Late goal lifts Loyola over Glenbard East
Rams ready to turn 'moral victories' into real ones
By Ken Keenan
SCHAUMBURG -- A full 80 minutes nearly wasn't enough to break a
scoreless stalemate between Glenbard East and Loyola Academy during
PepsiCo Showdown Muscle Milk Consolation Pool play on Saturday.
But Loyola forward Kathryn Cichon made sure extra time
wouldn't be needed. The senior scored the game winner in the 78th minute to give
the Ramblers a 1-0 win.
Finishing a long run after taking a pass from senior midfielder Erin Kurtz, Cichon buried a shot from the right side past Rams junior goalkeeper Sierra Dana, who was stellar in defeat.
"(Cichon) was quick ... beat the defender. I hesitated a little, but I
could have smothered it," Dana said.
Throughout the match, Dana was quick to prevent scoring opportunities,
pouncing on loose balls by reading the play and wisely timing her
surges out of the box.
Midway through the first half, a nifty passing
sequence among Loyola freshman forward Stephanie Ramsey, junior
midfielder Shannon Powers and junior defender Jillian Jensen was
foiled when Dana ran out to scoop the ball. Moments later, Dana did
the same after seven tic-tac-toe touches by six different Ramblers
resulted in an opportunity.
"One thing I'm working on is my positioning, and a matter of knowing
how to recognize the play to be where I need to be," Dana said.
Glenbard East coach Kent Overbey sees the result of his keeper's efforts.
"She keeps us in games," said Overbey, whose crew fell to 6-7-0 overall with the loss. "She's an athlete who can make plays -- standard saves and the ones you're not supposed to make. She's very intelligent; she understands and can anticipate. She's poised to make the plays -- great footwork and very strong."
Rams sophomore midfielder Amanda Chlebek, who helped foil the
Ramblers' attack when the eventual victors inched down the field with
short and sharp passing sequences, was glad to have Dana guarding her
team's cage.
"She's a great goalie -- very helpful," Chlebek said. "She always has
that last touch. She knows how to read it and save it."
Cichon said the Loyola never lost faith that a ball would find the back of the net, even as overtime loomed with the clock winding down. The Ramblers -- who improved to 9-2-1 overall -- had more possession time than Glenbard East, but only a handful of truly
dangerous chances.
"On the goal, I got the ball, and thankfully I got the touch and
finished," Cichon said. "What we failed to do in all the minutes
before was to capitalize on our chances.
"But we thought it was a matter of time -- be in the moment and do what you can to finish the game in regular time.
"You've gotta have the confidence ... keep that gut feeling to ultimately get the goal -- and the win -- and we were able to do that."
A big reason why Glenbard East was unable to do the same was the play
of Ramblers senior defender Katie Taylor. Using every inch of her
5-foot-11 frame, Taylor -- Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match --
was a dynamo, whether heading numerous balls out of danger in front of
freshman keeper Maggie Avery, aggressively rushing toward attackers to
push the ball the other way or joining the offensive thrust in the
Rams' zone.
"(Taylor) was good at using headers to clear," Chlebek acknowledged.
Early on, Taylor displayed her versatility in multiple situations: clearing a ball out
of the box to spoil a chance; springing Cichon upfield with a clean pass; and heading a shot just wide of the Glenbard East net on a
well-placed free kick by junior defender Lauren Chrisman.
"One of my strengths is height, so my responsibility is to win headers
and 50-50 balls," Taylor said. "Usually, if you just clear to the
other team, not a lot of good comes from that. So I try to find a
teammate and get the next play moving ahead. Plus, a fast
counterattack is something we're good at.
"We were confident going into this match, and we had a lot of
possessions early. We did a good job staying calm and sticking to our
plan. We knew the goal would come, and eventually it did."
Loyola skipper Craig Snower said, "Katie covers a lot of ground. She's
a senior who's played about 100 games for us now, and (Cichon), she's
another veteran senior. But give (Glenbard East) credit -- they kept
it tight. The game could have gone either way.
"I think we were a little impatient on some balls -- a little early or
a little late. Plus, the defense by (Glenbard East) was a factor."
Overbey and Co. hope the Rams remain patient as they look to jump past
the .500 mark, citing the toe-to-toe battle with Loyola as an example
that they're getting closer.
"I was very happy with our defense, especially (senior midfielder) Corie Ewoldt and (senior defender) Mary Kurtz," Overbey said. "And Amanda (Chlebek), she's a big, strong, physical player who broke up a lot of plays before they could get started.
"We made one mistake against a very good team, and that cost us. But I was happy that we could stick with them. We battled a big, tall, physical team. We have a lot of moral victories, and we're trying to get our program to that (Loyola-type) level.
"We can possess, but we need to do a better job of possessing and
controlling the play. We did give ourselves some opportunities to win
the game. But we can't let up for a second against these good teams."
Dana commented, "It's tough to lose any game, but we battled from the
beginning with everyone working together. We just have to continue to
bring that energy and effort."
Starting lineups
Glenbard East
G: Sierra Dana
D: Paige Taylor
D: Maria Berrum
D: Mary Kurtz
M: Megan Mrazek
M: Holly Ward
M: Corie Ewoldt
M: Amanda Chlebek
M: Sammie Sarles
F: Brittany Paganucci
F: Dana Plotke
Loyola Academy
G: Maggie Avery
D: Lauren Chrisman
D: Alex Yasko
D: Katie Taylor
M: Shannon Powers
M: Erin Kurtz
M: Cate Shellenbach
M: Ally West
M: Hannah Zahn
F: Kathryn Cichon
F: K.K. Phalen
MVP of the Match: Katie Taylor, D, Loyola
Officials: Joel Gonzalez, Jose Valencia, Jose Sevilla
Rams ready to turn 'moral victories' into real ones
By Ken Keenan
SCHAUMBURG -- A full 80 minutes nearly wasn't enough to break a
scoreless stalemate between Glenbard East and Loyola Academy during
PepsiCo Showdown Muscle Milk Consolation Pool play on Saturday.
