Lemont completes undefeated league mark
Beyond 1-0 win vs. Eisenhower, Lemont seeks better finishing
By Dave Owen
LEMONT -- Lemont achieved one sense of perfection on Thursday.
But the hosts also exited the field after a 1-0 win over Eisenhower with an imperfect feeling of needing more.
In a battle of South Suburban Conference unbeatens, Lemont (16-4-1, 11-0-0) used a second half rebound goal from Erin Crispo to grind out a win over visiting Eisenhower (14-6-0, 10-1-0) in a game postponed from April 9.
The victory completed 2019 perfection both in league record and a key defensive category -- Lemont did not allow a goal in its 11 SSC games -- and outscored its foes 49-0. The shutout was also the squad’s 17th overall this spring.
But the latest clean-sheet was overshadowed in the team’s collective eyes by a day of offensive struggles.
“Right in the first eight minutes of the game, if you put the ball in the back of the net once or twice, the game’s over,” Lemont coach Rick Prangen said. “When you let good teams that are on the ropes settle in like they (Eisenhower) did, you have problems.
“Our ineptness in the final third was really starting to show and was frustrating. We had a lot of possession, but what did we do with it?”
The missed chances theme was foremost in the postgame thoughts of Lemont players as well.
“That’s been happening a lot this season,” sophomore forward Kailey Wasyliw said. “We need to work on the finishing third a lot more, and take more chances in the box.”
Said senior co-captain Michaela Egan: “It’s been like that in some of our past games too, where we’ve had all these opportunities. We’re there, but we struggle with getting it into the back of the net. It’s just something we have to keep working on.”
Fortunately for Lemont, an extra-effort play by Egan, Wasyliw and Crispo put a winning spin on any overall frustration.
Tied 0-0 despite many first half near misses, Lemont turned a seemingly harmless midfield win into gold with 25:09 left to play.
Egan nicely intercepted a pass just inside midfield and fed Wasyliw bursting in on the right side.
Wasyliw just beat charging Eisenhower goalkeeper Jocelyn Estrada to the ball at the edge of the box and rolled an 18-yard shot towards the open net.
And while an Eisenhower defender raced back to make a sliding clear off the goal line and deny Wasyliw a goal, a hustling Crispo (11 goals this season) was there for the point-blank putaway inside the right post.
“I saw the ball and made the interception,” Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match Egan said, “and Kailey was making the right run.
“I was kind of nervous. I honestly thought it could have been offsides. It was definitely a close call. And it was obviously good that Erin was able to be there to follow the shot. That’s what we’re always counting on.”
Said Wasyliw: “I saw her (Egan) cross the ball, and I just kept on going for it. And eventually Erin was there to finish it off for me. I thought the work rate from Erin was really good. She made it happen.”
As for the rest of the day, other chances were denied by a combination of quality defensive play, a muddy, rain-soaked grass field or tough luck and miscues.
Lemont’s first big chance came in the sixth minute. Victoria Silvar’s cross set up Crispo in the crease, but her point-blank shot was repelled by an Estrada kick save. Maddy Counsil’s 12-yard rebound try then went just over the crossbar.
The Indians also had four corner kicks by Silvar in the first 19 minutes. Those set pieces produced three quality chances.
Estrada made a juggling catch on Silvar’s send at the near post in the 15th minute, Adriana Patino’s low 15-yard drive off a corner was grabbed by Estrada in the 19th minute, and on the best chance of all 12 minutes in, the corner send went just over both Estrada and a Lemont player at the back post.
That play and other unfulfilled threats from the run of play built a mountain of frustration for Lemont.
“We have an open goal on a corner kick, and our girl doesn’t get a head on it,” Prangen said.
“And we get to the final third, and we get predictable -- down the flank the whole time. We don’t look to play inside. If we’re going to do anything in the playoffs we’re going to have to get better in the final third. That’s what we’ve been saying the last half of the season.
“It’s not about effort,” Prangen added. “The girls put a great effort in. It’s just sometimes our decision process is suspect.”
A huge factor in Lemont’s finishing woes of late has been the absence of senior forward Katie Knutte.
“Katie got stitches against TF (Thornton Fractional United on May 3), and hopefully she’s back next week,” Prangen said. “We miss her dearly. That’s a forward that puts in a good work rate and has good technical ability and a bit of pace about her.
“We missed her against Argo (a 1-0 win Tuesday), and we missed her against Oak Forest. Hopefully we can get her back, get all cylinders going and go from there.”
