IC Catholic Prep runs into LWC buzzsaw
Lady Knights can't overcome 1st half Gossage hat-trick
By Mike Garofola
BURBANK -- Lincoln-Way Central took one step closer to the Windy City Ram Classic final next weekend after a well-played 3-0 victory over IC Catholic Prep on Saturday at the Reavis High School soccer complex.
The Knights maintained their perfect start to the new season and gained a spot in Tuesday's semifinals thanks in large part to Nicolette Gossage, who was clearly the top player on the pitch on this frigid morning. She scored three first half goals and earned Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match honors for her efforts.
"We got off to such a slow, dreadful start. But when we finally came around and started to play, it was Nicolette who really got us going, and we never really let up much afterwards to get the win and advance," said Lincoln-Way Central manager Dan Radz, who last year led his club to the Windy City consolation championship. That road started after IC Catholic Prep knocked the Knights out of the winners' bracket in the opening round.
IC Catholic Prep put up a good fight despite a numbers issue.
"We were missing a couple of starters, ACT Testing (Rachel Simonides and Kelly Murray), and a couple of others who were out sick to make our bench a little shorter - but Lincoln-Way was better than us today," said first-year manager Antonio Godinez. "So we'll learn from today and get ourselves ready for next week's games."
The Lady Knights (2-1-0) will take to the road to play Providence on Tuesday in Romeoville on Tuesday in the fifth place bracket semifinals. They then host Class AA power Wheaton Academy to open Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division play Wednesday at the Plunkett Athletic Complex in Elmhurst.
The opening 10 minutes on this dreary, cold and damp morning were not aesthetically pleasing, but IC Catholic Prep had the best of the early going with most of the 50-50 wins and sharp and decisive tackles. The Lady Knights were led by junior Grace Fuller, who began the match playing in the center of the park.
"I thought we came out strong and fought hard until we gave up that first goal," said Fuller. "After that our play dropped off for the rest of the first half."
Fuller was a box-to-box warrior for her club. She outworked her rival at the position during the 70-minute match. She did her best to inspire the Lady Knights attack, which at times struggled, but at other times looked in midseason form thanks to sophomore Abi Wagner.
"I agree with what Grace had to say about the way we played," began Wagner, who ranked second on the Lady Knights fourth place Class A state team a year ago with 26 goals.
"We hung our heads a little after giving up that first goal (maybe) losing our confidence a little bit also, but we played hard until the very end and had a couple of good chances in that second half."
Lincoln-Way Central's attack finally responded to the pace and creativity from its top player Gossage. The junior nearly caught up to a well-paced cross flashed into the box from Leah Willner moments after Maddie Melde missed on her chance on a first ball whipped in by Willner.
After this dangerous sequence from Lincoln-Way Central, IC Catholic Prep responded with some attacking fervor of its own with Bella Leslie, Olivia Hurt and Wagner at the heart of it. But the trio was unable to get anything of quality on frame during the stretch.
Fuller's tackle on Melde stopped a potential 1-v.-1 with the Lady Knights first half keeper Rochelle Spizzini, but the senior had little chance when Gossage was allowed enough time and space to unload a wicked low drive from 14 yards.
The 21st-minute opener was quickly followed by a second. Gossage magnificently roared past two IC defenders before turning at full speed towards goal and finishing with a sublime touch.
"When we get the ball onto the foot of Nicolette, good things are going to happen for both her and our team," said Radz. "So when we were finally able to connect with her in space, you saw what a terrific talent she is."
IC Catholic Prep, to its credit, collected itself after conceding the two goals and put a half chance on frame from Hurt, which was followed by an enterprising run up the right side from Wagner that resulted in the first of three corners before the intermission.
Nice combination play from Wagner and Jalene Pina ended with Leslie forcing a save from Lincoln-Way Central keeper. Peyton Vecchiet. Then Gossage was at it again, making it 3-0 just before the break after collecting a helper from Melde.
IC Catholic Prep could not recover.
"I really think we came in a little overconfident after we beat them (1-0) a year ago, but we found out after one half of play this game would be a lot different," said Fuller.
"We looked a little fatigued in the first half especially -- three games during the week in the cold, plus a shorter bench," added Godinez. "(But) I liked the way we came out and fought hard in the second half.
Second half keeper Gabby Smola kept her club from falling further behind with some smart play. She came off her line fearlessly three times to take balls off the shooting boots of Gossage and Melde, in addition to saving well-struck attempts from Maddie Jenig and Gossage.
An IC Catholic Prep corner initiated from Wagner and Leslie ended with a Sophie Hurt blast into a crowd from close range that was parried out of the box by the Lincoln-Way Central defense 10 minutes into the second period.
Leslie and Wagner continued their strong second half work with Wagner having a go at Vecchiet. Then came the same from Fuller, who went over the bar after Leslie and Olivia Hurt put their teammate through.
Six minutes from time, Olivia Hurt outworked the Central backline to get her club one final corner and a chance to spoil the shutout bid by Vecchiet, but Cassandra Serrano's shot was blocked on the way in.
"Our first two wins in this tournament were against big school teams, Joilet Central and Marist, which is great for a 1A team like us," began Fuller.
"We're still sorting our team out because of all the new players we have this year, but we'll get better as the season goes on."
Added Wagner: "The thing I really like about this team is how close we are. Granted, we're a small school, but (we're) really a family, which is great because that's what will make this team so great."
Starting lineups
IC Catholic Prep (4-4-2)
GK- Rochelle Spizzini
D- Cassandra Serrano
D- Annie Guinan
D- Sophie Hurt
D- Suzy Maloney
M- Abi Wagner
M- Grace Fuller
M- Sophie Zanoni
M- Bella Leslie
F- Olivia Hurt
F- Grace Grady
Lincoln-Way Central (4-4-2)
GK- Peyton Vecchiet
D- Megan Andjelic
D- Dana Boucher
D- Lauren Limpin
D- Megan Lucchetti
M- Grace McLaughlin
M- Maddie Jenig
M- Shannon Klemm
M- Katie Farr
F- Nicolette Gossage
F- Maddie Melde
Scoring Summary
Lincoln-Way Central)
Gossage (Lucchetti) 21'
Gossage (Klemm) 23'
Gossage (Melde) 35'
Player-of-the-Match: Nicolette Gossage, jr., F, Lincoln-Way Central
Referee: Darko Miocich
Yellow cards: None
Lady Knights can't overcome 1st half Gossage hat-trick
By Mike Garofola
BURBANK -- Lincoln-Way Central took one step closer to the Windy City Ram Classic final next weekend after a well-played 3-0 victory over IC Catholic Prep on Saturday at the Reavis High School soccer complex.
The Knights maintained their perfect start to the new season and gained a spot in Tuesday's semifinals thanks in large part to Nicolette Gossage, who was clearly the top player on the pitch on this frigid morning. She scored three first half goals and earned Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match honors for her efforts.
"We got off to such a slow, dreadful start. But when we finally came around and started to play, it was Nicolette who really got us going, and we never really let up much afterwards to get the win and advance," said Lincoln-Way Central manager Dan Radz, who last year led his club to the Windy City consolation championship. That road started after IC Catholic Prep knocked the Knights out of the winners' bracket in the opening round.
IC Catholic Prep put up a good fight despite a numbers issue.
"We were missing a couple of starters, ACT Testing (Rachel Simonides and Kelly Murray), and a couple of others who were out sick to make our bench a little shorter - but Lincoln-Way was better than us today," said first-year manager Antonio Godinez. "So we'll learn from today and get ourselves ready for next week's games."
The Lady Knights (2-1-0) will take to the road to play Providence on Tuesday in Romeoville on Tuesday in the fifth place bracket semifinals. They then host Class AA power Wheaton Academy to open Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division play Wednesday at the Plunkett Athletic Complex in Elmhurst.
The opening 10 minutes on this dreary, cold and damp morning were not aesthetically pleasing, but IC Catholic Prep had the best of the early going with most of the 50-50 wins and sharp and decisive tackles. The Lady Knights were led by junior Grace Fuller, who began the match playing in the center of the park.
"I thought we came out strong and fought hard until we gave up that first goal," said Fuller. "After that our play dropped off for the rest of the first half."
Fuller was a box-to-box warrior for her club. She outworked her rival at the position during the 70-minute match. She did her best to inspire the Lady Knights attack, which at times struggled, but at other times looked in midseason form thanks to sophomore Abi Wagner.
"I agree with what Grace had to say about the way we played," began Wagner, who ranked second on the Lady Knights fourth place Class A state team a year ago with 26 goals.
"We hung our heads a little after giving up that first goal (maybe) losing our confidence a little bit also, but we played hard until the very end and had a couple of good chances in that second half."
Lincoln-Way Central's attack finally responded to the pace and creativity from its top player Gossage. The junior nearly caught up to a well-paced cross flashed into the box from Leah Willner moments after Maddie Melde missed on her chance on a first ball whipped in by Willner.
After this dangerous sequence from Lincoln-Way Central, IC Catholic Prep responded with some attacking fervor of its own with Bella Leslie, Olivia Hurt and Wagner at the heart of it. But the trio was unable to get anything of quality on frame during the stretch.
Fuller's tackle on Melde stopped a potential 1-v.-1 with the Lady Knights first half keeper Rochelle Spizzini, but the senior had little chance when Gossage was allowed enough time and space to unload a wicked low drive from 14 yards.
The 21st-minute opener was quickly followed by a second. Gossage magnificently roared past two IC defenders before turning at full speed towards goal and finishing with a sublime touch.
"When we get the ball onto the foot of Nicolette, good things are going to happen for both her and our team," said Radz. "So when we were finally able to connect with her in space, you saw what a terrific talent she is."
IC Catholic Prep, to its credit, collected itself after conceding the two goals and put a half chance on frame from Hurt, which was followed by an enterprising run up the right side from Wagner that resulted in the first of three corners before the intermission.
Nice combination play from Wagner and Jalene Pina ended with Leslie forcing a save from Lincoln-Way Central keeper. Peyton Vecchiet. Then Gossage was at it again, making it 3-0 just before the break after collecting a helper from Melde.
IC Catholic Prep could not recover.
"I really think we came in a little overconfident after we beat them (1-0) a year ago, but we found out after one half of play this game would be a lot different," said Fuller.
"We looked a little fatigued in the first half especially -- three games during the week in the cold, plus a shorter bench," added Godinez. "(But) I liked the way we came out and fought hard in the second half.
Second half keeper Gabby Smola kept her club from falling further behind with some smart play. She came off her line fearlessly three times to take balls off the shooting boots of Gossage and Melde, in addition to saving well-struck attempts from Maddie Jenig and Gossage.
An IC Catholic Prep corner initiated from Wagner and Leslie ended with a Sophie Hurt blast into a crowd from close range that was parried out of the box by the Lincoln-Way Central defense 10 minutes into the second period.
Leslie and Wagner continued their strong second half work with Wagner having a go at Vecchiet. Then came the same from Fuller, who went over the bar after Leslie and Olivia Hurt put their teammate through.
Six minutes from time, Olivia Hurt outworked the Central backline to get her club one final corner and a chance to spoil the shutout bid by Vecchiet, but Cassandra Serrano's shot was blocked on the way in.
"Our first two wins in this tournament were against big school teams, Joilet Central and Marist, which is great for a 1A team like us," began Fuller.
"We're still sorting our team out because of all the new players we have this year, but we'll get better as the season goes on."
Added Wagner: "The thing I really like about this team is how close we are. Granted, we're a small school, but (we're) really a family, which is great because that's what will make this team so great."
Starting lineups
IC Catholic Prep (4-4-2)
GK- Rochelle Spizzini
D- Cassandra Serrano
D- Annie Guinan
D- Sophie Hurt
D- Suzy Maloney
M- Abi Wagner
M- Grace Fuller
M- Sophie Zanoni
M- Bella Leslie
F- Olivia Hurt
F- Grace Grady
Lincoln-Way Central (4-4-2)
GK- Peyton Vecchiet
D- Megan Andjelic
D- Dana Boucher
D- Lauren Limpin
D- Megan Lucchetti
M- Grace McLaughlin
M- Maddie Jenig
M- Shannon Klemm
M- Katie Farr
F- Nicolette Gossage
F- Maddie Melde
Scoring Summary
Lincoln-Way Central)
Gossage (Lucchetti) 21'
Gossage (Klemm) 23'
Gossage (Melde) 35'
Player-of-the-Match: Nicolette Gossage, jr., F, Lincoln-Way Central
Referee: Darko Miocich
Yellow cards: None