But Loyola forward Kathryn Cichon made sure extra time
wouldn't be needed. The senior scored the game winner in the 78th minute to give
the Ramblers a 1-0 win.
Finishing a long run after taking a pass from senior midfielder Erin Kurtz, Cichon buried a shot from the right side past Rams junior goalkeeper Sierra Dana, who was stellar in defeat.
"(Cichon) was quick ... beat the defender. I hesitated a little, but I
could have smothered it," Dana said.
Throughout the match, Dana was quick to prevent scoring opportunities,
pouncing on loose balls by reading the play and wisely timing her
surges out of the box.
Midway through the first half, a nifty passing
sequence among Loyola freshman forward Stephanie Ramsey, junior
midfielder Shannon Powers and junior defender Jillian Jensen was
foiled when Dana ran out to scoop the ball. Moments later, Dana did
the same after seven tic-tac-toe touches by six different Ramblers
resulted in an opportunity.
"One thing I'm working on is my positioning, and a matter of knowing
how to recognize the play to be where I need to be," Dana said.
Glenbard East coach Kent Overbey sees the result of his keeper's efforts.
"She keeps us in games," said Overbey, whose crew fell to 6-7-0 overall with the loss. "She's an athlete who can make plays -- standard saves and the ones you're not supposed to make. She's very intelligent; she understands and can anticipate. She's poised to make the plays -- great footwork and very strong."
Rams sophomore midfielder Amanda Chlebek, who helped foil the
Ramblers' attack when the eventual victors inched down the field with
short and sharp passing sequences, was glad to have Dana guarding her
team's cage.
"She's a great goalie -- very helpful," Chlebek said. "She always has
that last touch. She knows how to read it and save it."
Cichon said the Loyola never lost faith that a ball would find the back of the net, even as overtime loomed with the clock winding down. The Ramblers -- who improved to 9-2-1 overall -- had more possession time than Glenbard East, but only a handful of truly
dangerous chances.
"On the goal, I got the ball, and thankfully I got the touch and
finished," Cichon said. "What we failed to do in all the minutes
before was to capitalize on our chances.
"But we thought it was a matter of time -- be in the moment and do what you can to finish the game in regular time.
"You've gotta have the confidence ... keep that gut feeling to ultimately get the goal -- and the win -- and we were able to do that."
A big reason why Glenbard East was unable to do the same was the play
of Ramblers senior defender Katie Taylor. Using every inch of her
5-foot-11 frame, Taylor -- Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match --
was a dynamo, whether heading numerous balls out of danger in front of
freshman keeper Maggie Avery, aggressively rushing toward attackers to
push the ball the other way or joining the offensive thrust in the
Rams' zone.
"(Taylor) was good at using headers to clear," Chlebek acknowledged.
Early on, Taylor displayed her versatility in multiple situations: clearing a ball out
of the box to spoil a chance; springing Cichon upfield with a clean pass; and heading a shot just wide of the Glenbard East net on a
well-placed free kick by junior defender Lauren Chrisman.
"One of my strengths is height, so my responsibility is to win headers
and 50-50 balls," Taylor said. "Usually, if you just clear to the
other team, not a lot of good comes from that. So I try to find a
teammate and get the next play moving ahead. Plus, a fast
counterattack is something we're good at.
"We were confident going into this match, and we had a lot of
possessions early. We did a good job staying calm and sticking to our
plan. We knew the goal would come, and eventually it did."
Loyola skipper Craig Snower said, "Katie covers a lot of ground. She's
a senior who's played about 100 games for us now, and (Cichon), she's
another veteran senior. But give (Glenbard East) credit -- they kept
it tight. The game could have gone either way.
"I think we were a little impatient on some balls -- a little early or
a little late. Plus, the defense by (Glenbard East) was a factor."
Overbey and Co. hope the Rams remain patient as they look to jump past
the .500 mark, citing the toe-to-toe battle with Loyola as an example
that they're getting closer.
"I was very happy with our defense, especially (senior midfielder) Corie Ewoldt and (senior defender) Mary Kurtz," Overbey said. "And Amanda (Chlebek), she's a big, strong, physical player who broke up a lot of plays before they could get started.
"We made one mistake against a very good team, and that cost us. But I was happy that we could stick with them. We battled a big, tall, physical team. We have a lot of moral victories, and we're trying to get our program to that (Loyola-type) level.
"We can possess, but we need to do a better job of possessing and
controlling the play. We did give ourselves some opportunities to win
the game. But we can't let up for a second against these good teams."
Dana commented, "It's tough to lose any game, but we battled from the
beginning with everyone working together. We just have to continue to
bring that energy and effort."
Starting lineups
Glenbard East
G: Sierra Dana
D: Paige Taylor
D: Maria Berrum
D: Mary Kurtz
M: Megan Mrazek
M: Holly Ward
M: Corie Ewoldt
M: Amanda Chlebek
M: Sammie Sarles
F: Brittany Paganucci
F: Dana Plotke
Loyola Academy
G: Maggie Avery
D: Lauren Chrisman
D: Alex Yasko
D: Katie Taylor
M: Shannon Powers
M: Erin Kurtz
M: Cate Shellenbach
M: Ally West
M: Hannah Zahn
F: Kathryn Cichon
F: K.K. Phalen
MVP of the Match: Katie Taylor, D, Loyola
Officials: Joel Gonzalez, Jose Valencia, Jose Sevilla