Lemont gets big Senior Day win vs. DGN
Indians near regular season record with 3-2 win
By Matt Le Cren
LEMONT – Lemont senior striker Mairead Ruane is usually tasked with scoring goals, something she does with regularity.
Ruane tallied 30 goals as a junior to lead the Indians to the Class 2A state semifinals last season.
But on Saturday, Ruane was handed the unfamiliar job of preventing goals. She spent Lemont’s Senior Day game playing defense for the first time in her career.
“Katrina (Retzke) was out,” Ruane explained. “She’s a mathlete (who had a competition), so I had to step up and play behind Sarah (Knoepfle).
“It’s nerve-wracking, obviously, because 1-v.-1 defending is very scary, but we played well offensively, so I didn’t really have to do much.”
Maybe not on the defensive end of things, but Ruane still did a lot to make sure the Indians ended the home portion of the regular season with an impressive 3-2 victory over Downers Grove North, a Class 3A state semifinalist last season.
Ruane scored one goal, which turned out to be the game-winning penalty kick, and assisted on another to earn Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors as Lemont (17-1-0) remained unbeaten at home. If the Indians beat Tinley Park on Tuesday they will secure the highest regular season winning percentage in program history, an impressive feat considering they have won 354 games since 1995.
“It was amazing,” Ruane said. “We don’t get much competition from our conference games, so playing against a good side like this really helps us out physically and mentally.”
After the team honored the senior soccer class of Ruane, Knoepfle, Isabel Silvar, Jacqueline Aleman, Niamh Hehir, Leti Salazar, Lily Hinkle and Michelle Jerantowski in pregame ceremonies, the Indians came out firing.
Aleman, a Wisconsin-Stevens Point recruit, got it started by hitting pay dirt on the first shot of the game. The midfielder raced into space on the left wing and uncorked a left-footed drive from 23 yards that went top shelf for a 1-0 lead just 3:45 into the game.
“You can’t draw something like that up,” Ruane said. “We came out here pumped and ready to go.
“Obviously, it was emotional at the beginning, but ultimately we wanted to play for each other and just get the win against a really good side.”
Aleman knew the best way to do that was to be aggressive from the get-go.
“We always talk during our little get-together before the (game) starts that we have got to go after those 50-50 chances,” Aleman said. “And we’ve got to make the first impression to set the tone for the game.”
Aleman’s strike was important because it turned out to be Lemont’s only shot of the first half. The Indians finished with only four shots, but an impressive .750 batting average.
“We don’t score a ton of goals,” Lemont coach Rick Prangen. “She’s scored some quality goals. She scored against Columbia last weekend (in Lemont’s only loss of the season), and she scored today. Those are quality goals.”
Aleman has never been Lemont’s leading scorer, but she has evolved into the team’s top playmaker this season.
“Sophomore year I took a break from my travel soccer season,” Aleman said. "But junior year I came back, and I started at it again. I think it really helped my development and made me more confident on the ball.
“That helped me develop my skills a lot more and just trying to be more confident on the ball has made me a better playmaker.”
Her teammates and coaches appreciate that.
“She’s had a fantastic season,” Prangen said. “She’s been one of our most consistent players and has been spot-on all year long.
“I don’t know if there’s an outside mid that’s had a better year than her, at least in our area. She can play outside back and outside mid, and she does it really well.”
Aleman’s main priority is creating opportunities for the front line of Ruane, Katie Knutte and Erin Crispo, who missed Saturday’s game. If she can’t do that, she at least creates havoc for the defense and forces corner kicks and other restarts, which the Indians have been consistently dangerous on this spring.
“Jacqueline, we look for her, and we look to get her the ball,” Ruane said. “She’s busting her (butt) all the way down the sidelines and forcing corners.
“She is always giving effort. We’re deadly on set pieces.”
Ruane would know and she takes most of the set pieces for Lemont, which converted two of them against the Trojans early in the second half to take a 3-1 lead.
Ruane’s 23-yard free kick from deep in the right corner found the foot of the charging Knoepfle, who volleyed the ball into the net with 36:59 remaining to give the Indians the lead for good.
Five minutes later, Ruane scored on a penalty kick, which turned out to be important because Downers Grove North's Loyola-bound Swanson converted a penalty kick of her own to pull the Trojans (8-6-4) within a goal with 13:21 to go.
