Lockport opens floodgates against Reavis
Porters give Class of 2015 their due in 5-0 victory
By Steve Millar
LOCKPORT -- Lockport honored its seven seniors Saturday on Senior Day, and coach Todd Elkei was more than happy to give all six that were healthy extensive playing time.
“When we’re playing 1-0 games all the time, not scoring a lot of goals all year, sometimes it's hard to go into our bench all the time,” he said. “So it was nice to get all the seniors in there who have put so much time and effort into the program. They’re great students, they’re great kids, so to reward them with almost the full game, it was good.”
Six seniors – Taylor Stortz, Meg Lesnefsky, Sam Calderaro, Ugne Narbutaite, Alexis Hernandez and Johnna Gerona – all started and played significant roles in the Porters’ 5-0 win over Reavis.
Stortz and Calderaro each scored a goal.
The seventh senior, Kayla Sierzega, was out injured but was introduced as part of the starting lineup and honored with the other seniors.
“It was good to come out here and play with all the people I’ve been playing with for years,” Calderaro said. "Then to score on Senior Night, it felt really good.”
Freshman Stephanie Quigley, Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match, helped make it a memorable win for the seniors, with two goals.
She got the Porters (13-5-2) on the board in the 10th minute. Reavis goalkeeper Brianna Silva came out of the box to try to clear the ball, but Quigley beat her to it, dribbled around her and scored into the open net from 25 yards out.
“I was able to get a touch and get around the goalie and get the shot off,” Quigley said. “It was good to get that first goal of the game.”
The Porters continued to put on a great deal of pressure over the next 18 minutes. But they came up empty until Sylvia Kordazcka made a nice run down the left side of the field and crossed it to Ally Fischer, who used her body to knock it in for a 2-0 lead in the 28th minute.
The floodgates opened from there, as Lockport scored two more times in the next four minutes.
“We’ve been talking about how we’re creating some chances, but not getting on the end of them,” Elkei said. “So we just wanted to make sure we were aggressive and going hard to the net and running through the crosses.
“It’s just a confidence thing with them sometimes. If that first opportunity isn’t successful, then they hesitate a bit. When they start going in, then it’s easy.”
Hernandez made strong move down the end line and Quigley headed home her cross for a 3-0 lead.
“She played a great ball into a dangerous area, and I just got my head on it,” Quigley said. “After the first goal, we did let down just a little bit, but then we started getting pumped up. After we scored that second one, everyone was just ready to go and we scored that third one right away.”
“It was good to see the freshmen helping out on Senior Night,” Elkei said.
Calderaro had her moment with just under nine minutes left in the half, carrying down the right side of the box and scoring.
“I played the ball and I knew I had space to turn, so I turned, dribbled around and shot, and thankfully it went in,” Calderaro said.
The moment was special for Calderaro, considering she missed nine games this season with a sprained ankle. She returned for the Porters’ tournament in Burlington, Iowa, last weekend.
“It was really fitting for Sam,” Elkei said. “I’m sure when it’s your senior year and you miss nine games, it’s frustrating. But for her, this was maybe a little redemption to go out on her Senior Day and score a goal. You could just see the happiness on her face. She’s a great kid and a hard worker, and I’m very happy for her.”
The seven seniors were honored during a halftime ceremony.
“Halftime was sad,” Hernandez said. “It was really emotional after being with these girls for so many years. It was really fun getting all the seniors on the field, and I think we had a good game, especially all the girls who don’t usually start. I think they all played phenomenal. It was a good way to end it.”
Stortz scored off a Madiyson Hannion pass three minutes into the second half to close the scoring.
Lockport’s back line of Hannion, Brooke Janeczek and Jamie Hansen made things easy on goalkeeper Cassidy Henson, who made one save to record the shutout.
Silva made five saves for Reavis (6-13-1). The Rams nearly broke through on a couple of occasions late in the first half. Ewelina Kmin came up with a steal and beat a defender before having her shot saved by Henson in the 37th minute.
Moments later, Kmin took a nice pass from Celeste Lara down the left seam but put her shot off the side of the net.
“Lockport is a quality team, and I really wanted to get them on the schedule,” Reavis coach Phil Basile said. “This is the first time we’ve played them on the girls side. It was good for us, just getting prepared for the playoffs, to play a team like this and see where our weaknesses are.
“In the second half, we played a lot more composed and did some good things.”
The Porters have one more regular-season contest scheduled, hosting Lincoln-Way West on Thursday. A major postseason challenge then awaits.
Lockport is the No. 10 seed in the loaded Metea Valley Sectional and will open the playoffs against No. 8 seed Oswego, the PepsiCo Showdown Gatorade Bracket champions.
The Porters’ seniors will get to play on their home field at least one more time because Lockport will host the regional.
“I think we just need to keep motivating everyone and be all pumped up for every game, and I think we can keep doing really good,” Quigley said.
Starting lineups
Lockport
GK: Cassidy Henson
D: Brooke Janeczek
D: Jamie Hansen
D: Madiyson Hannion
M: Taylor Stortz
M: Stephanie Quigley
M: Ugne Narbutaite
M: Alexis Hernandez
M: Johnna Gerona
F: Meg Lesnefsky
F: Sam Calderaro
Reavis
GK: Brianna Silva
D: Adrianna Campa
D: Leslie Reyes
D: Karina Lopez
D: Vicky Paczkowska
M: Edith Benitez
M: Celeste Lara
M: Patty Kaminska
M: Arlette Hernandez
F: Stephanie Solis
F: Ewelina Kmin
MVP of the Match: Stephanie Quigley, MF, Lockport
Porters give Class of 2015 their due in 5-0 victory
By Steve Millar
LOCKPORT -- Lockport honored its seven seniors Saturday on Senior Day, and coach Todd Elkei was more than happy to give all six that were healthy extensive playing time.
