Hinsdale Central wins PK battle over Lyons
Host Red Devils in position to take conference crown
By Patrick Z. McGavin
HINSDALE—The scene felt closer to a movie than a soccer game. Outlined against a moody and gray sky, the players assembled, intense, nervous and ready.
In the end, it was the kind of way to end a game that every coach professes to hate. Except Hinsdale Central and Lyons have their own sense of the dramatic. They seem incapable of playing any other way.
In a continuation of their classic rivalry, the two played 100 minutes with the score knotted. Even the typical setup of the penalty kick phase was not enough to separate the two. And then Jenny Saviski stepped up, the eighth shooter for the Red Devils.
She drilled her ball into the lower left corner. Lyons' star senior keeper Lidia Breen, a specialist at denying penalty kicks, made a partial deflection but it was not quite enough.
"It was very frustrating, because on some of their kicks, I definitely felt like a had a finger or hand on the ball, and they just played them very well, to the lower corner, and I was getting there, but I was just extended too much," Breen said.
Lyons had the opportunity to extend the shootout except Hinsdale Central keeper Katy Coseglia anticipated brilliantly and made a superb diving stop for 7-6 shootout edge and the pulsating Red Devils' victory here Thursday. The overtimes ended with the score 1-1.
The victory all but assures the No. 10 Red Devils (14-4, 5-0) the West Suburban Silver crown. They play Proviso West next week for an undisputed title. The No. 20 Lions (9-5-3, 4-1) were the defending conference victors.
Saviski was formally credited with the goal since her penalty shot decided the match. After Breen denied the Red Devils' first shooter, Hinsdale Central converted seven-consecutive shots. The shootout was tied at 4 after the first phase of shooters.
Erin Smith, Maeve McLaughlin, Kaitlyn Livingston, Sydney Griffin, Emily LaRocque and Reagan Wright also converted for the Red Devils. Isabelle Scott, Jenny Fuller, Kristen Janicki, Margaret Lynch, Catherine Johnson and Kim Vitek answered for the Lions.
"It was just nerve-wracking," Fuller said. "We were all standing on the halfway line, just being nervous. It was also exhausting after playing the two overtimes, but it was also fun and a thrilling thing to be part of."
The Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, Saviski revealed an unorthodox perspective about taking part in the shootouts. She relished the opportunity to stand back and wait.
"For me personally, I don't really like being part of the first five," she said. "I like that added pressure, because it only increases the intensity. That's what I like about the situation."
The psychological showdown with the keeper is the most involving part of the process, she said.
"You realize the goalie is going to guess one way or another, and you just have to stick with whatever side you're going to do, and you can't change your mind. It's really about picking that side and sticking with it."
Hinsdale Central coach Michael Smith gathered his players during the break before the shootout. It was a mixture of starters and bench players.
"I was very proud of the fact that there were some players who didn't even play but who stepped up and buried their penalty kicks," he said. "That's something we've been talking about that when it's your chance step up and seize the moment."
One of his shooters, LaRocque, sprinted toward him to show her enthusiasm.
"She just ran out there, and the other girls fed off of that, and they chased right after her," Smith said. "It showed a great team bond, but also a sense of, individually, the girls wanted to go out and say 'I want my chance, too.'"
Hinsdale Central had the greater play throughout the match, enjoying a significant advantage in possession time, shot attempts and time spent in Lyon's defensive half.
"In the first half, we couldn't get it out of our own half," Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary said.
The Red Devils struck first on a beautiful set piece in the 27th minute. Lauren Cangelosi served a perfect ball that reserve defender Millie Culbertson elevated and finished with a header. Cangelosi's skill altered a change in Smith's traditional coaching strategy.
"I'm for the short corner, I want to possess the ball," he said. "But one thing I've learned as an educator, as a coach, sometimes you have to step back and let your students or your athletes have their way.
"The players want to have more chances to play balls in the box, especially with the way Lauren services on corners." he said.
In the first half, with Hinsdale Central enjoying a gusty wind, the Lions were content to concede possession time, with the hope to breaking off a counter.
