Sharp effort not enough for Glenbard East
Rams come up empty, fall in PKs to top-seed Crystal Lake C.
By Mike Garofola
CRYSTAL LAKE -- Soccer results are not always fair or make any sense when the shrill of the referee's whistle brings a game to a close.
Penalty kick shootouts to decide a winner only add to the equation of fair versus confusion even to the most knowledgeable players, coaches and fans.
Crystal Lake Central (6-1-1), the no. 1 seed in the Navy Group of the PepsiCo Showdown, won a dramatic penalty shootout 3-2 to defeat eighth-seeded Glenbard East in a quarterfinal contest Tuesday afternoon. The win advanced the Tigers into a Thursday semifinals at fifth-seed Lockport.
"Some say that to decide a hard-fought game like this one in PKs isn't the right way to do so, (but) everyone in this sport understands how things work," said philosophical Glenbard East manager Kent Overbey before boarding the bus for a long ride home. "And if you're on the losing side of one of these, (it's) like (well) that's soccer
"We had a lot of the play all throughout regulation (and) clearly had the best chances to put a couple in the back of the net. That's not to take anything away from Central, who defended well in the back and got some great play from their keeper when they needed it.
"In the end, you have to finish your chances in order to win games like this one. But we have so many positive things to take from this game. As always, that will be our focus going forward."
The Rams (7-2-1) were the much better team in the first half and for stretches after the intermission as well. But after 80 minutes of action could not settle things, tournament rules sent it straight to a shootout to see who stayed in the main draw.
"We knew coming in that Crystal Lake was the no. 1 seed, and that they played tough, physical defense," said Alyse Donato, the Rams outside back who earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors over teammates Amy Chiero and Lindsey Novak, both of whom were deserving after turning in marvelous work of their own. "I thought we did really well with our attack (moving) the ball around and creating some chances, but it always doesn't end the way you think it will."
Chiero concurred.
"We worked hard afternoon on both sides of the ball, and were able to get some great chances to score. Their keeper played well," she said. "So did Faith (Davies), who made an amazing save at the end of the game and in the shootout as well."
Both keepers were superb during the first round of kicks to keep the hopes alive for both clubs. But in the end, it was a well-aimed and paced attempt from Stephanie Hayes that sent the Tigers through.
Davies stopped the first of five spot-kicks from Crystal Lake Central after helping send this contest into PKs with a brilliant goal-saving stop in the 79th minute.
What made Davies' save so remarkable was the fact that after she came off her line to cut the angle on Hayes and with her momentum heading one way, she was somehow able to reach back to her right while going airborne to send Hayes' attempt around the post.
"That's Faith," Overbey said proudly. "We've come to expect that type of effort from her, and she came through when called upon."
Her counterpart, Nora Ryan drew high praise from her manager Sarah Fack, who figured without her terrific performance the game would have gone the other way for the Tigers.
"Nora is just a freshman, and not a very vocal one as of yet, but you saw how strong she is (in) the air, and how she commands the box. She saves us several times today on what looked like potential-scoring opportunities for Glenbard East."
The Rams went close on several occasions all throughout this match - with Mimi Camacho, Maddie Welton, Chiero, Novak and Elizabeth Toledo all testing Ryan in the opening half.
The best of the bunch came just before the half hour when Toledo and Ali Liljestrand carved out a chance for Camacho that ended when the Crystal Lake Central keeper stopped a point-blank blast from the senior.
Despite putting the home side on its back foot for the better part of the first half, the Rams would find Central's backline group of Kaitlyn Goorsky, Abbey Kramer, Elise Olson, Caroline Dayon and Maddie Anderson a rugged bunch to break down, despite Crystal Lake Central conceding the number of chances it did throughout.
"That's the best (they) have played together as a unit this season," Fack said.
The quintet was not hesitant to get into the tackle, or to challenge on 50-50 balls, as were their mates in the middle, Hayes and Ellie Montford, who used their height and strength to their advantage whenever the Rams ventured into the Tigers end.
"They were big and strong in the midfield, but when we moved the ball around quickly, we were able to control the play," said Chiero.
The Rams were also able to attack up the flanks, thanks in part to some wonderful work by Donato, who not only won nearly every ball that came her way, but was able to provide quality service to her mates up-top on several occasions when she made enterprising runs forward to join the Rams attack.
"Alyse did a lot of great stuff for our attack today to give us extra numbers going forward, or send a nice ball out of the back," said Overbey.
Glenbard East came flying out of the blocks following the intermission, and was threatening early on, tormenting the Tigers with every touch that came from
Camacho, Chiero, Donato, Novak and freshman Maddie Weltin.
A couple of questionable calls against the visitors dashed the hopes of a couple of terrific opportunities midway through the second period, but Overbey's club reacted well to their tough luck to quickly go in search of that all important opening goal.
