1 home decision this week. Two days earlier, the Warriors lost by the score to Bloom Township.

Click to hear coach Jeff Theiss interview

The key stretch in the match came shortly after the midpoint of the opening half when the Porters collected both of their goals.

Lockport capitalized on a pair of Warrior miscues to score twice within a span of 42 seconds to gain control in what had been an even match.

With 18:13 remaining before the break, Erika Jerzy lined in an attempt from about 20 yards out to put the visitors in front.

Then with 17:31 left in the half, Lauren Licata sent a pass to Kelly Wetherald, who connected from close range to make it a 2-0 game.

The Porters nearly added another score with 9:15 to go before halftime as Jerzy headed a shot toward the Warrior net but Kara Winans cleared the attempt.

Lockport had one more good opportunity in the final minute of the first half but Bryant hauled in a line drive effort from Licata.

Click to hear Kayla Bryant interview

West finally found the net with 35:21 left after Kalin Winans found Brennan, who placed an attempt into opposite side of the net from about 20 yards out.

Then a bad bounce nearly resulted in another Warrior score just 1:49 after Brennan's goal that seemed to revitalize the host team.

Kowalski sent a pass to Kylie Hermanson, whose long shot bounced over keeper Alyssa DeYoung's hands and just missed going in for a goal.

The Porters responded to the threat just three minutes later when they got off an attempt also nearly went in for a score.

But Roesel cleared the shot try away and half a minute later Bryant pulled in a header from Licata to keep things close.

West had the next two good chances, the first coming with 25:20 left, when Hermanson was stopped at close range by DeYoung.

Three minutes after that, Hermanson fired in a free kick that was deflected away by the Porter keeper in what proved to be one of West's last good shots.

After Porter Julie Divita was stopped on a liner shortly before the midpoint of the final half, neither squad seriously challenged for over 10 minutes.

With just under 10 minutes remaining, Divita sent in another threatening liner but Bryant made a diving effort to deflect the shot away.

Lockport kept the pressure on in the final minute as Jerzy had a shot deflected by Bryant which ultimately was kept out of the net by Kowalski.

Click to hear Emily Kowalski interview

Although the Porters had the strong wind at their backs in the first 40 minutes, the Warriors held their own at the start and had the first shot on goal.

With 9:25 gone in the match, Brennan got off a short shot attempt but DeYoung made a nice save to prevent the hosts from taking the early lead.

Lockport gained control during the next 10 minutes of play and managed to record three shot attempts that were stopped by Bryant.

Wetherald started and ended the sequence with headers while Bri Johnson had the attempt between those efforts with a liner to the Warrior keeper.

The Warriors return to action on Monday when they take on Oak Lawn for a 4:30 pm nonconference match that will be played in New Lenox.