Lemont win begins to even-up history
Corner kick goals deliver 3-1 win over ND (Peoria), state berth
By Josh Wessler
PEORIA – The odds were in Lemont’s favor Tuesday night, even though the evens hadn't been, at the Class AA Notre Dame (Peoria) Supersectional.
Despite facing a defense that had gone a dozen matches without surrendering a goal, and in defiance of a decade’s worth of trouble reaching the state finals in even-numbered years, the Indians beat the streak and broke the curse with a 3-1 victory over the host Irish.
“Props to our girls,” said Lemont coach Rick Prangen, who guided the Indians to state berths in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017. “This is a really hard place to come in and play.
“We just traveled two and a half hours to come play down here, and for them to come here and break our odd-year streak and finally get to the state finals back-to-back is a special thing for our seniors.
“It’s a really special moment. Any time you beat a quality team like Notre Dame, who’s got a rich history, it’s a great thing.”
State qualifiers for the sixth time in ten seasons, the Indians move on to face St. Francis at 11 a.m. Friday in the first of two state semifinals at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium at North Central College in Naperville.
Rather than gut it up the middle of the Notre Dame defense, the Indians instead went with a flanking approach. The result was corner kick opportunities that the visitors were more than willing to accept.
In fact, all three of Lemont’s goals came via the corner kick. The first, from Katie Knutte just 1:57 into the match, stunned a Notre Dame defense that last gave up a goal on April 24.
“They’ve got two really good center backs,” Prangen said. “(Autumn Weeks) is a hell of a defender and (Bridget Taylor) is a good forward up-top. Looking at it, we figured if we could try to stop (Taylor) and get the ball wide on them and not play into the middle too much we’d be okay.”
Notre Dame had an idea of what to expect from its foe.
“We knew they were pretty good on set pieces,” Irish coach Ben Ralph said. “We tried to body ‘em, but they got a head on it and redirected, and Leah was caught off-guard with the deflection.”
Both sides seemed to be caught off-guard by the early goal, though the Irish were the first side to raise the level of play.
“I actually think we scored it a little too soon,” Prangen said of Knutte’s goal. “All of the adrenaline went out of us, and after we scored it was thirty minutes of them just pressing us, and they got a goal because of it. I think we lost our legs a little bit. We regrouped at halftime, and the girls responded.”
The Irish evened the score 10 minutes later on a goal by freshman Tegan Timerman, but second half goals by Sarah Knoepfle (42nd minute) and Erin Crispo (74th) secured the Indians’ spot in the finals.
“We definitely wanted it more,” said Knoepfle, who put herself on the end of a Mairead Ruane corner kick for the eventual game-winning goal 1:33 into the second half. “We fought every day, because we knew there was a curse. We worked extra hard to break the curse. ”
Trailing for the first time in 35 days following Knutte’s opener, the Irish battled back to equalize in the 13th minute and nearly took the lead a few times before the half, only to be denied by the crossbar, Lemont keeper Michelle Jerantowski or hard luck.
“We hit the crossbar. We had a couple right in front of goal that we hit over or hit wide,” said Ralph, whose team finished the season with a 22-4-0 record.
“We had chances, they had chances. It was a good back-and-forth game.”
Michelle Jerantowski made nine saves in goal for Lemont.
While trailing 2-1, Notre Dame nearly pulled level with 15 minutes to play when Taylor lined up a free kick from just north of the 18, but the sophomore’s shot sailed just over the crossbar and into the night.
Taylor had designs on goal a few moments later, but was tripped up on her way into the box. The officials allowed play to continue, ruling an ND advantage, but the Irish’ bid was quickly broken up by the Lemont defense.
Shortly after, the Indians doubled their lead when Jacqueline Aleman assisted Crispo on a corner with 6:37 to play.
“The set pieces, and just being able to finish those, that was the difference,” Notre Dame defender Allie Dries said. “Other than that we kinda locked them out on everything else, but those set pieces killed us.”
Though she spent most of the night on the defensive end of the field, Ruane’s journeys into the offensive third yielded two goals and a handful of other scoring chances, particularly on set pieces.
“She is a forward for us, basically, and she ended up playing center back today because we had a girl go down with an injury,” Prangen said of Ruane, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match. “She’s an all-state player, because she can play anywhere on the field, and she showed it today.”
Even with a two-goal lead, the Indians were reluctant to celebrate until the final whistle.
“Teams don’t want their seasons to end,” Ruane said. “They have eight seniors, like us, so the seniors were especially fighting for their lives, and the team is playing for the seniors. We know how that is.”
With two games left in her own prep career, Ruane plans on making this weekend one to remember.
“We know what it is,” Ruane said of the state finals. “My freshman year, I couldn’t even tell you, I don’t even remember it. I didn’t take it in enough. This year I’m just excited. We don’t want to waste this opportunity.”