All three of Lemont’s goals came with most of Downers North’s regular starters on the bench. The Trojans were playing their fourth game in six days and Downers North coach Brian Papa opted to give his top players some rest.
Regular goalie Grace Stevenson got the day off, while Swanson and fellow stalwarts Francesca Marconi, Olivia Bull, Carli Nehls, Alexis Parker and Carissa Mysliwiec came off the bench.
Papa put those players in with 17 minutes left in the first half, then sat all but Marconi for the first 15 minutes of the second half.
“This is our fourth game of the week,” Papa said. “We decided before the game that we’re going to play all the girls and play them long minutes.
“But we weren’t going to throw the game away. The girls played hard.”
That was evident in the way the Trojans bent. but didn’t break in the face of Lemont’s superior play in the midfield. Once the starters came in, the field tilted slightly in the favor of Downers Grove North, which tied the game at 1-1 on Swanson’s 18-yard free kick at the 11:49 mark.
“A lot of the girls have had a lot of minutes in the past two weeks, so we were trying to see what we have on the bench because there hasn’t been a lot of opportunities to (do that),” Swanson said. “We brought some girls up from JV and freshman teams and see what they could bring, and they came out strong and were holding their own.”
The Trojans have a favorable path back to the Class 3A state semifinals but have struggled to score goals lately. Downers Grove North is on a three-game losing streak; the team lost only two in the regular season last year.
“I think a lot of it is mental right now,” said Swanson, who leads the team with 12 goals. “We know physically that we have the talent and everything.
“We also notice after these bigger games and the losses is we come out just as hard the next game, and you can’t coach that. That’s what we’re going to take (into postseason).
“We’re starting a new season for us, a clean-sheet.”
The Indians, meanwhile, just want to keep up their winning ways. Regardless of who was in the lineup for the Trojans, Lemont made sure to play with maximum effort.
“It got kind of hard because they had a rotation going,” Ruane said. “Their better players were coming in second after resting up, so that was kind of hard for us (who were) playing the full game, but we stuck through it.”
That is an attitude the Indians stick to.
“It’s all about respecting your opponent, so going at it hard is always one of our ideals,” Aleman said. “That’s what we do, especially with these nonconference games, which we always get a lot out of.”
The Indians, especially the seniors, have gotten a lot out of the regular season. Where this team ranks in a program that has won four state trophies is up to conjecture, but there's no doubt it’s a special group.
“For the eight seniors, it means everything to us,” Aleman said. “Most of us have played since our freshman year, and this is our family.
“It means everything to us to get this kind of record and set the tone for the next four years, especially the freshmen, who we want to keep in this program.”
The seniors credit Prangen and the rest of the coaching staff for their success.
“They push us really hard, and I owe it all to them for our success,” Aleman said. “They really drove the idea of family into our heads, because we all trust each other.”
Ruane concurred.
“I give it all to (the coaches),” Ruane said. “Seriously, they are the best coaches you could ask for.
“If you make one mistake, they’re like, ‘OK, pick your head up. It’s fine.’ They’re the best.”
The Indians will have more big home games -- they host both a regional and sectional. But given the competition and the performance of his seniors, Prangen had reasons to smile.
“It was a really good team win for us against a quality side,” he said. “It was a great way to end the regular season at home on a beautiful day. I couldn’t be happier.”
Starting lineups
Downers Grove North
GK Sandra Greco
D Julie Redpath
D Chloe Nowka
D Brooke Wojciechowski
D Julia Bower
M Julia Kramper
M Bryn Heuberger
M Julie Blaszkowska
F Alyssa Gunderson
F Victoria Finklea
F Abby Peterson
Lemont
GK Michelle Jerantowski
D Mairead Ruane
D Leti Salazar
D Sarah Knoepfle
D Lily Hinkle
M Danielle Irwin
M Isabel Silvar
M Jacqueline Aleman
F Victoria Silvar
F Niamh Hehir
F Katie Knutte
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Mairead Ruane, sr., D, Lemont
Scoring summary
First half
Lemont – Jacqueline Aleman (unassisted) 36:15
Downers North – Abby Swanson (unassisted) 11:49
Second half
Lemont – Sarah Knoepfle (Ruane) 36:59
Lemont – Ruane (PK) 31:55
Downers North – Swanson (PK) 13:21
Indians near regular season record with 3-2 win
By Matt Le Cren
LEMONT – Lemont senior striker Mairead Ruane is usually tasked with scoring goals, something she does with regularity.