Whether Lemont puts up big scoring numbers or one goal, the defense has been sure-footed.
And that wasn’t easy Thursday against explosive Eisenhower.
“They’re dangerous because of number 8 (Anese English) up-top,” Prangen said. “She just needs one chance. She broke us one time in the first half and to be honest should have had a goal. She broke us completely on that.”
That play came with 20:25 left in the first half. Off a pass from Nyah Bejarano, English burst past Lemont goalkeeper Grace Kucharski towards the left post.
But with defender Anna Borzecki back to deny English a look at an open net, Kucharski nicely recovered to grab English’s eventual cross to the crease.
“When you get a team with a girl (English) who has pace like that,” Prangen said, “and number 12 (Bejarano) who looks for her all the time, they counterattack you all day long.
“Credit them (Eisenhower). Their center back (Ailyn Gallardo) played a really good game and gave them great cover. And 8 (English) I think is the best forward in our conference. She’s a special player.”
Crispo provides similar firepower for Lemont, and followed English’s scoring bid with her own chance in the 23rd minute.
Off a Wasyliw send, Crispo tipped the ball past a defender and then won the loose ball from Estrada at the edge of the box. But the Eisenhower goalkeeper recovered to make the angle save on Crispo’s 18-yard shot, keeping the score 0-0 heading into halftime.
“We were trying to play more defensive, knowing that they’re very good,” Eisenhower coach Iran Rodriguez said of Lemont’s early blitz. “They had a little bit more possession in the first half, but I felt the second half was probably more even.
“We had more chances but couldn’t put one in the net. But I’m proud of my girls. This was their sixth game in eight days so they’re tired for sure. But we don’t make excuses.
“It was a great game between two great teams,” Rodriguez added. “It was nice that both teams went undefeated (in conference) going into this game.”
Recent rains produced a not-so-nice factor in the matchup -- a soggy field.
“It was definitely a little bit tricky,” Egan said. “It was very heavy, and in some spots there are actual puddles so we would either fall, or the ball would just completely stop.”
Said Prangen: “It was a heavy pitch, a hard pitch to play on. It’s not conducive to 1-v.-1 or dribbling.”
That didn’t prevent some nice dueling individual efforts by both sides in the second half, starting with a Crispo bid with 35:15 left.
After her cross from the left side was blocked, Crispo recovered the loose ball near the left post only to have her six-yard shot denied by a sliding Estrada kick save.
Then 10 minutes into the half, Crispo’s 18-yard shot off an Egan pass sailed wide right.
Eisenhower’s English was next. With 29:20 to play, her nice rush to the end line and cross was cleared from the crease by Lemont senior defender Sofia Villarreal.
“We definitely had help defense today,” Villarreal said. “That was our main goal in practice, to help contain 8 (English) and help whoever was on her, which was (Lemont defender) Trinity (Hatton). We just helped back a lot.”
Prangen also noted Hatton’s performance as a defensive highlight, but also noted some flaws in Lemont’s latest shutout performance.
“I thought Trinity Hatton did a better job in the second half on 8 (English),” he said. “That’s a sophomore playing against one of the better forwards in the area. But I wasn’t happy with our 1-v.-1 defending at all. We overcommitted too much, we never kept our feet. So that’s something we have to work to get better at.”
Crispo’s go-ahead goal took some pressure off that defense and sparked another uptick in Lemont chances.
With 20:40 left, a Crispo cross just missed a header connection at the back post and Egan eventually lined an 18-yard shot just wide of frame.
But Patino’s straight-on, 25-yard, high shot contained by Estrada with 14:25 to play would be Lemont’s last shot on goal, as Eisenhower made one last push.
Gallardo twice broke up Lemont corner kicks, intercepting short passes left of the box. And at the offensive end, Gallardo’s left side attack with 6:20 to play set up a Bejarano 25-yard shot that was saved by Kucharski.
With 5:15 left, Hatton nicely won a 50-50 ball from English 30 yards out. Two minutes later, an Eisenhower send to the box was denied by clears from Borzecki and Villarreal.
Then in the final 65 seconds, a series of defensive plays sealed Lemont’s shutout win.
Kucharski repelled the biggest threat, making a low save at the right post on Bejarano’s 15-yard shot with 1:05 to go. Patino and Maggie Knutte then both won balls just inside midfield, and Villarreal’s sideline block 45 yards out and send upfield washed away the final seconds of the match.
