Lions roll to WSC Silver win over Downers North

By Dave Seminara

On the day Lyons Township coach Bill Lanspeary made his final cuts for the varsity team, freshman striker Abby Pasquinelli had no expectation of making the team.

"I was surprised I made the team, and I was so nervous when they made the cuts but they told me I need to work for my position, so I'm working hard for it," Pasquinelli recalled.

As a reward, Pasquinelli's mother baked her a special cake, but since that night of celebration, her mind has been focused on earning her spot on the team.

Despite the hard work, the girl her teammates call "Abbs" hadn't found her way onto the score sheet until the twenty-second minute of the ninth game of the season against Downers Grove North.

Abbs flew past two Trojan defenders and had only the goalie to beat.

Just as it looked as though the keeper was about to pounce on the ball, Pasquinelli came to a screeching halt, like the Road Runner stopping just short before going over the edge of a cliff, deaked the goalie and coolly flicked the ball in the back of the net.

That turned out to be the game-winning goal in a commanding 5-2 Lions victory over Downers North in a West Suburban Conference Silver match on Tuesday afternoon in LaGrange.

"I was really nervous, I had someone behind me, and the goalie was coming out, so I shifted to the left, I got my left foot on it just before the goalie could reach it, and it went in," Pasquinelli said, modestly recounting what was a show-stopping goal on a day filled with offensive fireworks.

Downers North junior Lily Stanicek opened the scoring just five minutes into the contest and it looked as though the Lions were going to be in for a dog fight.

But the young women from LT quickly dispelled any such notions by tallying two quick goals just minutes later, the first coming at the feet of senior midfielder Katie Nasenbenny and the second from junior forward Kelsey Holbert.

In the twelfth minute, Lions keeper Renata Butikas made a stunning save to avert what would have been an equalizer.

Four minutes later, the Trojans made another foray into the area, but the blast glanced off the crossbar. The blow served as a wakeup call for the Lions, who tightened up on defense after the near miss.

Just three minutes after Pasquinelli's splendid goal, Mackie Furlong bent a nice, looping shot into the right corner of the net to give the Lions a 4-1 advantage with 15 minutes left to play in the first half.

"Katie Nasenbenny dribbled it up and I was running down the left side, she crossed it and I had a 1 v. 1 with the keeper," Mackie recalled. "I saw that she was coming out, so I chipped it and it went in- I was pretty excited."

Furlong, a sophomore who hopes to play division one soccer and major in psychology, scored only one goal but used her explosive speed to create chances throughout the game. "I probably should have had a few more, but that's the way it goes," she said.

The Trojans had scoring opportunities in the first half, but Butikas was solid in the net, and her defense backed her up with numerous smart plays.

For example, in the thirty-seventh minute, senior defender Steph Condon saved a sure goal by making a lunging stab volley at a ball that was headed into the upper left corner of the net.

Despite the 4-1 advantage, Lanspeary felt that his team needed to make some adjustments at the half.

"Even though we have a 4-1 lead, we have NOT played well!" he told his team.

In the second half, the Lions D, behind strong showings from Condon, Kammy Murphy, Emma Meyering, and Maddie Papas, tightened up and gave the Trojans few opportunities to score.

Underclassmen Pasquinelli and Furlong were electric off the bench, using their blazing speed and latin-flavored dribbling flair.

They created numerous breakaways that were frequently foiled only by daring scrambles out of the area from the Trojans keeper.

"Mackey and Abbey had really nice days up top," Lanspeary said after the game. "They always work hard and they're playing better soccer and getting comfortable at this level and it's paying off."

But the numerous scoring chances couldn't have happened without stellar service from midfielders Ari Kowalski, Juliet Lusson, Hope Spangler, Nasenbenny, Sarah Mazur, Lauren Grissim and Anna Devine, each of whom made brilliant crosses to set up scoring opportunities.

Lauren Moberg, a junior forward whose teammates call her “Mo”, was relentless in pursuit of the ball all day and her hard work was rewarded in the 48th minute, as she made a strong run down the right flank before chipping the ball over the keeper and into the upper left corner of the net for a 5-1 lead.

Junior forward Coco Corrigan had several daring dashes into the penalty area in the second half and Holbert sliced and diced her way through the Trojans' porous defense like a Ginsu knife on a late-night infomercial.

The girls team received boisterous support from friends, family members and, most of all, members of the boys team, who were clad in cargo shorts and blue and gold scarves.

The dapper dudes were vocal supporters, often challenging the referee with polite, yet pleading cries of "Sir, Sir, where’s the foul!"

The final score was 5-2, but without a strong effort from the Trojans keeper, the margin of defeat could have been much greater.

It was a dominant performance, but Lanspeary told his team after the game that they were capable of playing even better.

"It's a good sign when you win 5-2 when you're not playing your best soccer," he said. "Anytime you win, you deserve congratulations, but this was an ugly win today. There were glimpses of very good soccer as well, but we have to get better.”

With the win, the Lions upped their record to 7-2, and are looking like contenders for the conference title.

"We want to win the conference, we were a little disappointed, we wanted to advance further in the Pepsi Challenge, but we just got tripped up on Saturday," Lanspeary said.

"We've got Naperville North next Thursday, it's going to be a good game for us to gauge where we are."

But before that match, there would be time to celebrate a well-deserved victory. Pasquinelli wasn't sure if she'd get another cake, but was pretty sure she'd do something to commemorate her first goal.

“I’ll probably eat a little extra ice cream tonight,” she said.

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