Lyons’ seniors get
winning send-off vs. Glenbard E.
Friendly friendly provides positive playoff prep
By Steve Nemeth
Seems as if very few schools schedule much of a challenge for a regular season finale -- the emotions of a Senior Night may be involved, or the need for victory takes a back seat to the predominant wish not to have anyone injured prior to the postseason.
However, coaching ties and mutual respect meant unbeaten streaks were on the line between a pair of conference champs when Lyons welcomed Glenbard East Thursday night.
In the end, the host Lions -- ranked No. 14 in this week’s Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 -- continued their late-season roll with a well-earned 4-1 triumph over the visiting Rams.
Despite the loss which ended a nine-game unbeaten streak (6-0-3) for Glenbard East (11-5-4), coach Kent Overbey viewed the match as positive preparation for the upcoming playoffs.
Lyons (13-4-1) added it's eighth-consecutive victory to go with the ultimate positive of “no one got hurt,” per veteran coach Bill Lanspeary.
The jovial mood of the game was fitting -- Overbey got his start at Lyons serving under Lanspeary and Andy Newcomb prior to taking over the Glenbard East program. A measure of how far he’s brought the Rams is now in the history books.
Back on May 2, Glenbard East fought for a 0-0 draw at West Aurora, an outcome that meant the Blackhawks (then 3-0-1) could not dethrone the defending Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division champs. One week later and two nights before the Lyons match, the Rams went to South Elgin and secured a 3-1 road win. That same night, Bartlett visited West Aurora and gained a 2-1 triumph that meant the Hawks matched Glenbard East at 3-0-2 to share the loop title.
On that very same evening, Lanspeary’s crew returned home from Hinsdale Central with a 2-1 conquest that made the Lions the West Suburban Conference’s Silver Division winners with an unblemished 6-0-0 mark with currently no. 15-ranked Downers Grove North (5-1-0) as the runnerup. For the two previous years, the Lions held that secondary role to undefeated Hinsdale Central units.
Lyons' Jenna Fuller, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, displayed the kind of wisdom that fit with being one of nine seniors recognized during a halftime ceremony. Only 1:45 had elapsed when Fuller used her head to give Lyons a 1-0 advantage.
“In the very first five minutes, it’s not unusual for any team’s backline not to be super set,” Fuller explained. “I got behind their defenders just enough and saw their keeper coming out toward me. So I just wanted to get enough height on it to pop it over her, but with just a little power so it would duck under the crossbar.
“Unfortunately it seemed like scoring so early relaxed us a little too much,” Fuller acknowledged.
A shade under three minutes went by before Glenbard East negated the deficit.
In textbook fashion, the Rams’ Mimi Camacho and Lindsey Novak combined on some one-touch passing that found Dana Plotke in position to slide a ball past Lions keeper Claire Purcell.
“After any goal, let alone one so early, it can be a little deflating. So it was important we get our heads back up,” Plotke said. “I was able to get just the right touch to slide it underneath their goalie’s dive.”
While Plotke’s 13th goal of the year evened the score, it also served as a wake-up call for the home team.
“We had a letdown after that first goal. It seemed to come too easy and too quick,” Lanspeary noted. “It was a reminder to us that ‘Hey, they’re good. They play hard, and they can score quick.’ We knew again that we were in for a game.”
And Fuller was smart enough to recognize the need for a response.
“I knew we needed to stay on the attack, and scoring again was necessary to motivate us,” Fuller said.
The Rams dodged a bullet 10 minutes in when goalie Renee Wesling raced to the top of the penalty box to smother a dangerous through-ball.
But at 12:09, Mary Devine set up Fuller’s seventh goal of the season with a stellar lead pass.
“Every goal that gets you a lead or regains a lead is good,” Fuller said. “But you simply can’t stop looking to score. If you quit trying to get goals in one game, it becomes that much harder in the next one.”
The Lions certainly didn’t back off, but keeper Wesling was the one who drew crowd reactions after she thwarted back-to-back right side blasts from Lyons sophomore forward Georgia Dougherty. There the Lions bent the Glenbard East defense. They broke through again with 10:18 left before intermission.
Bella Lestina earned an assist off a Lyons’ charge that had the ball carom to Devine, who promptly drilled an 11-yarder a 3-1 lead.
Faith Davies, who when not in goal helps the East defensive backfield limit the opposition’s opportunities, denied several threats or watched Lions shots sail high as a field player before halftime and into the second half.
The scoring ended with 10:19 remaining in regulation. Fuller’s perfectly placed corner kick became an assist as the mass in front of the Rams’ net led to a scoring opportunity for Eileen Murphy.
Lanspeary had praise for someone who didn't dent the stat sheet.
“Meara (Hilling) pretty much played mid for us the whole second half. She controlled play, got back on defense, played balls to feet or switched the field,” Lanspeary noted. “Those are the type of things that can make a difference in the playoffs but don’t show up in a box score.”
The final statistics didn’t really coincide with the back-and-forth play that dominated the match.
“Responding to that early goal was good to see. We had a chance to go up 2-1 but were a little unlucky,” Overbey said. “This time of the year we want to be at our best, and you do that by playing the best. We had a couple starters and reserves sitting today, so the most significant plus was gaining more experience and knowledge.
“Magda (Rusiecki) logged a lot of good minutes in place of some who couldn’t go. She’s a three-year varsity letter-winner and stepped up to the challenge. Ultimately, this could really help us if we see them again in sectional play. Facing them now would be so much better than just a scouting report.”
Should both teams capture their respective regionals, they would meet on May 23 in a York Sectional semifinal. But for now the focus is on upcoming Tuesday, May 16, regional openers.
Lyons is one of the regional hosts within the 3A York Sectional that features 17 schools. The Lions are seeded second and face no. 15 Juarez on their field at 4 p.m.
No. 8 Oak Park and River Forest meets no. 10 Hinsdale Central in the 6 p.m. semi. The Winners meet at 11 a.m. May 20.
Glenbard East is another regional host. The no. 3-seeded Rams welcome no. 14 Curie for a 5 p.m. semifinal. No. 7 Morton and no. 11 Jones meet in the 7 p.m. semi. Those winners square off at 5:30 p.m. May 19.
“We’ve been on a really good streak with a lot of ‘battle’ games included, so today we wanted to keep things going,” Lyons keeper Purcell said. “Wanting to win conference was a pivotal motivation for us since the last few wins in the streak were conference games. I believe we’ve shown that we can take a hit, but we’ll definitely not quit.”
With the WSC goal having been checked off, Fuller revealed more Lion aspirations.
“We’re not overlooking anybody in regionals, but it’s been a few years since we’ve gotten a title, so we really intend to push past that point,” Fuller said. “We’ve been playing well, and we’re not gonna quit now.”
Starting lineups
Glenbard East
GK Renee Wesling
D Sam Johnson
D Katie Hansen
D Faith Davies
D Paige Taylor
M Lindsey Novak
M Mattie Pusateri
M Ali Liljestrand
M Elizabeth Toledo
F Mimi Camacho
F Dana Plotke
Lyons
GK Claire Purcell
D Caroline Murphy
D Catherine Johnson
D Sarah Fitzgerald
D Maggie Gilchrist
M Meara Hilling
M Erin Smothers
M Eileen Murphy
M Elizaberth Hall
F Jenna Fuller
F Mary Devine
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Jenna Fuller, sr., F, Lyons
Officials: Boris Vukovic; Katie Bates; Jenn Mayfield
Game summary
Lyons 4, Glenbard East 1
1st 2nd --- F Records
Glenbard East 1 0 --- 1 11-5-4
Lyons 3 1 --- 4 13-4-1
Scoring
LT --- Fuller six-yard pop-up header over keeper and under bar (Gilchrist assist), 1:45 gone
GE --- Plotke seven-yard touch slid under goalie’s dive (Camacho, Novak assists), 4:39 gone
LT --- Fuller raced to through-ball for 11-yard strike (Devine assist), 12:09 gone
LT --- Devine 11-yard finish off ricochet ball (Lestina assist), 29:42 gone
LT --- E. Murphy finish off scramble from corner kick (Fuller assist), 69:41 gone
Shots
GE 4 – 2 --- 6
L 13 – 5 --- 18
Shots on goal
GE 2 – 0 --- 2
L 7 – 3 --- 10
Saves (goalie)
GE (Wesling) 4 – 2 --- 6
L (Purcell) 1 – 0 (Martusciello 0) --- 1
winning send-off vs. Glenbard E.
