Brown scores two late goals to lead Corsairs past Nazareth

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By Matt Le Cren

Carmel senior forward Kassidy Brown had to sit out her team's match with Zion-Benton on Saturday because she had missed a game over spring break.

The Illinois recruit could only watch in frustration as her team struggled to a scoreless tie against a weaker opponent.

So who rose to the occasion Monday afternoon when it looked like the Corsairs were about to endure another game without finding the back of the net?

Yep, Brown. She scored twice in the final seven minutes to lift visiting Carmel to a 2-0 victory over previously-unbeaten Nazareth in East Suburban Catholic Conference action in LaGrange Park.

"She did a good job," Carmel coach John Halloran said. "We needed somebody to step up and get it done for us and she got it done."

For the first 73 minutes, neither side could find a way to penetrate their opponent's brick wall of a defense.

Carmel (5-0-3, 2-0) was actually outshot 4-1 in the first half, though the Corsairs had the only good scoring chance when Nazareth goalkeeper Annmarie Chizewski made a diving save on Brown.

Then Brown finally broke through with 6:48 left in the second half.

She dribbled through two defenders on the right wing, cut left into the middle of the penalty area and beat Chizewski with a left-footed roller from 15 yards out.

"I felt like I just dribbled through some girls and then just tried to get a shot off," Brown said.

"It wasn't the best or most perfectly placed shot, but at least it went in the back of the net. That's all it has to do, right?"

Indeed, Brown's second goal, which came with 3:01 remaining, wasn't a work of art, either, but was just as effective.

A long flip throw from the left sideline by Lauren Bowles went right in front to Brown, who headed it past a flat-footed Chizewski.

"It's sort of our designated play," Brown said. "Either I or Sarah McHugh get a head on it to skip it across the net, but I think I got lucky with it going in the goal rather than skipping across the net to another player."

Neither goal came as a result of one of Carmel's strengths.

The flip throws by Bowles could become an important weapon later in the season, but the Corsairs are still working on perfecting the set plays they run off of them. And Brown isn't used to attacking the goal by herself.

"With three [forwards] up top, I think we have a difficulty splitting balls through sometimes, so maybe it just takes dribbling through to get one in," said Brown, who has four goals thus far.

"We have a lot of runners up top so we always try to switch it quickly and get through, but this time the opposite is what worked."

Nazareth (6-1, 2-1), which has its deepest team ever and is off to its best start against a beefed-up schedule, surprised the Corsairs with its tough defense and ability to take away Carmel's strength.

"They were good at cutting off our through balls," Bowles said. "Usually we find gaps and we play in between, but they always had someone back there so we couldn't play through balls too well.

"It was very frustrating. We needed to find feet and it took us a while to start connecting up top, but eventually I felt like we picked our heads up and found players so we could connect better."

That was the key difference between this match and the tie with Zion-Benton.

"I think mostly we just tried to come out with more intensity," Brown said. "Even though we didn't get our goal in the first couple minutes, I think our intensity level just stuck through the entire game.

"I think it gives us some confidence because we've played some easier teams, but our last game was not so great so this was definitely a rebuttal."

As good as Nazareth's defense was, Carmel's was even better. The Corsairs, who recorded their fourth consecutive shutout and sixth overall, allowed only seven shots.

Goalie Maddie Allen made three saves and the Roadrunners' only real scoring chance came with 5:05 left in the game when Patricia Masterson rifled a running 20-yarder just over the crossbar.

"I was really proud of our defense," Halloran said. "I felt Helen Wagner in particular had an outstanding game.

"Kelly Trillhaase played real hard on the right side and Shannon Jung and Shannon Kouba did a great job in the center. Then we got that one moment that we'd been looking for for 70-something minutes."

The Corsairs resume league play with they host Fenwick on Wednesday.

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