“There was really very little difference,” Rodriguez said. “Two great teams battling, we had opportunities and they did too. We just had the one unlucky one (the Crispo goal) towards the end.”
While the 1-0 score added to Lemont’s tension level, the win sends the defending Class AA third place state finishers into the 2019 postseason on a good note.
“It was definitely a little bit nerve-wracking,” Egan said. “This game is similar to our last game (Tuesday at Argo). We just need to keep working. We have small obstacles, and we let them weigh on us more than they should.”
But in a program with a big recent history (five state semifinal trips since 2009), Lemont has cleared all hurdles to keep the winning tradition going.
“We are very young and very new (this year),” Egan said. “A lot of people have had to step up and play their part, and we’ve done a good job of doing that.
“We click, but it’s still a work in progress. We have our good days and we have our bad days.”
Lemont’s defense has allowed just nine goals all season and one in the last 12 games. But the Indians are still striving to improve at both ends of the field.
“We definitely need to take chances more and finish in the box,” Villarreal said. “And from the defensive end, we need to do more headers, get on the ball and have good clearances.”
For Villarreal, Lemont’s home finale was a time to both look ahead to the postseason and savor great memories of being part of a very successful program.
“It’s awesome,” she said, “just having a group of friends like this and playing together all the time.
“And just knowing this is going to be my last year playing with these girls means a lot. We have to play every game like it’s our last game.”
Starting lineups
Eisenhower
GK: Jocelyn Estrada
D: Ailyn Gallardo
D: Emily Mundo
D: Yulissa Lozano
D: Jazmine Granadas
M: Leah Cavazos
M: Stephanie Mendoza
M: Veronica Zaragoza
M: Isabella Alatorre
F: Anese English
F: Nyah Bejarano
Lemont
GK: Grace Kucharski
D: Sofia Villarreal
D: Anna Borzecki
D: Trinity Hatton
D: Danielle Irwin
M: Maddy Counsil
M: Michaela Egan
M: Adriana Patino
F: Erin Crispo
F: Kailey Wasyliw
F: Victoria Silvar
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Michaela Egan, sr. MF, Lemont
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
L – Erin Crispo (rebound), 54:51
Beyond 1-0 win vs. Eisenhower, Lemont seeks better finishing
By Dave Owen
LEMONT -- Lemont achieved one sense of perfection on Thursday.
But the hosts also exited the field after a 1-0 win over Eisenhower with an imperfect feeling of needing more.
In a battle of South Suburban Conference unbeatens, Lemont (16-4-1, 11-0-0) used a second half rebound goal from Erin Crispo to grind out a win over visiting Eisenhower (14-6-0, 10-1-0) in a game postponed from April 9.
The victory completed 2019 perfection both in league record and a key defensive category -- Lemont did not allow a goal in its 11 SSC games -- and outscored its foes 49-0. The shutout was also the squad’s 17th overall this spring.
But the latest clean-sheet was overshadowed in the team’s collective eyes by a day of offensive struggles.
“Right in the first eight minutes of the game, if you put the ball in the back of the net once or twice, the game’s over,” Lemont coach Rick Prangen said. “When you let good teams that are on the ropes settle in like they (Eisenhower) did, you have problems.
“Our ineptness in the final third was really starting to show and was frustrating. We had a lot of possession, but what did we do with it?”
The missed chances theme was foremost in the postgame thoughts of Lemont players as well.
“That’s been happening a lot this season,” sophomore forward Kailey Wasyliw said. “We need to work on the finishing third a lot more, and take more chances in the box.”
Said senior co-captain Michaela Egan: “It’s been like that in some of our past games too, where we’ve had all these opportunities. We’re there, but we struggle with getting it into the back of the net. It’s just something we have to keep working on.”
Fortunately for Lemont, an extra-effort play by Egan, Wasyliw and Crispo put a winning spin on any overall frustration.
Tied 0-0 despite many first half near misses, Lemont turned a seemingly harmless midfield win into gold with 25:09 left to play.
Egan nicely intercepted a pass just inside midfield and fed Wasyliw bursting in on the right side.
Wasyliw just beat charging Eisenhower goalkeeper Jocelyn Estrada to the ball at the edge of the box and rolled an 18-yard shot towards the open net.
And while an Eisenhower defender raced back to make a sliding clear off the goal line and deny Wasyliw a goal, a hustling Crispo (11 goals this season) was there for the point-blank putaway inside the right post.
