Sena stays hot, Hersey blanks Lake Park
Junior's goal and 2 assists lead Huskies’ over host Lancers
By Patrick Z. McGavin
ROSELLE -- The schedule is standardized for all programs with specific start times, but the reality is no team has exactly the same beginning. The cold weather wiped out much of the early season training and most programs barely had the opportunity to get outside and practice.
Against Lake Park on Wednesday night, Hersey had the advantage of playing an eye-opening 3-2 victory Monday over no. 12 Carmel, which reached a Class 3A supersectional last year.
Junior forward Chloe Sena was the catalyst of the opening season victory with two goals against the Corsairs.
By contrast, the host Lancers were playing their season-opener. Those two days meant a great deal.
“You can say what you want about how experienced some of these girls are, but you still have first-game jitters every season,” Hersey coach Mike Rusniak said.
“There are different pieces in the lineup that were not there last year, and we are still getting used to that. Absolutely, the game on Monday definitely helped.”
Sena stayed hot by scoring a goal and creating two scores with her gorgeous passing and playmaking, and sparked the Huskies’ impressive 3-0 victory at the stadium at Lake Park’s West campus.
Sena has already accumulated three goals and two assists in the Huskies’ first two games. She showed tremendous poise and awareness, and attacking off the dribble found open seams in the Lancers’ back.
“I think it has been awesome just playing with all the girls, and having the almost family-like connection or bond we are getting with each other,” Sena said.
“I think that comes into effect when we are playing, making a mistake or not making a mistake; there is so much support out there on the field. It is what drives the team to success.”
Hersey (2-0-0) was rewarded with its early and aggressive play. The Huskies also had the advantage of playing with the wind in the first half. That extra burst seemed to inject a further propulsive kick to their attack.
In the second minute, Sena broke through for sharp foray toward the Lancers’ goal.
Lake Park standout keeper Sarah Yochem made an alert stop on the initial ball, but Hersey midfielder Maddy Kim timed her run up perfectly and smashed home the rebound ball.
“I saw that Chloe was taking a shot on goal, and I was just there for the rebound when it did not quite go in,” Kim said. “I think our team chemistry is really good this year, and we all just build each other up. All the goals have made it even better.”
Kim is emblematic of the Huskies’ mix of experienced and emerging players. A sophomore, she gained invaluable experience playing on the varsity last year and learned to adapt to the accelerated tempo and rhythm of varsity play.
“I definitely got used to the speed of playing during my freshman year,” she said. “Now that I am a sophomore, I am just getting better.”
Lake Park (0-1-0) was dazed though hardly knocked out. If anything, the early goal was a shock to the system.
“It was tough to handle,” Lake Park coach Sean Crosby said. “We were out of position at the beginning. We started with three in the back, and we have not seen Hersey play before. Sarah made a good save, but we did not track the runner.
“You have to be upset, because in our formation, we broke down a little but we did everything to keep the ball out of the net. Honestly I am not sure it affected us that much. It is almost as though we just said, that is out of the way, the nerves are gone, and for the rest of the first half, we possessed the ball, and we tried to move it. That was nice to see.”
The Lancers are marked by youth. In Crosby’s fourth year, the team is pointing toward higher objectives and a more optimistic outcome.
Lilli Giron and her twin sister Sophie demonstrated excellent playmaking instincts and the ability to build from the back. Sophomore midfielder Cecilia Defino also generated some sharp passing.
“I think that we fought hard the whole match,” Lilli Giron said. “We have not been able to practice much on a full field yet, and we have a lot of new players on the team. I think we have a lot to work on and a lot to improve on, but this is a really good start, even though the result was not what we wanted.”
As Crosby pointed out, Lake Park capably possessed the ball, though the bulk of its time with the ball played out in its own end.
Hersey methodically worked to break down the Lancers’ back in pushing numbers into the final scoring third. In the 28th minute, Sena broke the game open with some nifty footwork and an excellent rocket shot from about 15 yards that she buried inside the far post for the 2-0 halftime lead.
Sophomore midfielder Olivia Mrowicki slotted her the ball in space, and she did the rest.
“It is obviously nice scoring early, because it boosts the confidence of the whole team. It is a very good feeling, and it helped us at a different level of soccer,” Sena said.
“I love seeing that soccer go with all the passing, and it was under-pressure passing as well.”
For her accomplishments, Sena earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor.
The centerpiece of the Huskies’ attack is star midfielder Laura Burckhardt, a four-year starter. Sena and the other midfielders like Kim and Genna Hill are the beneficiaries of the attention she commands.
She makes everybody around her better with her speed, agility and ability to break down defenses. It frees up space for everybody else.
