Effort does not translate to goals
in Lake Park, Glenbard North meeting
DuKane foes each get a point out of night's work
By Bob Narang
ROSELLE -- Lake Park’s Emma Thorne barreled through defenders several times in Wednesday's game against Glenbard North.
She even leaped over Glenbard North’s goalie, Adrianna Ruffalo, in the first half. A standout basketball player and all-conference hoops performer, the 6-footer preferred not to take a passive approach on the Lancers' Senior Night.
Wearing a thick wrap around her right leg, Thorne cherished the opportunity to play in the field for the first time in two years. Although the battle of two teams with a combined one victory wasn’t a headline game in DuPage County, Thorne played with an intensity level equal to a state championship game.
The four-year varsity team member, who was regularly rostered as a defender but has played goalie this season, asked Lake Park coach Sean Crosby if she could get out of the goal Wednesday.
“This was my first game out on the field,” Thorne said, smiling while munching on a postgame donut. “It’s been a long time. I miss being aggressive. Being in the net, you can be aggressive, but being on the field again and using my body again was really fun.
“The stamina was not there, also maybe not the control. I just tried to give it my all.”
Maybe that’s was the best analogy to Wednesday’s 0-0 tie between Lake Park (1-9-4, 1-9-2) and Glenbard North (0-15-1, 0-11-1). The two DuKane Conference teams gave maximum effort, endured some mental and physical lapses, and left the field with a sense of accomplishment and disappointment.
The Lake Park defeated the Panthers 1-0 on May 1 for their lone win of the season. Crosby admitted missing out on three points a second time was frustrating.
“It was hard for us to get into the flow of the game,” Crosby said. “We had several players in new positions, like Emma Thorne. She’s been on one leg all year because of her basketball season.
“She’s one of our best field players, so we took her out of goal to see if we could push a bit more. It gave us a lot more chances to create scoring chances and helped protect us in the middle and protect counterattacks.
“We were just missing that final play inside the box. The second half we got a lot of them, just a play off, a run-off but just missed that final touch. It was tough.
“I know the girls felt they left three points, but the work rate and energy they had was something we were happy with. We felt we should’ve won this one, though. We have to play with more patience and be extremely aggressive in the box.”
Glenbard North, which has scored two goals this season, gained a dose of confidence in earning its first point of the season. The Panthers had two goals wiped off because of offsides calls.
They never fully took advantage of Lake Park senior Emma Mangialardi playing her first career game in the net. She finished with two saves for the Lancers after being pulled up from the junior varsity for the game.
“We were happy to get out of here with a point,” Glenbard North coach Spero Mandakas said. “It could’ve been a little different with our attack, but getting out of here with a point that we haven’t had all season definitely is a positive step heading into the last week.
“We played Wheaton North on Monday, which is a top 25 team and generated five or six chances and got shots on goal. Today, we got away from that.
“We dominated the first 10 minutes of both halves, but the other 30 we were sitting back. We just need to play more of a complete half as an attacking unit and be able to switch out of the phases from defensive to attacking.”
Glenbard North’s Ruffalo claimed her first career varsity shutout. She finished with four second half saves following an uneventful opening 40 minutes.
Ruffalo’s athleticism, leadership and communication skills were on display against the Lancers. She endured a harrowing two-plus minute period late in the second half, when the Lancers put her under duress. Ruffalo tallied three of her saves during that period, and grabbed a cheer when she grabbed a crowd-pleasing flip throw-in from Lake Park’s Lauren Nelson that went directly to her in the 59th minute.
“We started off the season rough, but we’ve done a lot better throughout the season,” Ruffalo said. “I trust my defenders. I just wanted to get that shutout, to get that point on the board. I can be very hard on myself. … This made me confident that I got the shutout. It feels good.”
Mandakas said Ruffalo’s play in the net can go overlooked because of some of the Panthers results. He said it was nice to see his young goalie smiling after Wednesday’s game.
“(Adrianna) has been great all season,” he said. “When you look at our scores, that doesn’t show all the work that she’s put in. … She’s under so much pressure each game. It was good to finally get that first shutout.”
