Lions need two overtimes to edge Joliet Catholic

By Curt Herron

Mike Taylor has learned all too well how the weather can dictate play during his long and successful run as Saint Viator's boys coach.

But he got a primer in the effects on the girls game Wednesday on what appeared to be an otherwise beautiful spring afternoon in Joliet.

While the temperatures were ideal, strong gusty winds from the south created all sorts of havoc in the match with Joliet Catholic Academy.

To complicate matters, the field at the Inwood complex seemed to slope downward as it headed north, seemingly adding to the wind advantage.

But amazingly, neither the Lions or Angels were really able to capitalize very much on the intriguing combination of wind and terrain.

There weren't that many good chances during the East Suburban Catholic Conference match, which was still tied 0-0 after regulation play.

Finally, following one 10-minute overtime, the Lions were able to find the net early in the second overtime to claim a 1-0 victory.

Click to hear coach Mike Taylor interview

About two minutes into that second extra session, Saint Viator (4-1, 2-0) converted on a corner kick that was served up by Samantha Gavin.

In the subsequent frenzy in front of the Angel net, a loose ball suddenly found the goal and the Lions were able to walk away with the win.

Although Taylor Skala looked to be the nearest Lion to winning attempt, she and teammate Ariana Kulinczenko agreed that it was an own goal.

But considering that JCA had just missed ending things during the first OT, the Lions were glad to claim a victory that wasn't very pretty.

Coupled with Tuesday's 5-0 home win over Marian Catholic, the Lions have won four straight heading into today's home match with St. Joseph.

Click to hear Taylor Skala interview

Stephanie Shanahan, who was also in the net against Marian Catholic, posted her second shutout of the season while facing few threats.

However, about six minutes into the initial overtime, JCA nearly ended things during a flurry of activity in front of the Lions' goal.

With Shanahan out of the net, Sarah Bannon bounced an attempt off of the right post and the loose ball was eventually cleared away.

Prior to that time, the Angels had only managed to direct a pair of long attempts on goal which the Lion keeper easily hauled in.

Although it owned the wind advantage during the first half, the Angels could only point to a long free kick as their lone shot on goal.

That was the first shot on goal and it came about 14 minutes into the match. JCA collected its other shot on goal nearly 48 minutes later.

Some of the credit for that goes to Lion defenders such as Meghan McGrath, Kathleen Kane, Gavin, Andree' DiVito and Meghan Malone.

The Lions went over 30 minutes before getting their first shots on goal in the match, but neither attempt was very threatening.

Skala sent a slow grounder to JCA's keeper and then Katelyn Hammarlund had another shot try cleared away about a minute after that.

Click to hear Ariana Kulinczenko interview

With the wind at its back and the downward slope seeming to give it a big advantage after the break, Saint Viator's struggles continued.

The Lions collected their next shot on goal about seven minutes after the break and then had another great chance about two minutes later.

McGrath lined a long free kick that was hauled in by the keeper in what turned out to be one of only two shots on goal after the break.

Saint Viator's best attempt of the afternoon came about two minutes after that and the visitors thought that it should have been a score.

Gavin sent a line drive on a corner kick that seemed to hit inside the far post, but no goal was awarded and the loose ball was cleared.

The final 20 minutes of regulation play saw no real attempts on either net as the wind hampered efforts to effectively connect on passes.

That set the table for the overtime drama which brought about a fitting ending to what had certainly been a rather unusual soccer match.