Ruane tallied 30 goals as a junior to lead the Indians to the Class 2A state semifinals last season.
But on Saturday, Ruane was handed the unfamiliar job of preventing goals. She spent Lemont’s Senior Day game playing defense for the first time in her career.
“Katrina (Retzke) was out,” Ruane explained. “She’s a mathlete (who had a competition), so I had to step up and play behind Sarah (Knoepfle).
“It’s nerve-wracking, obviously, because 1-v.-1 defending is very scary, but we played well offensively, so I didn’t really have to do much.”
Maybe not on the defensive end of things, but Ruane still did a lot to make sure the Indians ended the home portion of the regular season with an impressive 3-2 victory over Downers Grove North, a Class 3A state semifinalist last season.
Ruane scored one goal, which turned out to be the game-winning penalty kick, and assisted on another to earn Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors as Lemont (17-1-0) remained unbeaten at home. If the Indians beat Tinley Park on Tuesday they will secure the highest regular season winning percentage in program history, an impressive feat considering they have won 354 games since 1995.
“It was amazing,” Ruane said. “We don’t get much competition from our conference games, so playing against a good side like this really helps us out physically and mentally.”
After the team honored the senior soccer class of Ruane, Knoepfle, Isabel Silvar, Jacqueline Aleman, Niamh Hehir, Leti Salazar, Lily Hinkle and Michelle Jerantowski in pregame ceremonies, the Indians came out firing.
Aleman, a Wisconsin-Stevens Point recruit, got it started by hitting pay dirt on the first shot of the game. The midfielder raced into space on the left wing and uncorked a left-footed drive from 23 yards that went top shelf for a 1-0 lead just 3:45 into the game.
“You can’t draw something like that up,” Ruane said. “We came out here pumped and ready to go.
“Obviously, it was emotional at the beginning, but ultimately we wanted to play for each other and just get the win against a really good side.”
Aleman knew the best way to do that was to be aggressive from the get-go.
“We always talk during our little get-together before the (game) starts that we have got to go after those 50-50 chances,” Aleman said. “And we’ve got to make the first impression to set the tone for the game.”
Aleman’s strike was important because it turned out to be Lemont’s only shot of the first half. The Indians finished with only four shots, but an impressive .750 batting average.
“We don’t score a ton of goals,” Lemont coach Rick Prangen. “She’s scored some quality goals. She scored against Columbia last weekend (in Lemont’s only loss of the season), and she scored today. Those are quality goals.”
Aleman has never been Lemont’s leading scorer, but she has evolved into the team’s top playmaker this season.
“Sophomore year I took a break from my travel soccer season,” Aleman said. "But junior year I came back, and I started at it again. I think it really helped my development and made me more confident on the ball.
“That helped me develop my skills a lot more and just trying to be more confident on the ball has made me a better playmaker.”
Her teammates and coaches appreciate that.
“She’s had a fantastic season,” Prangen said. “She’s been one of our most consistent players and has been spot-on all year long.
“I don’t know if there’s an outside mid that’s had a better year than her, at least in our area. She can play outside back and outside mid, and she does it really well.”
Aleman’s main priority is creating opportunities for the front line of Ruane, Katie Knutte and Erin Crispo, who missed Saturday’s game. If she can’t do that, she at least creates havoc for the defense and forces corner kicks and other restarts, which the Indians have been consistently dangerous on this spring.
“Jacqueline, we look for her, and we look to get her the ball,” Ruane said. “She’s busting her (butt) all the way down the sidelines and forcing corners.
“She is always giving effort. We’re deadly on set pieces.”
Ruane would know and she takes most of the set pieces for Lemont, which converted two of them against the Trojans early in the second half to take a 3-1 lead.
Ruane’s 23-yard free kick from deep in the right corner found the foot of the charging Knoepfle, who volleyed the ball into the net with 36:59 remaining to give the Indians the lead for good.
Five minutes later, Ruane scored on a penalty kick, which turned out to be important because Downers Grove North's Loyola-bound Swanson converted a penalty kick of her own to pull the Trojans (8-6-4) within a goal with 13:21 to go.