“I saw the ball and made the interception,” Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match Egan said, “and Kailey was making the right run.
“I was kind of nervous. I honestly thought it could have been offsides. It was definitely a close call. And it was obviously good that Erin was able to be there to follow the shot. That’s what we’re always counting on.”
Said Wasyliw: “I saw her (Egan) cross the ball, and I just kept on going for it. And eventually Erin was there to finish it off for me. I thought the work rate from Erin was really good. She made it happen.”
As for the rest of the day, other chances were denied by a combination of quality defensive play, a muddy, rain-soaked grass field or tough luck and miscues.
Lemont’s first big chance came in the sixth minute. Victoria Silvar’s cross set up Crispo in the crease, but her point-blank shot was repelled by an Estrada kick save. Maddy Counsil’s 12-yard rebound try then went just over the crossbar.
The Indians also had four corner kicks by Silvar in the first 19 minutes. Those set pieces produced three quality chances.
Estrada made a juggling catch on Silvar’s send at the near post in the 15th minute, Adriana Patino’s low 15-yard drive off a corner was grabbed by Estrada in the 19th minute, and on the best chance of all 12 minutes in, the corner send went just over both Estrada and a Lemont player at the back post.
That play and other unfulfilled threats from the run of play built a mountain of frustration for Lemont.
“We have an open goal on a corner kick, and our girl doesn’t get a head on it,” Prangen said.
“And we get to the final third, and we get predictable -- down the flank the whole time. We don’t look to play inside. If we’re going to do anything in the playoffs we’re going to have to get better in the final third. That’s what we’ve been saying the last half of the season.
“It’s not about effort,” Prangen added. “The girls put a great effort in. It’s just sometimes our decision process is suspect.”
A huge factor in Lemont’s finishing woes of late has been the absence of senior forward Katie Knutte.
“Katie got stitches against TF (Thornton Fractional United on May 3), and hopefully she’s back next week,” Prangen said. “We miss her dearly. That’s a forward that puts in a good work rate and has good technical ability and a bit of pace about her.
“We missed her against Argo (a 1-0 win Tuesday), and we missed her against Oak Forest. Hopefully we can get her back, get all cylinders going and go from there.”
Whether Lemont puts up big scoring numbers or one goal, the defense has been sure-footed.
And that wasn’t easy Thursday against explosive Eisenhower.
“They’re dangerous because of number 8 (Anese English) up-top,” Prangen said. “She just needs one chance. She broke us one time in the first half and to be honest should have had a goal. She broke us completely on that.”
That play came with 20:25 left in the first half. Off a pass from Nyah Bejarano, English burst past Lemont goalkeeper Grace Kucharski towards the left post.
But with defender Anna Borzecki back to deny English a look at an open net, Kucharski nicely recovered to grab English’s eventual cross to the crease.
“When you get a team with a girl (English) who has pace like that,” Prangen said, “and number 12 (Bejarano) who looks for her all the time, they counterattack you all day long.
“Credit them (Eisenhower). Their center back (Ailyn Gallardo) played a really good game and gave them great cover. And 8 (English) I think is the best forward in our conference. She’s a special player.”
Crispo provides similar firepower for Lemont, and followed English’s scoring bid with her own chance in the 23rd minute.
Off a Wasyliw send, Crispo tipped the ball past a defender and then won the loose ball from Estrada at the edge of the box. But the Eisenhower goalkeeper recovered to make the angle save on Crispo’s 18-yard shot, keeping the score 0-0 heading into halftime.
“We were trying to play more defensive, knowing that they’re very good,” Eisenhower coach Iran Rodriguez said of Lemont’s early blitz. “They had a little bit more possession in the first half, but I felt the second half was probably more even.
“We had more chances but couldn’t put one in the net. But I’m proud of my girls. This was their sixth game in eight days so they’re tired for sure. But we don’t make excuses.
“It was a great game between two great teams,” Rodriguez added. “It was nice that both teams went undefeated (in conference) going into this game.”
Recent rains produced a not-so-nice factor in the matchup -- a soggy field.
“It was definitely a little bit tricky,” Egan said. “It was very heavy, and in some spots there are actual puddles so we would either fall, or the ball would just completely stop.”
Said Prangen: “It was a heavy pitch, a hard pitch to play on. It’s not conducive to 1-v.-1 or dribbling.”