Lake Park senior AnnMarie Ahrens, a four-year varsity player, set up her teammates with several chances to score with her stellar corner kicks and free kicks throughout the game. Ahrens, who plans to play at College of DuPage next season, admitted it was tough not pulling out the win on Senior Night.
“This was a hard one and really hurts,” Ahrens said. “Our conference is very tough, so coming out and playing the powerhouse teams like St. Charles East and North and Wheaton North and others, you are a very defensive team.
“When we play a team like Glenbard North, a team that’s even matched with us, you get so many opportunities. It’s weird for us in a way, a big change. The opportunities were there. The corner and free kicks were there, but we just couldn’t capitalize on them.”
Lake Park junior forward Anna Odisho almost ended the scoreless drought with two shots on goal within a 21-second span late in the second half.
“We had a lot of good crosses and corner kicks from AnnMarie and they were on point, but we just couldn’t score,” Odisho said.
After savoring her experience running in the field, Thorne said she plans to return to her goalie spot for the rest of the season -- and maybe earn a shutout of her own. Thorne's been playing all season with a tear in a quad muscle.
"I'm really proud of all of the players, and really happy to get one more season with all of them after growing up with them for so long," she said. "We're really excited to have a chance to continue to play hard. We have to keep up this intensity and score more goals, but this shutout was big for us."
Starting lineups
Glenbard North
GK: Adriana Ruffalo
D: Alexis Stone
D: Anna Pedrazza
D: Natelli Herrera
M: Karma Heard
M: Emily Guy
M: Olivia Corona
M: Fatima Perez Granados
F: Payton Crawford
F: Stephanie DeLaTorre
F: Reese Harle
Lake Park
GK: Emma Mangialardi
D: Melyssa Hernandez
D: Francesca Cali
D: Lauren Malone
D: Gianna Kubica
M: Alexis Morgan
M: Patty Lachowiez
M: Cecilia Defino
M: Emma Thorne
M: AnnMarie Ahrens
F: Katie Schwegler
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Adriana Ruffalo, so., GK, Glenbard North
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring
in Lake Park, Glenbard North meeting
DuKane foes each get a point out of night's work
By Bob Narang
ROSELLE -- Lake Park’s Emma Thorne barreled through defenders several times in Wednesday's game against Glenbard North.
She even leaped over Glenbard North’s goalie, Adrianna Ruffalo, in the first half. A standout basketball player and all-conference hoops performer, the 6-footer preferred not to take a passive approach on the Lancers' Senior Night.
Wearing a thick wrap around her right leg, Thorne cherished the opportunity to play in the field for the first time in two years. Although the battle of two teams with a combined one victory wasn’t a headline game in DuPage County, Thorne played with an intensity level equal to a state championship game.
The four-year varsity team member, who was regularly rostered as a defender but has played goalie this season, asked Lake Park coach Sean Crosby if she could get out of the goal Wednesday.
“This was my first game out on the field,” Thorne said, smiling while munching on a postgame donut. “It’s been a long time. I miss being aggressive. Being in the net, you can be aggressive, but being on the field again and using my body again was really fun.
“The stamina was not there, also maybe not the control. I just tried to give it my all.”
Maybe that’s was the best analogy to Wednesday’s 0-0 tie between Lake Park (1-9-4, 1-9-2) and Glenbard North (0-15-1, 0-11-1). The two DuKane Conference teams gave maximum effort, endured some mental and physical lapses, and left the field with a sense of accomplishment and disappointment.
The Lake Park defeated the Panthers 1-0 on May 1 for their lone win of the season. Crosby admitted missing out on three points a second time was frustrating.
“It was hard for us to get into the flow of the game,” Crosby said. “We had several players in new positions, like Emma Thorne. She’s been on one leg all year because of her basketball season.
“She’s one of our best field players, so we took her out of goal to see if we could push a bit more. It gave us a lot more chances to create scoring chances and helped protect us in the middle and protect counterattacks.
“We were just missing that final play inside the box. The second half we got a lot of them, just a play off, a run-off but just missed that final touch. It was tough.