"We knew with their style of play they'd have numbers in the midfield, and it would be difficult for us," Lanspeary said. "We could have adjusted but it would have put our defense under a little more pressure.
"What we talked about was that it was okay for them to play in front of us, but we just didn't want them to get behind and I think our backs held up."
Lyons withstood Hinsdale Central's pressure and Breen recorded three superb stops to stay within one goal heading into the break. The Lions found their rhythm at the start of the second half. In the 45th minute, forward Grace Salvino played a ball up top to Fuller, and she drilled a ball over the top for the tying score.
"The ball bounced, and we just nodded to each other, and she played the ball to me and I got it to the back of the net," Fuller said.
Suddenly a match that was primarily one-sided was deadlocked, and would remain so for the next 55 minutes.
Hinsdale Central had the better opportunities, especially on several corners, but could not quite pull off the final touch.
"We lacked a little bit of composure in the final third on some of our scoring chances," Smith said.
It was what both sides expected.
"We knew it was going to be close," Smith said. "We knew as much as wanted to show our quality and impose our style on them, they bend but they don't break."
Lyons could take solace in knowing the Lions put forth great effort.
"It was a frustrating loss, but it was good in a way, because we played right with them and we lost in a shootout, so that shows how close we are," Breen said.
"They outplayed us, we outplayed them at times, especially in the second half. The loss is going to be tough tonight, but going forward, thinking about the state playoffs, we know that we can make a good run against them."
Starting lineups
Lyons
GK: Lidia Breen
D: Katie Hamor
D: Sheila Murphy
D: Catherine Johnson
D: Isabelle Scott
D: Kim Vitek
M: Ivana Vukanic
M: Kristen Janicki
M: Jenna Fuller
F: Margaret Lynch
F: Grace Salvino
Hinsdale Central
GK: Katy Coseglia
D: Katie Murphy
D: Erin Smith
D: Lauren Cangelosi
D: Maeve McLaughlin
M: Abby Cole
M: Jenny Saviski
M: Kaitlyn Livingston
M: Lizzy Nelson
F: Sydney Griffin
F: Kate Shroyer
MVP of the match: Jenny Saviski, M, Hinsdale Central
Host Red Devils in position to take conference crown
By Patrick Z. McGavin
HINSDALE—The scene felt closer to a movie than a soccer game. Outlined against a moody and gray sky, the players assembled, intense, nervous and ready.
In the end, it was the kind of way to end a game that every coach professes to hate. Except Hinsdale Central and Lyons have their own sense of the dramatic. They seem incapable of playing any other way.
In a continuation of their classic rivalry, the two played 100 minutes with the score knotted. Even the typical setup of the penalty kick phase was not enough to separate the two. And then Jenny Saviski stepped up, the eighth shooter for the Red Devils.
She drilled her ball into the lower left corner. Lyons' star senior keeper Lidia Breen, a specialist at denying penalty kicks, made a partial deflection but it was not quite enough.
"It was very frustrating, because on some of their kicks, I definitely felt like a had a finger or hand on the ball, and they just played them very well, to the lower corner, and I was getting there, but I was just extended too much," Breen said.
Lyons had the opportunity to extend the shootout except Hinsdale Central keeper Katy Coseglia anticipated brilliantly and made a superb diving stop for 7-6 shootout edge and the pulsating Red Devils' victory here Thursday. The overtimes ended with the score 1-1.
The victory all but assures the No. 10 Red Devils (14-4, 5-0) the West Suburban Silver crown. They play Proviso West next week for an undisputed title. The No. 20 Lions (9-5-3, 4-1) were the defending conference victors.
Saviski was formally credited with the goal since her penalty shot decided the match. After Breen denied the Red Devils' first shooter, Hinsdale Central converted seven-consecutive shots. The shootout was tied at 4 after the first phase of shooters.
Erin Smith, Maeve McLaughlin, Kaitlyn Livingston, Sydney Griffin, Emily LaRocque and Reagan Wright also converted for the Red Devils. Isabelle Scott, Jenny Fuller, Kristen Janicki, Margaret Lynch, Catherine Johnson and Kim Vitek answered for the Lions.
