Lions edge Falcons to claim fifth straight victory

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By Darryl Mellema

Playing a determined opponent unwilling to give much time or space anywhere on the field, Lyons Township certainly had to work for its victory over Wheaton North on Tuesday.

But Coach Bill Lanspeary's team worked hard, too, and the Lions emerged with a 1-0 victory in a Pepsi Showdown match in Wheaton.

Where the Lions excelled on Tuesday was in getting the ball out of the air, onto the artificial turf at Rexilius Field and then to their wide players such as Coco Corrigan and Ari Kowalski.

"We're at our best when we get the ball on the ground, possess and get it moving quickly," Lanspeary said.

"Sometimes when we play an opponent like this, that's not easy to do because they put a lot of pressure on you and they're trying to do a lot of the same stuff. But after the first 10 minutes, it looked like we woke up and got into the game's speed."

At the end of that opening 10-minute spell, Lyons scored. Katie Nasenbenny brought the ball up the left wing and sent a cross to Hope Spangler just outside the six-yard box. Spangler chested down the ball and hit a right-to-left shot that hit the back of the net.

"I don't know how she chested it down," Nasenbenny said. "She was inside the 'eight' and had she had four kids on her maybe and she chested it down perfectly and hit it right into the corner. You couldn't ask for a better play."

For Spangler, everything happened in a split-second.

"That was a really fortunate chest-down," Spangler said. "I saw the goalie was over at the near post and there was a big opening on the far post and that's where I put the ball."

Forwards in penalty areas with players on their back don't have a whole lot of time to think and plan things and Spangler admitted her shot was as much a reaction as anything.

"It was a great ball in from (Nasenbenny)," Spangler said. "I wasn't thinking. Now that I think back on it, I saw the ball and my first instinct was to chest it because that was where it was coming at.

"You don't think, you do whatever comes first. At that time it was 'chest it and hit it in the corner.' "

After dropping its season opener to Waubonsie Valley, Lyons (5-1) has won five straight matches, including Tuesday's, which was the opener for both teams in the Pepsi Showdown.

"Waubonsie's a good team," Nasenbenny said. "That was a good game to judge how our season was going to be. I thought we did a good job against Waubonsie and it could have gone either way. We've won every game after and against some pretty good teams."

Waubonsie Valley, which won state titles in 2007 and 2008, claimed its victory over LT this season thanks to a later winner from Vanessa DiBernardo – one of the best players in the state this year.

"We did play very well and controlled the majority of that game," Spangler said. "We've done what we wanted since that game, which was to come out strong. We've gotten the wins and we're just trying to keep that going."

Nasenbenny, playing in central midfield, was involved in most of Lyons' attacking moves.

But what the senior did best was pass the ball to teammates to continue attacks. She got her shots on goal as well, but her linking play was what stood out.

"I thought we did a pretty good job," Nasenbenny said. "We got some diagonal balls and got some people on the run.

"I think that we didn't do as much as we'd like to because 1-0 games are tough. You always know they can come back at any time."

Wheaton North played a solid game defensively and tried to push up to catch Lyons' forwards offside. The tactic worked at times and the Lions had to be vigilant of where the Falcons' defenders stood.

"Our kids have played against it for some time," Lanspeary said. "They're able to adjust. We've got a lot of athleticism. So when teams squeeze us a little bit, we feel we can adapt."

Lyons had a handful of other chances to score. Thirteen minutes before halftime, Wheaton North had trouble clearing its penalty area and the ball eventually fell awkwardly to Nasenbenny, who shot high.

Kelsey Holbert hit a long drive over the crossbar with nine minutes left in the first half and, from a quick counter attack, Nasenbenny shot high five minutes before the halftime break.

But the best chance other than the Lions' goal came two minutes before halftime. Nasenbenny got free on the right wing and cut the ball back to Holbert, whose sharp, low shot was saved by Wheaton North goalie Shannon Malahy.

"That was a good move with a couple of give-and-goes and (Holbert) had a nice chance," Lanspeary said.

As the match progressed, Lyons tried to hit Wheaton North on quick counter attacks, a tactic that stretched the field and the Falcons defense but never ended in a goal.

"We didn't do the best job of finishing breakaways," Nasenbenny said. "We didn't get past their defense that well. They're fast and got back."

Lyons plays its next match in the Pepsi Showdown on Thursday when it hosts Elk Grove on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.