Fenwick falls to LWW after momentum shift
Friars drop 1-0 decision in Windy City quarterfinals
By Steve Millar
SUMMIT – Fenwick’s defense smothered Lincoln-Way West in the first half of Saturday’s Windy City Ram Classic quarterfinal, and the Friars generated some early offense.
They were unable to break through for a goal, however, and the Warriors looked like a brand new team in the second half.
After building momentum through the first 30-plus minutes of the second half, Lincoln-Way West broke through late on a beautiful free kick from senior Sara Loichinger to top the Friars 1-0 at Argo High School.
“Obviously in the second half, they changed the way they were working on their front line, and it seemed like they completely flipped what they were trying to do,” said Fenwick senior defender Margaux Shearer. “We’re responsible to identify that as a team.
“I think that with communication and covering for each other, that’s something we’ll be able to pick up on as we go forward this season. It’s something we can learn from this game.”
Lincoln-Way West (3-0-0) earned a date with the tournament’s defending champion, Stagg (3-0-0), in a semifinal set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
A win would earn the Warriors a trip to SeatGeek Stadium (formerly Toyota Park) for the championship game of the 32-team event. West has never played in the final.
“We’ve never gotten there, so we’re so excited to have that chance,” Loichinger said. “It’s definitely our goal to get there and win this.”
Fenwick (2-1-0) outshot the Warriors 4-0 in the first half, putting two shots on goal.
“I think if we score a goal in that first half, it’s a little bit different,” Fenwick coach Robert Watson said. “We get a little bit of confidence, and maybe we can get the second.”
Watson praised the adjustments West made in the second half.
“There was obviously a big flip there in the second half, and they did some good things,” he said. “I don’t know if maybe we dropped a bit in terms of intensity or the sense of urgency, but it was certainly an even game with two even teams, and I really like the way we played overall.”
Loichinger, Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match, produced a game-winning goal in the final five minutes for the second-straight game. She converted a penalty kick with less than two minutes left in a 2-1 second round win over Plainfield South.
This time, it was a free kick in the 66th minute of the 70-minute game.
Loichinger took the opportunity from 20 yards and just to the right side of the box. She curled a beautiful ball toward the opposite corner, bending it inside the far post and just out of the reach of diving Fenwick goalkeeper Audrey Hinrichs.
“We love waiting until the last minute,” Loichinger joked. “We make it more fun for people to watch. We’ve won a lot of games like that in the past.
“It’s an awesome feeling scoring goals like that, but if it weren’t for my teammates drawing the fouls, it’d never happen for me.”
About seven minutes before her goal, Loichinger took a free kick from a similar spot on the opposite side of the field, but her shot was punched over the crossbar by a leaping Hinrichs.
Hinrichs, a freshman who entered the game early in the second half after Friars starting goalkeeper Mary Heneghan was injured in a collision, got the better of Loichinger on that occasion, but the senior adjusted.
“I hit that one too central, and she was able to tip it over,” Loichinger said. “I know if I can shoot for the corner, I’ll have a better chance of getting it in. We work on free kicks and PKs a lot in practice, so we’re always prepared for them in games.”
Loichinger’s goal was the culmination of a huge second half surge for the Warriors. After the quiet first half, West got a good chance just 40 seconds into the second half as Loichinger set up Abby Wasowicz, who fired just wide.
Wasowicz then ripped a shot from 20 yards off the post in the 50th minute.
“I thought we came out a little bit sluggish, lacked composure at the right time,” West coach Jeff Theiss said. “Our pace of play was slow. Fenwick is a balanced team. They’re big and strong, and they run hard. They were picking our passes off. We got a little bit rattled early, but we settled down at the end of the first half, and our senior leaders really got us going in the second half.
“What an awesome second half against an excellent, organized team, and what an amazing free kick that was from ‘Loich.’”
Lincoln-Way West junior Lia Krohe made three saves to record her first varsity shutout.
Her biggest stop came in the 37th minute. Fenwick’s Grace McGann took a corner kick and played a short ball to dangerous senior midfielder Anissa Nourse, who cut to the middle of the field and fired from 25 yards.
Krohe caught the shot, denying the Friars’ last bid at an equalizer.
“I played forward a lot of last year on the JV team,” Krohe said. “I helped out here and there at goalie.
“This is different. I like scoring and stuff, but they need me in goal, and I’ve stepped up and now I’m starting to like it a lot more.”
Seniors Sam Sarna and Kylee Brandau, and freshmen Meaghan Fitzpatrick and Elly Hermanson, had big efforts in the back to aid Krohe.
Fenwick generated a good amount of pressure in the first half but lacked punch in the offensive third.