“I know the girls felt they left three points, but the work rate and energy they had was something we were happy with. We felt we should’ve won this one, though. We have to play with more patience and be extremely aggressive in the box.”
Glenbard North, which has scored two goals this season, gained a dose of confidence in earning its first point of the season. The Panthers had two goals wiped off because of offsides calls.
They never fully took advantage of Lake Park senior Emma Mangialardi playing her first career game in the net. She finished with two saves for the Lancers after being pulled up from the junior varsity for the game.
“We were happy to get out of here with a point,” Glenbard North coach Spero Mandakas said. “It could’ve been a little different with our attack, but getting out of here with a point that we haven’t had all season definitely is a positive step heading into the last week.
“We played Wheaton North on Monday, which is a top 25 team and generated five or six chances and got shots on goal. Today, we got away from that.
“We dominated the first 10 minutes of both halves, but the other 30 we were sitting back. We just need to play more of a complete half as an attacking unit and be able to switch out of the phases from defensive to attacking.”
Glenbard North’s Ruffalo claimed her first career varsity shutout. She finished with four second half saves following an uneventful opening 40 minutes.
Ruffalo’s athleticism, leadership and communication skills were on display against the Lancers. She endured a harrowing two-plus minute period late in the second half, when the Lancers put her under duress. Ruffalo tallied three of her saves during that period, and grabbed a cheer when she grabbed a crowd-pleasing flip throw-in from Lake Park’s Lauren Nelson that went directly to her in the 59th minute.
“We started off the season rough, but we’ve done a lot better throughout the season,” Ruffalo said. “I trust my defenders. I just wanted to get that shutout, to get that point on the board. I can be very hard on myself. … This made me confident that I got the shutout. It feels good.”
Mandakas said Ruffalo’s play in the net can go overlooked because of some of the Panthers results. He said it was nice to see his young goalie smiling after Wednesday’s game.
“(Adrianna) has been great all season,” he said. “When you look at our scores, that doesn’t show all the work that she’s put in. … She’s under so much pressure each game. It was good to finally get that first shutout.”
Lake Park senior AnnMarie Ahrens, a four-year varsity player, set up her teammates with several chances to score with her stellar corner kicks and free kicks throughout the game. Ahrens, who plans to play at College of DuPage next season, admitted it was tough not pulling out the win on Senior Night.
“This was a hard one and really hurts,” Ahrens said. “Our conference is very tough, so coming out and playing the powerhouse teams like St. Charles East and North and Wheaton North and others, you are a very defensive team.
“When we play a team like Glenbard North, a team that’s even matched with us, you get so many opportunities. It’s weird for us in a way, a big change. The opportunities were there. The corner and free kicks were there, but we just couldn’t capitalize on them.”
Lake Park junior forward Anna Odisho almost ended the scoreless drought with two shots on goal within a 21-second span late in the second half.
“We had a lot of good crosses and corner kicks from AnnMarie and they were on point, but we just couldn’t score,” Odisho said.
After savoring her experience running in the field, Thorne said she plans to return to her goalie spot for the rest of the season -- and maybe earn a shutout of her own. Thorne's been playing all season with a tear in a quad muscle.
"I'm really proud of all of the players, and really happy to get one more season with all of them after growing up with them for so long," she said. "We're really excited to have a chance to continue to play hard. We have to keep up this intensity and score more goals, but this shutout was big for us."
Starting lineups
Glenbard North
GK: Adriana Ruffalo
D: Alexis Stone
D: Anna Pedrazza
D: Natelli Herrera
M: Karma Heard
M: Emily Guy
M: Olivia Corona
M: Fatima Perez Granados
F: Payton Crawford
F: Stephanie DeLaTorre
F: Reese Harle
Lake Park
GK: Emma Mangialardi
D: Melyssa Hernandez
D: Francesca Cali
D: Lauren Malone
D: Gianna Kubica
M: Alexis Morgan
M: Patty Lachowiez
M: Cecilia Defino
M: Emma Thorne
M: AnnMarie Ahrens
F: Katie Schwegler
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Adriana Ruffalo, so., GK, Glenbard North
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring