Lions beat St. Ignatius to claim first victory

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By Matt Le Cren

Lyons Township senior midfielder Lauren Grissim didn't have to think long when asked Tuesday night to give a scouting report on how to stop teammate Kelsey Holbert.

"Double-team, first off," Grissim said. "Get two people on her and try to slow it down versus trying to take the ball from her.

"She finds spaces somehow every time and just gets right through them. Sometimes I have no idea how she does it."

If Grissim, who has to play against Holbert in practice, has no idea, then how do you think opponents must feel?

Holbert was at her best in a 2-1 victory over St. Ignatius in Western Springs, scoring the first goal for the host Lions (1-1) and setting up the second.

In between, the junior forward created seemingly constant havoc in dominating a match that wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated.

"She's been a fantastic player for two years but this year she came in and you could kind of tell she's got a little bit of an edge to her," LT coach Bill Lanspeary said of Holbert. "I don't know if it's a little more confidence.

"Maybe being a junior now she realizes she's got to take control of games for us a little bit, but typical work ethic from her. She just works her butt off and never gives up on anything. She is really tough."

Holbert gave the Lions a 1-0 lead with 22:16 left in the first half, running onto a pass into the penalty area from Katie Nasenbenny and quickly beating Wolfpack goalie Nora Benson with a 12-yard shot.

It was an indication of things to come as Holbert and Nasenbenny teamed to create numerous scoring chances while keeping St. Ignatius (2-4-1) back on its heels.

"We play for the same club so we practice a lot together," Holbert said. "So spending time with each other we kind of know how each other plays."

Holbert plays with one gear – non-stop. She repeatedly showed how tough she is to knock off the ball, using her dribbling skills to keep possession even when in traffic.

A great example came with 1:00 left in the opening half when she used a back heel dribble to get by one defender, then beat another into the box before quickly unleashing a 15-yard shot that hit the outside of the right post.

"I usually don't play forward for my club team; I'm a center midfielder," Holbert said. "I definitely like attacking better than defending. When I get space I like to penetrate and then my thing is running with the ball and then trying to find a pass or a shot off the dribble."

Holbert did just that with 31:07 remaining in the second half to set up Lyons' second goal, sending a pass to the right wing to Grissim, whose 25-yard shot sailed over Benson's head for a 2-0 lead.

"Kelsey was real dangerous tonight and Nasenbenny created her usual chances for herself and for everybody else," Lanspeary said. "Hope [Spangler] did a nice job of helping us possess the ball in the midfield. She just always seems to be in a good support spot for us to maintain possession."

With Spangler and Juliet Lusson helping control the midfield and Ari Kowalski and Elise Gordon anchoring a defense that surrendered only four shots, the Lions played a complete game.

Only a goal by Kate Ransdell on a 28-yard free kick with 27:31 to play prevented goalie Renata Butikas from posting a shutout. The Wolfpack's only shot on goal after that, a 45-yarder from Ransdell, was saved on the bounce by Butikas with 4:50 left.

"We won the 50/50s and really took advantage of getting forward," Grissim said. "We're all pretty excited so we want to start the season off strong."

"We did some nice things today, creating quite a few chances, more chances today than we did the first game," Lanspeary said. "I thought we did a nice job."

The Lions had to wait 12 days to take the field after their 2-1 season-opening loss to Waubonsie Valley and their eagerness showed.

"We knew that this was a big game to set the tone for the rest of the season," Holbert said. "We didn't want to start out 0-2, so I think everyone was fired up for this game.

"I thought that everyone played well. I think everyone got a chance to play and everyone did their part and that was the most important part."