Lily Reardon made a strong run down the right side on a counter in the third minute before sending a cross to Emi Kapusta, who fired wide.
The Friars produced another good look in the 17th minute when Alyssa Ruiz took a free kick from 28 yards and played a short ball to Nourse, whose shot sailed wide.
Nourse and Regan Hultquist also put bouncing shots on goal from outside the box, but Krohe made routine saves on both.
“We’ve struggled a bit to finish in these first three games,” Watson said. “We’ve hit some posts, faced some tough goalkeepers. I think if we keep going like this, it’ll all come together.
“We still have a lot of room to grow, so that’s a positive for us. There’s a lot of upside. This early in the year we don’t have a lot of our stuff installed, and we’re kind of a shell of what we will be in a couple months.”
Watson has been encouraged by his young players, including freshmen Hinrichs, Kate Henige and Emily Ortiz.
“I’m really excited about this whole group and how we’re really deep,” he said. “We have three freshmen, seven sophomores. Not only was it pretty clear they were going to make the team, but now they’re starting to fight for more minutes and starting spots.”
The Friars will play Homewood-Flossmoor in the fifth-place bracket semifinals on Tuesday. After that and a potential final game in the tournament Thursday, Fenwick will be off until an April 2 meeting with Mother McAuley.
“What we need to work on now is coming together as a team and getting fit,” Watson said. “We want to come out of that spring break in shape, healthy, and with our team chemistry at an all-time high.”
Shearer sees that all developing.
“We’re starting to come together,” she said. “We see each other in the hallways at school now, and we’re giving high fives. Stuff like that translates to the field.”
Starting lineups
Fenwick
GK: Mary Heneghan
D: Rosie Smith
D: Alyssa Ruiz
D: Erin Frumkin
D: Sheila Hogan
M: Lily Reardon
M: Emi Kapusta
M: Alessia Mollo
M: Regan Hultquist
M: Anissa Nourse
F: Hensley Akers
Lincoln-Way West
GK: Lia Krohe
D: Sam Sarna
D: Kylee Brandau
D: Meaghan Fitzpatrick
D: Elly Hermanson
M: Carissa Knezz
M: Sara Loichinger
M: Anna Kirk
M: Amanda Yaeger
F: Abby Wasowicz
F: Zoey Trout
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Sara Loichinger, sr. M, Lincoln-Way West
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Lincoln-Way West: Sara Loichinger (unassisted), 66th minute
Friars drop 1-0 decision in Windy City quarterfinals
By Steve Millar
SUMMIT – Fenwick’s defense smothered Lincoln-Way West in the first half of Saturday’s Windy City Ram Classic quarterfinal, and the Friars generated some early offense.
They were unable to break through for a goal, however, and the Warriors looked like a brand new team in the second half.
After building momentum through the first 30-plus minutes of the second half, Lincoln-Way West broke through late on a beautiful free kick from senior Sara Loichinger to top the Friars 1-0 at Argo High School.
“Obviously in the second half, they changed the way they were working on their front line, and it seemed like they completely flipped what they were trying to do,” said Fenwick senior defender Margaux Shearer. “We’re responsible to identify that as a team.
“I think that with communication and covering for each other, that’s something we’ll be able to pick up on as we go forward this season. It’s something we can learn from this game.”
Lincoln-Way West (3-0-0) earned a date with the tournament’s defending champion, Stagg (3-0-0), in a semifinal set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
A win would earn the Warriors a trip to SeatGeek Stadium (formerly Toyota Park) for the championship game of the 32-team event. West has never played in the final.
“We’ve never gotten there, so we’re so excited to have that chance,” Loichinger said. “It’s definitely our goal to get there and win this.”
Fenwick (2-1-0) outshot the Warriors 4-0 in the first half, putting two shots on goal.
“I think if we score a goal in that first half, it’s a little bit different,” Fenwick coach Robert Watson said. “We get a little bit of confidence, and maybe we can get the second.”
Watson praised the adjustments West made in the second half.
“There was obviously a big flip there in the second half, and they did some good things,” he said. “I don’t know if maybe we dropped a bit in terms of intensity or the sense of urgency, but it was certainly an even game with two even teams, and I really like the way we played overall.”
Loichinger, Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match, produced a game-winning goal in the final five minutes for the second-straight game. She converted a penalty kick with less than two minutes left in a 2-1 second round win over Plainfield South.
This time, it was a free kick in the 66th minute of the 70-minute game.
Loichinger took the opportunity from 20 yards and just to the right side of the box. She curled a beautiful ball toward the opposite corner, bending it inside the far post and just out of the reach of diving Fenwick goalkeeper Audrey Hinrichs.
“We love waiting until the last minute,” Loichinger joked. “We make it more fun for people to watch. We’ve won a lot of games like that in the past.