A combination of Liljestrand, Donato and then Camacho on the tail-end of her mazy run dragged Ryan far off her line. From there the alert Camacho whipped the ball to an open back post, only to see not a single soul from her club in the vicinity.
That chance at 65 minutes was the best of many on frame by the Rams during this half. On the defensive side, Glenbard East watched Crystal Lake Central's talented forward Madison Rokos push an attempt wide two minutes later as the teams' game-closing energy fuelled a wild back-and-forth ride the last 10 minutes or regulation.
When neither found a goal, penalty kicks ensued.
Once there, both clubs either missed or saw their spot-kicks turned aside in the first two rounds, before Glenbard East's Welton and Crystal Lake Central's Emma Bolanowski broke through.
All even at 1-1, Ryan stopped Chiero with a sharp save and opened the door for Erica Novy, who made it 2-1 after Davies just missed her low drive.
In the last round, Sam Johnson drew the Rams back level at 2-2, setting up heroics from Hayes, who went the opposite way Davies guessed.
"It was a great game, and one that we can learn a lot from," said Donato. "It was a very good experience for all of us to be a part of."
Chiero concluded: "We played hard, and our effort was really good. And that's what all of us will take with us into our next game."
That will be a consolation pool affair at 5 p.m. Thursday in Lombard against Saint Viator.
Starting lineups
Glenbard East (4-3-3)
GK- Faith Davies
D- Aylse Donato
D- Mattie Pusateri
D- Katie Hansen
D- Sam Johnson
M- Amy Chiero
M- Elizabeth Toledo
M- Ali Liljestrand
F- Lindsey Novak
F- Mimi Camacho
F- Maddie Weltin
Crystal Lake Central (4-4-2)
GK- Nora Ryan
D- Kaitlyn Goorsky
D- Abbey Kramer
D- Elise Olson
D- Caroline Dayon
M- Erica Novy
M- Ellie Montford
M- Stephanie Hayes
M- Alexandra Scarfe
MF- Madie Rokos
F- Emma Bolanowski
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Alyse Donato, sr., D, Glenbard East
Referee: Neil Kraegel
Yellow cards
Crystal Lake Central: Kaitlyn Goorsky (unsporting) 68'
Scoring
Regulation: none
PK shootout order
Glenbard East
Hansen, Novak, Weltin, Chiero, Johnson
Crystal Lake Central
Rokos, Montford, Bolanowski, Novy, Hayes
Rams come up empty, fall in PKs to top-seed Crystal Lake C.
By Mike Garofola
CRYSTAL LAKE -- Soccer results are not always fair or make any sense when the shrill of the referee's whistle brings a game to a close.
Penalty kick shootouts to decide a winner only add to the equation of fair versus confusion even to the most knowledgeable players, coaches and fans.
Crystal Lake Central (6-1-1), the no. 1 seed in the Navy Group of the PepsiCo Showdown, won a dramatic penalty shootout 3-2 to defeat eighth-seeded Glenbard East in a quarterfinal contest Tuesday afternoon. The win advanced the Tigers into a Thursday semifinals at fifth-seed Lockport.
"Some say that to decide a hard-fought game like this one in PKs isn't the right way to do so, (but) everyone in this sport understands how things work," said philosophical Glenbard East manager Kent Overbey before boarding the bus for a long ride home. "And if you're on the losing side of one of these, (it's) like (well) that's soccer
"We had a lot of the play all throughout regulation (and) clearly had the best chances to put a couple in the back of the net. That's not to take anything away from Central, who defended well in the back and got some great play from their keeper when they needed it.
"In the end, you have to finish your chances in order to win games like this one. But we have so many positive things to take from this game. As always, that will be our focus going forward."
The Rams (7-2-1) were the much better team in the first half and for stretches after the intermission as well. But after 80 minutes of action could not settle things, tournament rules sent it straight to a shootout to see who stayed in the main draw.
"We knew coming in that Crystal Lake was the no. 1 seed, and that they played tough, physical defense," said Alyse Donato, the Rams outside back who earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors over teammates Amy Chiero and Lindsey Novak, both of whom were deserving after turning in marvelous work of their own. "I thought we did really well with our attack (moving) the ball around and creating some chances, but it always doesn't end the way you think it will."
Chiero concurred.
"We worked hard afternoon on both sides of the ball, and were able to get some great chances to score. Their keeper played well," she said. "So did Faith (Davies), who made an amazing save at the end of the game and in the shootout as well."
Both keepers were superb during the first round of kicks to keep the hopes alive for both clubs. But in the end, it was a well-aimed and paced attempt from Stephanie Hayes that sent the Tigers through.
Davies stopped the first of five spot-kicks from Crystal Lake Central after helping send this contest into PKs with a brilliant goal-saving stop in the 79th minute.