Friendly friendly provides positive playoff prep
By Steve Nemeth
Seems as if very few schools schedule much of a challenge for a regular season finale -- the emotions of a Senior Night may be involved, or the need for victory takes a back seat to the predominant wish not to have anyone injured prior to the postseason.
However, coaching ties and mutual respect meant unbeaten streaks were on the line between a pair of conference champs when Lyons welcomed Glenbard East Thursday night.
In the end, the host Lions -- ranked No. 14 in this week’s Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 -- continued their late-season roll with a well-earned 4-1 triumph over the visiting Rams.
Despite the loss which ended a nine-game unbeaten streak (6-0-3) for Glenbard East (11-5-4), coach Kent Overbey viewed the match as positive preparation for the upcoming playoffs.
Lyons (13-4-1) added it's eighth-consecutive victory to go with the ultimate positive of “no one got hurt,” per veteran coach Bill Lanspeary.
The jovial mood of the game was fitting -- Overbey got his start at Lyons serving under Lanspeary and Andy Newcomb prior to taking over the Glenbard East program. A measure of how far he’s brought the Rams is now in the history books.
Back on May 2, Glenbard East fought for a 0-0 draw at West Aurora, an outcome that meant the Blackhawks (then 3-0-1) could not dethrone the defending Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division champs. One week later and two nights before the Lyons match, the Rams went to South Elgin and secured a 3-1 road win. That same night, Bartlett visited West Aurora and gained a 2-1 triumph that meant the Hawks matched Glenbard East at 3-0-2 to share the loop title.
On that very same evening, Lanspeary’s crew returned home from Hinsdale Central with a 2-1 conquest that made the Lions the West Suburban Conference’s Silver Division winners with an unblemished 6-0-0 mark with currently no. 15-ranked Downers Grove North (5-1-0) as the runnerup. For the two previous years, the Lions held that secondary role to undefeated Hinsdale Central units.
Lyons' Jenna Fuller, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, displayed the kind of wisdom that fit with being one of nine seniors recognized during a halftime ceremony. Only 1:45 had elapsed when Fuller used her head to give Lyons a 1-0 advantage.
“In the very first five minutes, it’s not unusual for any team’s backline not to be super set,” Fuller explained. “I got behind their defenders just enough and saw their keeper coming out toward me. So I just wanted to get enough height on it to pop it over her, but with just a little power so it would duck under the crossbar.
“Unfortunately it seemed like scoring so early relaxed us a little too much,” Fuller acknowledged.
A shade under three minutes went by before Glenbard East negated the deficit.
In textbook fashion, the Rams’ Mimi Camacho and Lindsey Novak combined on some one-touch passing that found Dana Plotke in position to slide a ball past Lions keeper Claire Purcell.
“After any goal, let alone one so early, it can be a little deflating. So it was important we get our heads back up,” Plotke said. “I was able to get just the right touch to slide it underneath their goalie’s dive.”
While Plotke’s 13th goal of the year evened the score, it also served as a wake-up call for the home team.
“We had a letdown after that first goal. It seemed to come too easy and too quick,” Lanspeary noted. “It was a reminder to us that ‘Hey, they’re good. They play hard, and they can score quick.’ We knew again that we were in for a game.”
And Fuller was smart enough to recognize the need for a response.
“I knew we needed to stay on the attack, and scoring again was necessary to motivate us,” Fuller said.
The Rams dodged a bullet 10 minutes in when goalie Renee Wesling raced to the top of the penalty box to smother a dangerous through-ball.
But at 12:09, Mary Devine set up Fuller’s seventh goal of the season with a stellar lead pass.
“Every goal that gets you a lead or regains a lead is good,” Fuller said. “But you simply can’t stop looking to score. If you quit trying to get goals in one game, it becomes that much harder in the next one.”
The Lions certainly didn’t back off, but keeper Wesling was the one who drew crowd reactions after she thwarted back-to-back right side blasts from Lyons sophomore forward Georgia Dougherty. There the Lions bent the Glenbard East defense. They broke through again with 10:18 left before intermission.
Bella Lestina earned an assist off a Lyons’ charge that had the ball carom to Devine, who promptly drilled an 11-yarder a 3-1 lead.
