Carmel misses chance in playoff tune-up
Loyola capitalizes and takes season finale 3-0
By Patrick Z. McGavin
GLENVIEW -- The final day of the regular season is a chance to exhale. Carmel had extra incentive to kick back and relish a season very much worth celebrating.
"It's been a fantastic season," senior midfielder Kayla Handel said.
The Corsairs ousted then no. 12 Benet 1-0 to complete an undefeated East Suburban Catholic Conference season and take the title. Just as impressively, no. 13 Carmel earned a prestigious and justified top seed at the Class 2A St. Viator Sectional.
Playing 10th-ranked Loyola was a chance to both honor the present and look forward. Carmel is joining a revised GCAC realignment starting next year when the programs will be part of the same conference.
"Today was a good gauge of where we're at," Handel said. "They're a fantastic team, so you have to give them their props. We also wanted to get some time on the turf, a surface we're going to be playing on in the state playoffs."
The Corsairs saw the game change late in the first half as they failed to take advantage of their best scoring chance and watched Loyola answer in the 37th minute en route to a 3-0 Rambler win.
The game was closer than the final score indicated. Both teams substituted freely, and Carmel played its second-and-third teams for the game's final 20 minutes. With the regulars on both sides involved, Loyola (18-3-1) managed just the 1-0 difference.
"I'm not necessarily upset with the result," Carmel coach John Halloran said. "We planned even before the game started to pull most of our starters in the second half. We wanted to give them some rest. The last five minutes of the first half is what killed us, and that's what I'm upset about.
"We had a chance to go up, we didn't and then a minute later, we're down. We didn't capitalize on our best chance of the first half, and they obviously did. They're an amazing team. They have 23 deer on their roster, and it's very impressive how well they run and how well they use their [home] space here.
"They know how to play to their strengths."
Loyola junior Mary Kate (K.K.) Phelan continued her impressive play. She has picked up the slack with All-State junior Devin Burns missing the season after suffering her second torn ACL last November. Phelan scored two more goals to increase her team-leading 22 goals on the year. In a program that emphasizes balance and versatility, Phelan is just the fourth player in the program's history to record more than 20 goals in a season.
"I think it's just minutes," she said. "I've been getting more minutes this year."
The Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match changed the complexion of the game in the 37th minute. Loyola defender Alex Yasko slotted her a ball on the left edge, and she carved out the necessary space to make Carmel pay.
"Alex gave me a great pass up toward the corner, and I just dribbled it to the middle and then cut back so the defender could not stop me and I just shot," Phelan said.
"That goal, I think it speeded us up," she said. "It gave us a little more energy than we had before."
By contrast, Carmel saw one get away. The frustration for the Corsairs was failing to complete their own chances. Midfielder Angela Salvi recorded the first shot, in the third minute, from the top of the box that did not generate any spin to force Loyola freshman keeper Maggie Avery out of position.
"We started off pretty strong," Handel said. "We possessed the ball and we executed. We let up in the last five minutes of the first half, and that was our bad. We didn't finish a corner kick and they turned around and they boomed one in, and in just a minute we went from being up to being down 1-0.
"That was our mistake."
Handel directed a cross from the right wing that nearly bent in the goal, indicative of the Corsairs' activity, but also an illustration of the missing final touch. Carmel served a beautiful cross on the corner that found Loyola's Avery out of position though failed to get on the end of the service, and Loyola cleared the ball. The thin separation turned the tide of the match.
Carmel (14-3-1) had some sharp moments before emptying its bench in the second half. In the 44th minute, forward McKenzie Runyan was perfectly positioned as she intercepted a ball deep in Loyola's end, only to push her shot just wide.
Sophomore Carmel keeper Rachel Bierman also played well, despite the final score. She was athletic and active, and stopped several point blank Loyola opportunities and recorded seven saves for the Corsairs. On the Ramblers' second goal, Bierman made an ambitious and daring run off the line to stop one shot but was unable to recover as Loyola freshman forward Stephanie Ramsey took advantage of the open space to drill a follow-up ball from about 16 yards out for the 2-0 lead in the 65th minute.
Loyola's final goal was a fluke as Phelan curved a ball from the right corner in the 72nd minute.
"I wasn't even trying to score," she said. "I was just trying to cross it, and it ended up bending in. This was an important game for us, the last of the regular season, and we knew they're a good team. It was important also for taking steps and keeping our game and confidence sharp."
Carmel watched its otherwise stellar regular-season end with back-to-back losses.
"It is what it is," Halloran said. "They're going to move on to their sectional, and we're going to move onto ours. We sealed our conference a week ago, and we've downshifted a bit. At this point, training is more important to us than games until we get back to it this week. The results don't matter as much at this point.
"It's about staying in a good rhythm."
Starting lineups
Carmel
GK: Rachel Bierman
D: Haley Miller
D: Megan Runyan
D: Amanda Lasso
M: Kayla Handel
M: Mary Murphy
M: Abigail Potter
M: MacKenzie Sheehan
M: Angela Salvi
F: Erin Johnston
F: McKenzie Runyan
Loyola
GK: Maggie Avery
D: Lauren Chrisman
D: Alex Yasko
D: Aileen Young
D: Erin Kurtz
D: Katie Taylor
M: Isabelle Trimble
M: Bella Broccolo
M: Hannah Zahn
M: Sarah Hagedorn
F: Kathryn Cichon
MVP of the Match: K.K. Phelan, MF, Loyola
Loyola capitalizes and takes season finale 3-0
By Patrick Z. McGavin
GLENVIEW -- The final day of the regular season is a chance to exhale. Carmel had extra incentive to kick back and relish a season very much worth celebrating.