What made Davies' save so remarkable was the fact that after she came off her line to cut the angle on Hayes and with her momentum heading one way, she was somehow able to reach back to her right while going airborne to send Hayes' attempt around the post.
"That's Faith," Overbey said proudly. "We've come to expect that type of effort from her, and she came through when called upon."
Her counterpart, Nora Ryan drew high praise from her manager Sarah Fack, who figured without her terrific performance the game would have gone the other way for the Tigers.
"Nora is just a freshman, and not a very vocal one as of yet, but you saw how strong she is (in) the air, and how she commands the box. She saves us several times today on what looked like potential-scoring opportunities for Glenbard East."
The Rams went close on several occasions all throughout this match - with Mimi Camacho, Maddie Welton, Chiero, Novak and Elizabeth Toledo all testing Ryan in the opening half.
The best of the bunch came just before the half hour when Toledo and Ali Liljestrand carved out a chance for Camacho that ended when the Crystal Lake Central keeper stopped a point-blank blast from the senior.
Despite putting the home side on its back foot for the better part of the first half, the Rams would find Central's backline group of Kaitlyn Goorsky, Abbey Kramer, Elise Olson, Caroline Dayon and Maddie Anderson a rugged bunch to break down, despite Crystal Lake Central conceding the number of chances it did throughout.
"That's the best (they) have played together as a unit this season," Fack said.
The quintet was not hesitant to get into the tackle, or to challenge on 50-50 balls, as were their mates in the middle, Hayes and Ellie Montford, who used their height and strength to their advantage whenever the Rams ventured into the Tigers end.
"They were big and strong in the midfield, but when we moved the ball around quickly, we were able to control the play," said Chiero.
The Rams were also able to attack up the flanks, thanks in part to some wonderful work by Donato, who not only won nearly every ball that came her way, but was able to provide quality service to her mates up-top on several occasions when she made enterprising runs forward to join the Rams attack.
"Alyse did a lot of great stuff for our attack today to give us extra numbers going forward, or send a nice ball out of the back," said Overbey.
Glenbard East came flying out of the blocks following the intermission, and was threatening early on, tormenting the Tigers with every touch that came from
Camacho, Chiero, Donato, Novak and freshman Maddie Weltin.
A couple of questionable calls against the visitors dashed the hopes of a couple of terrific opportunities midway through the second period, but Overbey's club reacted well to their tough luck to quickly go in search of that all important opening goal.
A combination of Liljestrand, Donato and then Camacho on the tail-end of her mazy run dragged Ryan far off her line. From there the alert Camacho whipped the ball to an open back post, only to see not a single soul from her club in the vicinity.
That chance at 65 minutes was the best of many on frame by the Rams during this half. On the defensive side, Glenbard East watched Crystal Lake Central's talented forward Madison Rokos push an attempt wide two minutes later as the teams' game-closing energy fuelled a wild back-and-forth ride the last 10 minutes or regulation.
When neither found a goal, penalty kicks ensued.
Once there, both clubs either missed or saw their spot-kicks turned aside in the first two rounds, before Glenbard East's Welton and Crystal Lake Central's Emma Bolanowski broke through.
All even at 1-1, Ryan stopped Chiero with a sharp save and opened the door for Erica Novy, who made it 2-1 after Davies just missed her low drive.
In the last round, Sam Johnson drew the Rams back level at 2-2, setting up heroics from Hayes, who went the opposite way Davies guessed.
"It was a great game, and one that we can learn a lot from," said Donato. "It was a very good experience for all of us to be a part of."
Chiero concluded: "We played hard, and our effort was really good. And that's what all of us will take with us into our next game."
That will be a consolation pool affair at 5 p.m. Thursday in Lombard against Saint Viator.
Starting lineups
Glenbard East (4-3-3)
GK- Faith Davies
D- Aylse Donato
D- Mattie Pusateri
D- Katie Hansen
D- Sam Johnson
M- Amy Chiero
M- Elizabeth Toledo
M- Ali Liljestrand
F- Lindsey Novak
F- Mimi Camacho
F- Maddie Weltin
Crystal Lake Central (4-4-2)
GK- Nora Ryan
D- Kaitlyn Goorsky
D- Abbey Kramer
D- Elise Olson
D- Caroline Dayon
M- Erica Novy
M- Ellie Montford
M- Stephanie Hayes
M- Alexandra Scarfe
MF- Madie Rokos
F- Emma Bolanowski
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Alyse Donato, sr., D, Glenbard East
Referee: Neil Kraegel
Yellow cards
Crystal Lake Central: Kaitlyn Goorsky (unsporting) 68'
Scoring
Regulation: none
PK shootout order
Glenbard East
Hansen, Novak, Weltin, Chiero, Johnson
Crystal Lake Central
Rokos, Montford, Bolanowski, Novy, Hayes