“When you get a phenomenal player like that, you are very lucky,” Rusniak said. “She is not only a great player on the field but off. Her field vision, and the fact she is often three or four steps ahead of everybody else out there gives us an edge.”
In the 55th minute, Burckhardt and Sena collaborated to put the game out of reach. Sena punched Burckhardt a ball on the left wing, and she drilled a howitzer ball that rocketed past Yochem.
Rusniak, who is also the boys’ coach, is in his first year of head coaching at the school. He has been in the program for 10 years and he previously assisted Brad Abel and Darren Llewellyn.
“I have been very fortunate,” Rusniak said. “We have a lot of positive energy. The girls are definitely motivated to improve on what they have done in the past. They really are full-speed ahead. They are not looking behind them and not looking at what happened a year or two years ago.
“The seniors also have something to prove. Some of them have been on the varsity for four years, and they want to go out on an exclamation point.”
Lake Park showed signs. Yochem made six saves, including a superb denial of another rocket ball from Burckhardt in the 70th minute. The Lancers showed greater patience and ability to generate scoring opportunities in the second half.
“I really like the play of [sophomore defender] Emma Thorne,” Crosby said. “She is a standout for us. I really like that Sarah keeps us in games against good opponents. I love that. Our possession in the first half was great, but we were not able to get the ball forward. In the second half, getting the ball forward or getting some goal scoring chances, I was very pleased to see the girls fight the way they did.
“It was great to get this game under our belt and finally play a real match.”
Starting lineups
Hersey
GK: Emma Hager
D: McKenna Kopeny
D: Sydney Pape
D: Jane Stefaniak
D: Emily Song
MF: Maddy Kim
MF: Genna Hill
MF: Hannah Grawe
MF: Laura Burckhardt
F: Chloe Sena
F: Avery Larson
Lake Park
GK: Sarah Yochem
D: Francesca Ottolino
D: Emma Thorne
D: Sarah Novak
MF: Patty Lachowiez
MF: Cyndi Martinez
MF: AnnMarie Ahrens
MF: Sophie Giron
MF: Cecilia Defino
F: Selena Catalano
F: Lilli Giron
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Chloe Sena, Hersey, Jr., F
Scoring summary
First half
Hersey—Maddy Kim (Chloe Sena), 2nd minute
Hersey—Sena (Olivia Mrowicki), 28th minute
Second half
Hersey—Laura Burckhardt (Sena), 55th minute
Junior's goal and 2 assists lead Huskies’ over host Lancers
By Patrick Z. McGavin
ROSELLE -- The schedule is standardized for all programs with specific start times, but the reality is no team has exactly the same beginning. The cold weather wiped out much of the early season training and most programs barely had the opportunity to get outside and practice.
Against Lake Park on Wednesday night, Hersey had the advantage of playing an eye-opening 3-2 victory Monday over no. 12 Carmel, which reached a Class 3A supersectional last year.
Junior forward Chloe Sena was the catalyst of the opening season victory with two goals against the Corsairs.
By contrast, the host Lancers were playing their season-opener. Those two days meant a great deal.
“You can say what you want about how experienced some of these girls are, but you still have first-game jitters every season,” Hersey coach Mike Rusniak said.
“There are different pieces in the lineup that were not there last year, and we are still getting used to that. Absolutely, the game on Monday definitely helped.”
Sena stayed hot by scoring a goal and creating two scores with her gorgeous passing and playmaking, and sparked the Huskies’ impressive 3-0 victory at the stadium at Lake Park’s West campus.
Sena has already accumulated three goals and two assists in the Huskies’ first two games. She showed tremendous poise and awareness, and attacking off the dribble found open seams in the Lancers’ back.
“I think it has been awesome just playing with all the girls, and having the almost family-like connection or bond we are getting with each other,” Sena said.
“I think that comes into effect when we are playing, making a mistake or not making a mistake; there is so much support out there on the field. It is what drives the team to success.”
Hersey (2-0-0) was rewarded with its early and aggressive play. The Huskies also had the advantage of playing with the wind in the first half. That extra burst seemed to inject a further propulsive kick to their attack.
In the second minute, Sena broke through for sharp foray toward the Lancers’ goal.
Lake Park standout keeper Sarah Yochem made an alert stop on the initial ball, but Hersey midfielder Maddy Kim timed her run up perfectly and smashed home the rebound ball.
“I saw that Chloe was taking a shot on goal, and I was just there for the rebound when it did not quite go in,” Kim said. “I think our team chemistry is really good this year, and we all just build each other up. All the goals have made it even better.”
Kim is emblematic of the Huskies’ mix of experienced and emerging players. A sophomore, she gained invaluable experience playing on the varsity last year and learned to adapt to the accelerated tempo and rhythm of varsity play.
“I definitely got used to the speed of playing during my freshman year,” she said. “Now that I am a sophomore, I am just getting better.”
Lake Park (0-1-0) was dazed though hardly knocked out. If anything, the early goal was a shock to the system.
“It was tough to handle,” Lake Park coach Sean Crosby said. “We were out of position at the beginning. We started with three in the back, and we have not seen Hersey play before. Sarah made a good save, but we did not track the runner.
“You have to be upset, because in our formation, we broke down a little but we did everything to keep the ball out of the net. Honestly I am not sure it affected us that much. It is almost as though we just said, that is out of the way, the nerves are gone, and for the rest of the first half, we possessed the ball, and we tried to move it. That was nice to see.”
The Lancers are marked by youth. In Crosby’s fourth year, the team is pointing toward higher objectives and a more optimistic outcome.
Lilli Giron and her twin sister Sophie demonstrated excellent playmaking instincts and the ability to build from the back. Sophomore midfielder Cecilia Defino also generated some sharp passing.
“I think that we fought hard the whole match,” Lilli Giron said. “We have not been able to practice much on a full field yet, and we have a lot of new players on the team. I think we have a lot to work on and a lot to improve on, but this is a really good start, even though the result was not what we wanted.”
As Crosby pointed out, Lake Park capably possessed the ball, though the bulk of its time with the ball played out in its own end.
Hersey methodically worked to break down the Lancers’ back in pushing numbers into the final scoring third. In the 28th minute, Sena broke the game open with some nifty footwork and an excellent rocket shot from about 15 yards that she buried inside the far post for the 2-0 halftime lead.
Sophomore midfielder Olivia Mrowicki slotted her the ball in space, and she did the rest.
“It is obviously nice scoring early, because it boosts the confidence of the whole team. It is a very good feeling, and it helped us at a different level of soccer,” Sena said.
“I love seeing that soccer go with all the passing, and it was under-pressure passing as well.”
For her accomplishments, Sena earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor.
The centerpiece of the Huskies’ attack is star midfielder Laura Burckhardt, a four-year starter. Sena and the other midfielders like Kim and Genna Hill are the beneficiaries of the attention she commands.
She makes everybody around her better with her speed, agility and ability to break down defenses. It frees up space for everybody else.
“When you get a phenomenal player like that, you are very lucky,” Rusniak said. “She is not only a great player on the field but off. Her field vision, and the fact she is often three or four steps ahead of everybody else out there gives us an edge.”
In the 55th minute, Burckhardt and Sena collaborated to put the game out of reach. Sena punched Burckhardt a ball on the left wing, and she drilled a howitzer ball that rocketed past Yochem.
Rusniak, who is also the boys’ coach, is in his first year of head coaching at the school. He has been in the program for 10 years and he previously assisted Brad Abel and Darren Llewellyn.
“I have been very fortunate,” Rusniak said. “We have a lot of positive energy. The girls are definitely motivated to improve on what they have done in the past. They really are full-speed ahead. They are not looking behind them and not looking at what happened a year or two years ago.
“The seniors also have something to prove. Some of them have been on the varsity for four years, and they want to go out on an exclamation point.”
Lake Park showed signs. Yochem made six saves, including a superb denial of another rocket ball from Burckhardt in the 70th minute. The Lancers showed greater patience and ability to generate scoring opportunities in the second half.
“I really like the play of [sophomore defender] Emma Thorne,” Crosby said. “She is a standout for us. I really like that Sarah keeps us in games against good opponents. I love that. Our possession in the first half was great, but we were not able to get the ball forward. In the second half, getting the ball forward or getting some goal scoring chances, I was very pleased to see the girls fight the way they did.
“It was great to get this game under our belt and finally play a real match.”
Starting lineups
Hersey
GK: Emma Hager
D: McKenna Kopeny
D: Sydney Pape
D: Jane Stefaniak
D: Emily Song
MF: Maddy Kim
MF: Genna Hill
MF: Hannah Grawe
MF: Laura Burckhardt
F: Chloe Sena
F: Avery Larson
Lake Park
GK: Sarah Yochem
D: Francesca Ottolino
D: Emma Thorne
D: Sarah Novak
MF: Patty Lachowiez
MF: Cyndi Martinez
MF: AnnMarie Ahrens
MF: Sophie Giron
MF: Cecilia Defino
F: Selena Catalano
F: Lilli Giron
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Chloe Sena, Hersey, Jr., F
Scoring summary
First half
Hersey—Maddy Kim (Chloe Sena), 2nd minute
Hersey—Sena (Olivia Mrowicki), 28th minute
Second half
Hersey—Laura Burckhardt (Sena), 55th minute