All three of Lemont’s goals came with most of Downers North’s regular starters on the bench. The Trojans were playing their fourth game in six days and Downers North coach Brian Papa opted to give his top players some rest.
Regular goalie Grace Stevenson got the day off, while Swanson and fellow stalwarts Francesca Marconi, Olivia Bull, Carli Nehls, Alexis Parker and Carissa Mysliwiec came off the bench.
Papa put those players in with 17 minutes left in the first half, then sat all but Marconi for the first 15 minutes of the second half.
“This is our fourth game of the week,” Papa said. “We decided before the game that we’re going to play all the girls and play them long minutes.
“But we weren’t going to throw the game away. The girls played hard.”
That was evident in the way the Trojans bent. but didn’t break in the face of Lemont’s superior play in the midfield. Once the starters came in, the field tilted slightly in the favor of Downers Grove North, which tied the game at 1-1 on Swanson’s 18-yard free kick at the 11:49 mark.
“A lot of the girls have had a lot of minutes in the past two weeks, so we were trying to see what we have on the bench because there hasn’t been a lot of opportunities to (do that),” Swanson said. “We brought some girls up from JV and freshman teams and see what they could bring, and they came out strong and were holding their own.”
The Trojans have a favorable path back to the Class 3A state semifinals but have struggled to score goals lately. Downers Grove North is on a three-game losing streak; the team lost only two in the regular season last year.
“I think a lot of it is mental right now,” said Swanson, who leads the team with 12 goals. “We know physically that we have the talent and everything.
“We also notice after these bigger games and the losses is we come out just as hard the next game, and you can’t coach that. That’s what we’re going to take (into postseason).
“We’re starting a new season for us, a clean-sheet.”
The Indians, meanwhile, just want to keep up their winning ways. Regardless of who was in the lineup for the Trojans, Lemont made sure to play with maximum effort.
“It got kind of hard because they had a rotation going,” Ruane said. “Their better players were coming in second after resting up, so that was kind of hard for us (who were) playing the full game, but we stuck through it.”
That is an attitude the Indians stick to.
“It’s all about respecting your opponent, so going at it hard is always one of our ideals,” Aleman said. “That’s what we do, especially with these nonconference games, which we always get a lot out of.”
The Indians, especially the seniors, have gotten a lot out of the regular season. Where this team ranks in a program that has won four state trophies is up to conjecture, but there's no doubt it’s a special group.
“For the eight seniors, it means everything to us,” Aleman said. “Most of us have played since our freshman year, and this is our family.
“It means everything to us to get this kind of record and set the tone for the next four years, especially the freshmen, who we want to keep in this program.”
The seniors credit Prangen and the rest of the coaching staff for their success.
“They push us really hard, and I owe it all to them for our success,” Aleman said. “They really drove the idea of family into our heads, because we all trust each other.”
Ruane concurred.
“I give it all to (the coaches),” Ruane said. “Seriously, they are the best coaches you could ask for.
“If you make one mistake, they’re like, ‘OK, pick your head up. It’s fine.’ They’re the best.”
The Indians will have more big home games -- they host both a regional and sectional. But given the competition and the performance of his seniors, Prangen had reasons to smile.
“It was a really good team win for us against a quality side,” he said. “It was a great way to end the regular season at home on a beautiful day. I couldn’t be happier.”
Starting lineups
Downers Grove North
GK Sandra Greco
D Julie Redpath
D Chloe Nowka
D Brooke Wojciechowski
D Julia Bower
M Julia Kramper
M Bryn Heuberger
M Julie Blaszkowska
F Alyssa Gunderson
F Victoria Finklea
F Abby Peterson
Lemont
GK Michelle Jerantowski
D Mairead Ruane
D Leti Salazar
D Sarah Knoepfle
D Lily Hinkle
M Danielle Irwin
M Isabel Silvar
M Jacqueline Aleman
F Victoria Silvar
F Niamh Hehir
F Katie Knutte
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Mairead Ruane, sr., D, Lemont
Scoring summary
First half
Lemont – Jacqueline Aleman (unassisted) 36:15
Downers North – Abby Swanson (unassisted) 11:49
Second half
Lemont – Sarah Knoepfle (Ruane) 36:59
Lemont – Ruane (PK) 31:55
Downers North – Swanson (PK) 13:21