Nie shines as Griffins hold off Knights to claim 1-0 victory

By Curt Herron

Brian Papa has seen his share of close matches where Lincoln-Way East outplayed rival Lincoln-Way Central and still came away with a loss.

So that's why the veteran Griffin coach was happy following Saturday's meeting between his program and the one led by his former assistant, Dan Radz.

While the Knights easily had more scoring opportunities in the SouthWest Suburban Conference match, the Griffins made the most of their limited chances.

Although there were plenty of nice shot attempts, especially taken by the Knights, East scored on a less-than-spectacular play and Papa will gladly accept it.

The Griffins got a first half goal from Nicole Ernat and then held off numerous Central challenges after the break to claim a 1-0 victory in Frankfort.

Arianna Nie stood out in the net for East (2-2), which snapped a two-match losing streak. The senior stopped a PK late in the first half to highlight her day.

Papa pointed to the play of junior Kelly McGovern, who was a dominating presence in the midfield and a dangerous threat offensively with her free kicks.

In addition, the veteran Griffin boss was impressed by senior Theresa Tynski, who was a force at striker in the first half and then on defense after the break.

On a day where a strong wind from the south turned the match into two halves of domination in possession and shot attempts, East had the advantage at the outset.

That meant that the Griffins had to literally weather the storm in the second 40 minutes and they responded to everything the Knights (1-1-1) threw at them.

Click to hear coach Brian Papa interview

Central managed to get good shot attempts into the wind from Jenna Proctor and Kim Rietveld during the opening 12 minutes but then East started to take charge.

The Griffins utilized the wind advantage to pin the Knights down, thanks largely to a serious of dangerous free kicks that were served up by McGovern.

An indirect effort midway through the half that just sailed over the net was followed with 18:25 left on a direct kick that was stopped by keeper Kelly Kuyawa.

A minute later, McGovern had a free kick just outside of the box on he right side and sent an attempt toward the opposite side of the net that was just wide.

McGovern's long free kick with 16:00 left in the initial half got up into the wind and remained dangerous after bouncing around near the net before being cleared.

The Griffins finally connected for the match's only score with 14:01 left before the break on another restart that was initiated by McGovern.

Her corner kick floated in front of the goal before being cleared back beyond the top of the box, where Ernat sent a grounder that eluded defenders to find the net.

That goal snapped a scoring drought of over 158 minutes for the Griffins, who suffered a 2-0 defeat to Mother McAuley on Thursday.

Click to hear Kelly McGovern interview

East had another good scoring chance with 10:40 left in the half when junior Kelsey Kurey sent a line drive to Kujawa on another free kick.

The Knights finally began to threaten again during the final six minutes of the opening half and had some great chances to tie things up.

Amanda Gagliano got things started when she had a shot from close range which forced Nie out of the net to make the deflection.

Then with 1:40 left before the break, another short attempt by the Knights was deflected by away by the Griffin keeper.

The loose ball rolled toward one post, which it bounced off of, and it was eventually cleared away by senior Corie Elam.

But the best was yet to come for East, even though it didn't seem that way when Central was awarded a PK with 32 seconds left in the half.

The penalty kick was set up when Rietveld got free and sent a pass in front to Rachel Post, who got tripped up in the box.

Samm Neill lined up for the PK but Nie anticipated the play and stopped the try by Neill, who sent the rebound over the net.

Click to hear Arianna Nie interview

The Griffins owned a 1-0 lead at the break, which certainly proved to be beneficial once the Knights had the wind at their backs.

At the break, Papa moved Tynski back to defense and she helped to solidify a defense that was in flux throughout the match.

Central kept the pressure on Nie throughout much of the second half while East struggled to get anything going offensively.

Following an exchange of shots by Central's Greccia Miranda and Tynski during the opening minutes of the new half, the Knights took over.

Ashley Blocker and Post followed a short time later with attempts and Neill had another shot try shortly before the midway point of the half.

East collected one of its last serious chances with 17:50 remaining when senior Giselle Sabal saw her short attempt get stopped.

Not long after that effort, the Knights responded by attempting five good opportunities during a span of just over three minutes.

Blocker and Post were in on all of the shot attempts, with the first four set up by corner kicks, but Nie stopped each try.

Click to hear Theresa Tynski interview

East managed to deny any other Knight shot attempts until Kasey Fell sent a bouncer to Nie with just five seconds remaining.

The Griffins' next match is on Monday at 4:30 pm when they travel to Providence Catholic.