“When we’re playing 1-0 games all the time, not scoring a lot of goals all year, sometimes it's hard to go into our bench all the time,” he said. “So it was nice to get all the seniors in there who have put so much time and effort into the program. They’re great students, they’re great kids, so to reward them with almost the full game, it was good.”
Six seniors – Taylor Stortz, Meg Lesnefsky, Sam Calderaro, Ugne Narbutaite, Alexis Hernandez and Johnna Gerona – all started and played significant roles in the Porters’ 5-0 win over Reavis.
Stortz and Calderaro each scored a goal.
The seventh senior, Kayla Sierzega, was out injured but was introduced as part of the starting lineup and honored with the other seniors.
“It was good to come out here and play with all the people I’ve been playing with for years,” Calderaro said. "Then to score on Senior Night, it felt really good.”
Freshman Stephanie Quigley, Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match, helped make it a memorable win for the seniors, with two goals.
She got the Porters (13-5-2) on the board in the 10th minute. Reavis goalkeeper Brianna Silva came out of the box to try to clear the ball, but Quigley beat her to it, dribbled around her and scored into the open net from 25 yards out.
“I was able to get a touch and get around the goalie and get the shot off,” Quigley said. “It was good to get that first goal of the game.”
The Porters continued to put on a great deal of pressure over the next 18 minutes. But they came up empty until Sylvia Kordazcka made a nice run down the left side of the field and crossed it to Ally Fischer, who used her body to knock it in for a 2-0 lead in the 28th minute.
The floodgates opened from there, as Lockport scored two more times in the next four minutes.
“We’ve been talking about how we’re creating some chances, but not getting on the end of them,” Elkei said. “So we just wanted to make sure we were aggressive and going hard to the net and running through the crosses.
“It’s just a confidence thing with them sometimes. If that first opportunity isn’t successful, then they hesitate a bit. When they start going in, then it’s easy.”
Hernandez made strong move down the end line and Quigley headed home her cross for a 3-0 lead.
“She played a great ball into a dangerous area, and I just got my head on it,” Quigley said. “After the first goal, we did let down just a little bit, but then we started getting pumped up. After we scored that second one, everyone was just ready to go and we scored that third one right away.”
“It was good to see the freshmen helping out on Senior Night,” Elkei said.
Calderaro had her moment with just under nine minutes left in the half, carrying down the right side of the box and scoring.
“I played the ball and I knew I had space to turn, so I turned, dribbled around and shot, and thankfully it went in,” Calderaro said.
The moment was special for Calderaro, considering she missed nine games this season with a sprained ankle. She returned for the Porters’ tournament in Burlington, Iowa, last weekend.
“It was really fitting for Sam,” Elkei said. “I’m sure when it’s your senior year and you miss nine games, it’s frustrating. But for her, this was maybe a little redemption to go out on her Senior Day and score a goal. You could just see the happiness on her face. She’s a great kid and a hard worker, and I’m very happy for her.”
The seven seniors were honored during a halftime ceremony.
“Halftime was sad,” Hernandez said. “It was really emotional after being with these girls for so many years. It was really fun getting all the seniors on the field, and I think we had a good game, especially all the girls who don’t usually start. I think they all played phenomenal. It was a good way to end it.”
Stortz scored off a Madiyson Hannion pass three minutes into the second half to close the scoring.
Lockport’s back line of Hannion, Brooke Janeczek and Jamie Hansen made things easy on goalkeeper Cassidy Henson, who made one save to record the shutout.
Silva made five saves for Reavis (6-13-1). The Rams nearly broke through on a couple of occasions late in the first half. Ewelina Kmin came up with a steal and beat a defender before having her shot saved by Henson in the 37th minute.
Moments later, Kmin took a nice pass from Celeste Lara down the left seam but put her shot off the side of the net.
“Lockport is a quality team, and I really wanted to get them on the schedule,” Reavis coach Phil Basile said. “This is the first time we’ve played them on the girls side. It was good for us, just getting prepared for the playoffs, to play a team like this and see where our weaknesses are.
“In the second half, we played a lot more composed and did some good things.”
The Porters have one more regular-season contest scheduled, hosting Lincoln-Way West on Thursday. A major postseason challenge then awaits.
Lockport is the No. 10 seed in the loaded Metea Valley Sectional and will open the playoffs against No. 8 seed Oswego, the PepsiCo Showdown Gatorade Bracket champions.
The Porters’ seniors will get to play on their home field at least one more time because Lockport will host the regional.
“I think we just need to keep motivating everyone and be all pumped up for every game, and I think we can keep doing really good,” Quigley said.
Starting lineups
Lockport
GK: Cassidy Henson
D: Brooke Janeczek
D: Jamie Hansen
D: Madiyson Hannion
M: Taylor Stortz
M: Stephanie Quigley
M: Ugne Narbutaite
M: Alexis Hernandez
M: Johnna Gerona
F: Meg Lesnefsky
F: Sam Calderaro
Reavis
GK: Brianna Silva
D: Adrianna Campa
D: Leslie Reyes
D: Karina Lopez
D: Vicky Paczkowska
M: Edith Benitez
M: Celeste Lara
M: Patty Kaminska
M: Arlette Hernandez
F: Stephanie Solis
F: Ewelina Kmin
MVP of the Match: Stephanie Quigley, MF, Lockport