Faith Davies, who when not in goal helps the East defensive backfield limit the opposition’s opportunities, denied several threats or watched Lions shots sail high as a field player before halftime and into the second half.
The scoring ended with 10:19 remaining in regulation. Fuller’s perfectly placed corner kick became an assist as the mass in front of the Rams’ net led to a scoring opportunity for Eileen Murphy.
Lanspeary had praise for someone who didn't dent the stat sheet.
“Meara (Hilling) pretty much played mid for us the whole second half. She controlled play, got back on defense, played balls to feet or switched the field,” Lanspeary noted. “Those are the type of things that can make a difference in the playoffs but don’t show up in a box score.”
The final statistics didn’t really coincide with the back-and-forth play that dominated the match.
“Responding to that early goal was good to see. We had a chance to go up 2-1 but were a little unlucky,” Overbey said. “This time of the year we want to be at our best, and you do that by playing the best. We had a couple starters and reserves sitting today, so the most significant plus was gaining more experience and knowledge.
“Magda (Rusiecki) logged a lot of good minutes in place of some who couldn’t go. She’s a three-year varsity letter-winner and stepped up to the challenge. Ultimately, this could really help us if we see them again in sectional play. Facing them now would be so much better than just a scouting report.”
Should both teams capture their respective regionals, they would meet on May 23 in a York Sectional semifinal. But for now the focus is on upcoming Tuesday, May 16, regional openers.
Lyons is one of the regional hosts within the 3A York Sectional that features 17 schools. The Lions are seeded second and face no. 15 Juarez on their field at 4 p.m.
No. 8 Oak Park and River Forest meets no. 10 Hinsdale Central in the 6 p.m. semi. The Winners meet at 11 a.m. May 20.
Glenbard East is another regional host. The no. 3-seeded Rams welcome no. 14 Curie for a 5 p.m. semifinal. No. 7 Morton and no. 11 Jones meet in the 7 p.m. semi. Those winners square off at 5:30 p.m. May 19.
“We’ve been on a really good streak with a lot of ‘battle’ games included, so today we wanted to keep things going,” Lyons keeper Purcell said. “Wanting to win conference was a pivotal motivation for us since the last few wins in the streak were conference games. I believe we’ve shown that we can take a hit, but we’ll definitely not quit.”
With the WSC goal having been checked off, Fuller revealed more Lion aspirations.
“We’re not overlooking anybody in regionals, but it’s been a few years since we’ve gotten a title, so we really intend to push past that point,” Fuller said. “We’ve been playing well, and we’re not gonna quit now.”
Starting lineups
Glenbard East
GK Renee Wesling
D Sam Johnson
D Katie Hansen
D Faith Davies
D Paige Taylor
M Lindsey Novak
M Mattie Pusateri
M Ali Liljestrand
M Elizabeth Toledo
F Mimi Camacho
F Dana Plotke
Lyons
GK Claire Purcell
D Caroline Murphy
D Catherine Johnson
D Sarah Fitzgerald
D Maggie Gilchrist
M Meara Hilling
M Erin Smothers
M Eileen Murphy
M Elizaberth Hall
F Jenna Fuller
F Mary Devine
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Jenna Fuller, sr., F, Lyons
Officials: Boris Vukovic; Katie Bates; Jenn Mayfield
Game summary
Lyons 4, Glenbard East 1
1st 2nd --- F Records
Glenbard East 1 0 --- 1 11-5-4
Lyons 3 1 --- 4 13-4-1
Scoring
LT --- Fuller six-yard pop-up header over keeper and under bar (Gilchrist assist), 1:45 gone
GE --- Plotke seven-yard touch slid under goalie’s dive (Camacho, Novak assists), 4:39 gone
LT --- Fuller raced to through-ball for 11-yard strike (Devine assist), 12:09 gone
LT --- Devine 11-yard finish off ricochet ball (Lestina assist), 29:42 gone
LT --- E. Murphy finish off scramble from corner kick (Fuller assist), 69:41 gone
Shots
GE 4 – 2 --- 6
L 13 – 5 --- 18
Shots on goal
GE 2 – 0 --- 2
L 7 – 3 --- 10
Saves (goalie)
GE (Wesling) 4 – 2 --- 6
L (Purcell) 1 – 0 (Martusciello 0) --- 1