Warriors win second straight after blanking Queen of Peace

By Curt Herron

A lot of coaches wouldn't be too thrilled to see their squads have to go on the attack into a very strong wind at the start of a match.

But Lincoln-Way West's Jeff Theiss welcomed the chance to watch his team battle against the wind in the first half of Friday's meeting with Queen of Peace.

That's because Theiss and his staff had been telling the Warriors that it was time to quit making so many long passes and instead to focus on connecting.

With winds roaring across the empty fields from some far off southern location, scoring chances figured to be few and far between on one side of the pitch.

But West actually was able to put some things together and managed to connect for a pair of scores during the initial 35 minutes of play in New Lenox.

That made life much easier for the Warriors following the break, especially when they clicked on a series of corner kicks early in the second half.

The combination proved to be quite effective as West claimed an easy 5-0 win over the Pride in the final round of pool play in the Plainfield North Invite.

It was certainly a nice follow-up to Wednesday's 4-3 victory in a shootout over Addison Trail during which the Warriors rallied on several occasions.

Beside being the second shutout of the season for the Warriors (7-10), the win marked the initial two-match winning streak for the first-year program.

As a result, West gets to return to its home field on Saturday to take on the second-place finishers from the other three pools in the tournament.

The Warriors lost the last two games in their own tournament and fell 5-0 to Plainfield South in Monday's opener of the Plainfield North Invite.

Cori Brennan led Friday's effort with a pair of goals while Kara Winans, Ashley Sichak and Kalin Winans also found the net for the winners.

Emily Kowalski had a pair of assists on second-half corner kicks while Corissa Wolak, Kelly Forbus and Sichak also chipped in with assists.

Keeper Kayla Bryant faced few serious challenges as she collected the shutout in a match where everyone got to see plenty of playing time.

Click to hear coach Jeff Theiss interview

The tone was established within the first four minutes of the match when West quickly moved into the fierce wind and came away with a score.

Wolak sent a pass forward to Brennan, who got free on the side and lined a shot that found its way into the net to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Colleen Kinsella followed with a threatening liner a short time later before the Pride had one of their few chances on a long free kick.

About 25 minutes into the match, West was at it again when Sichak found Kara Winans, who connected from short range for the second goal.

Queen of Peace challenged again shortly before the break when it sent in another long free kick that briefly gave Bryant some trouble.

Click to hear Erin Stai interview

The Warriors went on the attack right as the new half began with Kara Winans getting stopped from close range in the opening minute.

Shortly after that, the corner kick success started as Kowalski placed a ball right in front of the net and Sichak headed it in.

About three minutes later, West had another corner and again Kowalski served up a ball that was quickly put into the net.

Both Brennan and Sichak believed that each other scored their team's fourth goal, but Brennan was credited with the goal.

Then about two minutes after that, the Warriors completed the scoring when Kalin Winans lined in an attempt to make it a 5-0 match.

The quick flurry of three straight scores allowed for Theiss to assure that all of his players saw plenty of time on the field.

West seemed content to simply possess the ball after that point and only had a few serious scoring chances the rest of the way.

Wolak had a pair of those attempts, with one a short try and the other a liner, while Ashley Ryba was also stopped on a line drive.

Click to hear Ashley Ryba interview

The Warriors' five-goal outburst Friday equalled the program's previous high total for a match, which happened against Oak Lawn.

Queen of Peace threatened one more time, just seconds before the final whistle, but its last-chance hope bounced off the crossbar.

After Saturday's competition, West gets a rematch with Crete-Monee at home on Monday before meeting Thornwood the following day.

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