"It's been a fantastic season," senior midfielder Kayla Handel said.
The Corsairs ousted then no. 12 Benet 1-0 to complete an undefeated East Suburban Catholic Conference season and take the title. Just as impressively, no. 13 Carmel earned a prestigious and justified top seed at the Class 2A St. Viator Sectional.
Playing 10th-ranked Loyola was a chance to both honor the present and look forward. Carmel is joining a revised GCAC realignment starting next year when the programs will be part of the same conference.
"Today was a good gauge of where we're at," Handel said. "They're a fantastic team, so you have to give them their props. We also wanted to get some time on the turf, a surface we're going to be playing on in the state playoffs."
The Corsairs saw the game change late in the first half as they failed to take advantage of their best scoring chance and watched Loyola answer in the 37th minute en route to a 3-0 Rambler win.
The game was closer than the final score indicated. Both teams substituted freely, and Carmel played its second-and-third teams for the game's final 20 minutes. With the regulars on both sides involved, Loyola (18-3-1) managed just the 1-0 difference.
"I'm not necessarily upset with the result," Carmel coach John Halloran said. "We planned even before the game started to pull most of our starters in the second half. We wanted to give them some rest. The last five minutes of the first half is what killed us, and that's what I'm upset about.
"We had a chance to go up, we didn't and then a minute later, we're down. We didn't capitalize on our best chance of the first half, and they obviously did. They're an amazing team. They have 23 deer on their roster, and it's very impressive how well they run and how well they use their [home] space here.
"They know how to play to their strengths."
Loyola junior Mary Kate (K.K.) Phelan continued her impressive play. She has picked up the slack with All-State junior Devin Burns missing the season after suffering her second torn ACL last November. Phelan scored two more goals to increase her team-leading 22 goals on the year. In a program that emphasizes balance and versatility, Phelan is just the fourth player in the program's history to record more than 20 goals in a season.
"I think it's just minutes," she said. "I've been getting more minutes this year."
The Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match changed the complexion of the game in the 37th minute. Loyola defender Alex Yasko slotted her a ball on the left edge, and she carved out the necessary space to make Carmel pay.
"Alex gave me a great pass up toward the corner, and I just dribbled it to the middle and then cut back so the defender could not stop me and I just shot," Phelan said.
"That goal, I think it speeded us up," she said. "It gave us a little more energy than we had before."
By contrast, Carmel saw one get away. The frustration for the Corsairs was failing to complete their own chances. Midfielder Angela Salvi recorded the first shot, in the third minute, from the top of the box that did not generate any spin to force Loyola freshman keeper Maggie Avery out of position.
"We started off pretty strong," Handel said. "We possessed the ball and we executed. We let up in the last five minutes of the first half, and that was our bad. We didn't finish a corner kick and they turned around and they boomed one in, and in just a minute we went from being up to being down 1-0.
"That was our mistake."
Handel directed a cross from the right wing that nearly bent in the goal, indicative of the Corsairs' activity, but also an illustration of the missing final touch. Carmel served a beautiful cross on the corner that found Loyola's Avery out of position though failed to get on the end of the service, and Loyola cleared the ball. The thin separation turned the tide of the match.
Carmel (14-3-1) had some sharp moments before emptying its bench in the second half. In the 44th minute, forward McKenzie Runyan was perfectly positioned as she intercepted a ball deep in Loyola's end, only to push her shot just wide.
Sophomore Carmel keeper Rachel Bierman also played well, despite the final score. She was athletic and active, and stopped several point blank Loyola opportunities and recorded seven saves for the Corsairs. On the Ramblers' second goal, Bierman made an ambitious and daring run off the line to stop one shot but was unable to recover as Loyola freshman forward Stephanie Ramsey took advantage of the open space to drill a follow-up ball from about 16 yards out for the 2-0 lead in the 65th minute.
Loyola's final goal was a fluke as Phelan curved a ball from the right corner in the 72nd minute.
"I wasn't even trying to score," she said. "I was just trying to cross it, and it ended up bending in. This was an important game for us, the last of the regular season, and we knew they're a good team. It was important also for taking steps and keeping our game and confidence sharp."
Carmel watched its otherwise stellar regular-season end with back-to-back losses.
"It is what it is," Halloran said. "They're going to move on to their sectional, and we're going to move onto ours. We sealed our conference a week ago, and we've downshifted a bit. At this point, training is more important to us than games until we get back to it this week. The results don't matter as much at this point.
"It's about staying in a good rhythm."
Starting lineups
Carmel
GK: Rachel Bierman
D: Haley Miller
D: Megan Runyan
D: Amanda Lasso
M: Kayla Handel
M: Mary Murphy
M: Abigail Potter
M: MacKenzie Sheehan
M: Angela Salvi
F: Erin Johnston
F: McKenzie Runyan
Loyola
GK: Maggie Avery
D: Lauren Chrisman
D: Alex Yasko
D: Aileen Young
D: Erin Kurtz
D: Katie Taylor
M: Isabelle Trimble
M: Bella Broccolo
M: Hannah Zahn
M: Sarah Hagedorn
F: Kathryn Cichon
MVP of the Match: K.K. Phelan, MF, Loyola