That didn’t prevent some nice dueling individual efforts by both sides in the second half, starting with a Crispo bid with 35:15 left.
After her cross from the left side was blocked, Crispo recovered the loose ball near the left post only to have her six-yard shot denied by a sliding Estrada kick save.
Then 10 minutes into the half, Crispo’s 18-yard shot off an Egan pass sailed wide right.
Eisenhower’s English was next. With 29:20 to play, her nice rush to the end line and cross was cleared from the crease by Lemont senior defender Sofia Villarreal.
“We definitely had help defense today,” Villarreal said. “That was our main goal in practice, to help contain 8 (English) and help whoever was on her, which was (Lemont defender) Trinity (Hatton). We just helped back a lot.”
Prangen also noted Hatton’s performance as a defensive highlight, but also noted some flaws in Lemont’s latest shutout performance.
“I thought Trinity Hatton did a better job in the second half on 8 (English),” he said. “That’s a sophomore playing against one of the better forwards in the area. But I wasn’t happy with our 1-v.-1 defending at all. We overcommitted too much, we never kept our feet. So that’s something we have to work to get better at.”
Crispo’s go-ahead goal took some pressure off that defense and sparked another uptick in Lemont chances.
With 20:40 left, a Crispo cross just missed a header connection at the back post and Egan eventually lined an 18-yard shot just wide of frame.
But Patino’s straight-on, 25-yard, high shot contained by Estrada with 14:25 to play would be Lemont’s last shot on goal, as Eisenhower made one last push.
Gallardo twice broke up Lemont corner kicks, intercepting short passes left of the box. And at the offensive end, Gallardo’s left side attack with 6:20 to play set up a Bejarano 25-yard shot that was saved by Kucharski.
With 5:15 left, Hatton nicely won a 50-50 ball from English 30 yards out. Two minutes later, an Eisenhower send to the box was denied by clears from Borzecki and Villarreal.
Then in the final 65 seconds, a series of defensive plays sealed Lemont’s shutout win.
Kucharski repelled the biggest threat, making a low save at the right post on Bejarano’s 15-yard shot with 1:05 to go. Patino and Maggie Knutte then both won balls just inside midfield, and Villarreal’s sideline block 45 yards out and send upfield washed away the final seconds of the match.
“There was really very little difference,” Rodriguez said. “Two great teams battling, we had opportunities and they did too. We just had the one unlucky one (the Crispo goal) towards the end.”
While the 1-0 score added to Lemont’s tension level, the win sends the defending Class AA third place state finishers into the 2019 postseason on a good note.
“It was definitely a little bit nerve-wracking,” Egan said. “This game is similar to our last game (Tuesday at Argo). We just need to keep working. We have small obstacles, and we let them weigh on us more than they should.”
But in a program with a big recent history (five state semifinal trips since 2009), Lemont has cleared all hurdles to keep the winning tradition going.
“We are very young and very new (this year),” Egan said. “A lot of people have had to step up and play their part, and we’ve done a good job of doing that.
“We click, but it’s still a work in progress. We have our good days and we have our bad days.”
Lemont’s defense has allowed just nine goals all season and one in the last 12 games. But the Indians are still striving to improve at both ends of the field.
“We definitely need to take chances more and finish in the box,” Villarreal said. “And from the defensive end, we need to do more headers, get on the ball and have good clearances.”
For Villarreal, Lemont’s home finale was a time to both look ahead to the postseason and savor great memories of being part of a very successful program.
“It’s awesome,” she said, “just having a group of friends like this and playing together all the time.
“And just knowing this is going to be my last year playing with these girls means a lot. We have to play every game like it’s our last game.”
Starting lineups
Eisenhower
GK: Jocelyn Estrada
D: Ailyn Gallardo
D: Emily Mundo
D: Yulissa Lozano
D: Jazmine Granadas
M: Leah Cavazos
M: Stephanie Mendoza
M: Veronica Zaragoza
M: Isabella Alatorre
F: Anese English
F: Nyah Bejarano
Lemont
GK: Grace Kucharski
D: Sofia Villarreal
D: Anna Borzecki
D: Trinity Hatton
D: Danielle Irwin
M: Maddy Counsil
M: Michaela Egan
M: Adriana Patino
F: Erin Crispo
F: Kailey Wasyliw
F: Victoria Silvar
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Michaela Egan, sr. MF, Lemont
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
L – Erin Crispo (rebound), 54:51