"It was just nerve-wracking," Fuller said. "We were all standing on the halfway line, just being nervous. It was also exhausting after playing the two overtimes, but it was also fun and a thrilling thing to be part of."
The Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, Saviski revealed an unorthodox perspective about taking part in the shootouts. She relished the opportunity to stand back and wait.
"For me personally, I don't really like being part of the first five," she said. "I like that added pressure, because it only increases the intensity. That's what I like about the situation."
The psychological showdown with the keeper is the most involving part of the process, she said.
"You realize the goalie is going to guess one way or another, and you just have to stick with whatever side you're going to do, and you can't change your mind. It's really about picking that side and sticking with it."
Hinsdale Central coach Michael Smith gathered his players during the break before the shootout. It was a mixture of starters and bench players.
"I was very proud of the fact that there were some players who didn't even play but who stepped up and buried their penalty kicks," he said. "That's something we've been talking about that when it's your chance step up and seize the moment."
One of his shooters, LaRocque, sprinted toward him to show her enthusiasm.
"She just ran out there, and the other girls fed off of that, and they chased right after her," Smith said. "It showed a great team bond, but also a sense of, individually, the girls wanted to go out and say 'I want my chance, too.'"
Hinsdale Central had the greater play throughout the match, enjoying a significant advantage in possession time, shot attempts and time spent in Lyon's defensive half.
"In the first half, we couldn't get it out of our own half," Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary said.
The Red Devils struck first on a beautiful set piece in the 27th minute. Lauren Cangelosi served a perfect ball that reserve defender Millie Culbertson elevated and finished with a header. Cangelosi's skill altered a change in Smith's traditional coaching strategy.
"I'm for the short corner, I want to possess the ball," he said. "But one thing I've learned as an educator, as a coach, sometimes you have to step back and let your students or your athletes have their way.
"The players want to have more chances to play balls in the box, especially with the way Lauren services on corners." he said.
In the first half, with Hinsdale Central enjoying a gusty wind, the Lions were content to concede possession time, with the hope to breaking off a counter.
"We knew with their style of play they'd have numbers in the midfield, and it would be difficult for us," Lanspeary said. "We could have adjusted but it would have put our defense under a little more pressure.
"What we talked about was that it was okay for them to play in front of us, but we just didn't want them to get behind and I think our backs held up."
Lyons withstood Hinsdale Central's pressure and Breen recorded three superb stops to stay within one goal heading into the break. The Lions found their rhythm at the start of the second half. In the 45th minute, forward Grace Salvino played a ball up top to Fuller, and she drilled a ball over the top for the tying score.
"The ball bounced, and we just nodded to each other, and she played the ball to me and I got it to the back of the net," Fuller said.
Suddenly a match that was primarily one-sided was deadlocked, and would remain so for the next 55 minutes.
Hinsdale Central had the better opportunities, especially on several corners, but could not quite pull off the final touch.
"We lacked a little bit of composure in the final third on some of our scoring chances," Smith said.
It was what both sides expected.
"We knew it was going to be close," Smith said. "We knew as much as wanted to show our quality and impose our style on them, they bend but they don't break."
Lyons could take solace in knowing the Lions put forth great effort.
"It was a frustrating loss, but it was good in a way, because we played right with them and we lost in a shootout, so that shows how close we are," Breen said.
"They outplayed us, we outplayed them at times, especially in the second half. The loss is going to be tough tonight, but going forward, thinking about the state playoffs, we know that we can make a good run against them."
Starting lineups
Lyons
GK: Lidia Breen
D: Katie Hamor
D: Sheila Murphy
D: Catherine Johnson
D: Isabelle Scott
D: Kim Vitek
M: Ivana Vukanic
M: Kristen Janicki
M: Jenna Fuller
F: Margaret Lynch
F: Grace Salvino
Hinsdale Central
GK: Katy Coseglia
D: Katie Murphy
D: Erin Smith
D: Lauren Cangelosi
D: Maeve McLaughlin
M: Abby Cole
M: Jenny Saviski
M: Kaitlyn Livingston
M: Lizzy Nelson
F: Sydney Griffin
F: Kate Shroyer
MVP of the match: Jenny Saviski, M, Hinsdale Central