“It’s an awesome feeling scoring goals like that, but if it weren’t for my teammates drawing the fouls, it’d never happen for me.”
About seven minutes before her goal, Loichinger took a free kick from a similar spot on the opposite side of the field, but her shot was punched over the crossbar by a leaping Hinrichs.
Hinrichs, a freshman who entered the game early in the second half after Friars starting goalkeeper Mary Heneghan was injured in a collision, got the better of Loichinger on that occasion, but the senior adjusted.
“I hit that one too central, and she was able to tip it over,” Loichinger said. “I know if I can shoot for the corner, I’ll have a better chance of getting it in. We work on free kicks and PKs a lot in practice, so we’re always prepared for them in games.”
Loichinger’s goal was the culmination of a huge second half surge for the Warriors. After the quiet first half, West got a good chance just 40 seconds into the second half as Loichinger set up Abby Wasowicz, who fired just wide.
Wasowicz then ripped a shot from 20 yards off the post in the 50th minute.
“I thought we came out a little bit sluggish, lacked composure at the right time,” West coach Jeff Theiss said. “Our pace of play was slow. Fenwick is a balanced team. They’re big and strong, and they run hard. They were picking our passes off. We got a little bit rattled early, but we settled down at the end of the first half, and our senior leaders really got us going in the second half.
“What an awesome second half against an excellent, organized team, and what an amazing free kick that was from ‘Loich.’”
Lincoln-Way West junior Lia Krohe made three saves to record her first varsity shutout.
Her biggest stop came in the 37th minute. Fenwick’s Grace McGann took a corner kick and played a short ball to dangerous senior midfielder Anissa Nourse, who cut to the middle of the field and fired from 25 yards.
Krohe caught the shot, denying the Friars’ last bid at an equalizer.
“I played forward a lot of last year on the JV team,” Krohe said. “I helped out here and there at goalie.
“This is different. I like scoring and stuff, but they need me in goal, and I’ve stepped up and now I’m starting to like it a lot more.”
Seniors Sam Sarna and Kylee Brandau, and freshmen Meaghan Fitzpatrick and Elly Hermanson, had big efforts in the back to aid Krohe.
Fenwick generated a good amount of pressure in the first half but lacked punch in the offensive third.
Lily Reardon made a strong run down the right side on a counter in the third minute before sending a cross to Emi Kapusta, who fired wide.
The Friars produced another good look in the 17th minute when Alyssa Ruiz took a free kick from 28 yards and played a short ball to Nourse, whose shot sailed wide.
Nourse and Regan Hultquist also put bouncing shots on goal from outside the box, but Krohe made routine saves on both.
“We’ve struggled a bit to finish in these first three games,” Watson said. “We’ve hit some posts, faced some tough goalkeepers. I think if we keep going like this, it’ll all come together.
“We still have a lot of room to grow, so that’s a positive for us. There’s a lot of upside. This early in the year we don’t have a lot of our stuff installed, and we’re kind of a shell of what we will be in a couple months.”
Watson has been encouraged by his young players, including freshmen Hinrichs, Kate Henige and Emily Ortiz.
“I’m really excited about this whole group and how we’re really deep,” he said. “We have three freshmen, seven sophomores. Not only was it pretty clear they were going to make the team, but now they’re starting to fight for more minutes and starting spots.”
The Friars will play Homewood-Flossmoor in the fifth-place bracket semifinals on Tuesday. After that and a potential final game in the tournament Thursday, Fenwick will be off until an April 2 meeting with Mother McAuley.
“What we need to work on now is coming together as a team and getting fit,” Watson said. “We want to come out of that spring break in shape, healthy, and with our team chemistry at an all-time high.”
Shearer sees that all developing.
“We’re starting to come together,” she said. “We see each other in the hallways at school now, and we’re giving high fives. Stuff like that translates to the field.”
Starting lineups
Fenwick
GK: Mary Heneghan
D: Rosie Smith
D: Alyssa Ruiz
D: Erin Frumkin
D: Sheila Hogan
M: Lily Reardon
M: Emi Kapusta
M: Alessia Mollo
M: Regan Hultquist
M: Anissa Nourse
F: Hensley Akers
Lincoln-Way West
GK: Lia Krohe
D: Sam Sarna
D: Kylee Brandau
D: Meaghan Fitzpatrick
D: Elly Hermanson
M: Carissa Knezz
M: Sara Loichinger
M: Anna Kirk
M: Amanda Yaeger
F: Abby Wasowicz
F: Zoey Trout
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Sara Loichinger, sr. M, Lincoln-Way West
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Lincoln-Way West: Sara Loichinger (unassisted), 66th minute