Starting lineups
Lemont
GK: Michelle Jerantowski
D: Michaele Egan
D: Sarah Knoepfle
D: Mairead Ruane
M: Katie Knutte
M: Adriana Patino
M: Danielle Irwin
M: Isabel Silvar
M: Jacqueline Aleman
F; Niamh Hehir
F: Erin Crispo
Notre Dame (Peoria)
GK: Leah Anderson
D: Allie Dries
D: Autumn Weeks
D: Haley Salander
D: Ashley Motteler
M: Rachel Kottoor
M: Tori Timerman
M: Kaitlyn Lamb
M: Colleen O’Donnell
F: Bridget Taylor
F: Tegan Timerman
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Mairead Ruane, sr., midfielder, Lemont
Scoring summary
Lemont 3, Notre Dame 1
Lemont (24-1-0) 1 2 -- 3
Notre Dame (22-4-0) 1 0 -- 1
First half
Lemont: Knutte (Ruane) 1:57
ND: Te.Timerman (Taylor) 12:28
Second half
Lemont: Knoepfle (Ruane) 41:33
Lemont: Crispo (Aleman) 73:23.
Shots on goal
Lemont 3
ND 10
Corner kicks
Lemont 8
ND 3
Fouls
Lemont 10
ND 12
Offsides
None
Saves
Lemont 9
ND 0
Corner kick goals deliver 3-1 win over ND (Peoria), state berth
By Josh Wessler
PEORIA – The odds were in Lemont’s favor Tuesday night, even though the evens hadn't been, at the Class AA Notre Dame (Peoria) Supersectional.
Despite facing a defense that had gone a dozen matches without surrendering a goal, and in defiance of a decade’s worth of trouble reaching the state finals in even-numbered years, the Indians beat the streak and broke the curse with a 3-1 victory over the host Irish.
“Props to our girls,” said Lemont coach Rick Prangen, who guided the Indians to state berths in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017. “This is a really hard place to come in and play.
“We just traveled two and a half hours to come play down here, and for them to come here and break our odd-year streak and finally get to the state finals back-to-back is a special thing for our seniors.
“It’s a really special moment. Any time you beat a quality team like Notre Dame, who’s got a rich history, it’s a great thing.”
State qualifiers for the sixth time in ten seasons, the Indians move on to face St. Francis at 11 a.m. Friday in the first of two state semifinals at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium at North Central College in Naperville.
Rather than gut it up the middle of the Notre Dame defense, the Indians instead went with a flanking approach. The result was corner kick opportunities that the visitors were more than willing to accept.
In fact, all three of Lemont’s goals came via the corner kick. The first, from Katie Knutte just 1:57 into the match, stunned a Notre Dame defense that last gave up a goal on April 24.
“They’ve got two really good center backs,” Prangen said. “(Autumn Weeks) is a hell of a defender and (Bridget Taylor) is a good forward up-top. Looking at it, we figured if we could try to stop (Taylor) and get the ball wide on them and not play into the middle too much we’d be okay.”
Notre Dame had an idea of what to expect from its foe.
“We knew they were pretty good on set pieces,” Irish coach Ben Ralph said. “We tried to body ‘em, but they got a head on it and redirected, and Leah was caught off-guard with the deflection.”
Both sides seemed to be caught off-guard by the early goal, though the Irish were the first side to raise the level of play.
“I actually think we scored it a little too soon,” Prangen said of Knutte’s goal. “All of the adrenaline went out of us, and after we scored it was thirty minutes of them just pressing us, and they got a goal because of it. I think we lost our legs a little bit. We regrouped at halftime, and the girls responded.”
The Irish evened the score 10 minutes later on a goal by freshman Tegan Timerman, but second half goals by Sarah Knoepfle (42nd minute) and Erin Crispo (74th) secured the Indians’ spot in the finals.
“We definitely wanted it more,” said Knoepfle, who put herself on the end of a Mairead Ruane corner kick for the eventual game-winning goal 1:33 into the second half. “We fought every day, because we knew there was a curse. We worked extra hard to break the curse. ”
Trailing for the first time in 35 days following Knutte’s opener, the Irish battled back to equalize in the 13th minute and nearly took the lead a few times before the half, only to be denied by the crossbar, Lemont keeper Michelle Jerantowski or hard luck.
“We hit the crossbar. We had a couple right in front of goal that we hit over or hit wide,” said Ralph, whose team finished the season with a 22-4-0 record.
“We had chances, they had chances. It was a good back-and-forth game.”
Michelle Jerantowski made nine saves in goal for Lemont.
While trailing 2-1, Notre Dame nearly pulled level with 15 minutes to play when Taylor lined up a free kick from just north of the 18, but the sophomore’s shot sailed just over the crossbar and into the night.
Taylor had designs on goal a few moments later, but was tripped up on her way into the box. The officials allowed play to continue, ruling an ND advantage, but the Irish’ bid was quickly broken up by the Lemont defense.
Shortly after, the Indians doubled their lead when Jacqueline Aleman assisted Crispo on a corner with 6:37 to play.
“The set pieces, and just being able to finish those, that was the difference,” Notre Dame defender Allie Dries said. “Other than that we kinda locked them out on everything else, but those set pieces killed us.”
Though she spent most of the night on the defensive end of the field, Ruane’s journeys into the offensive third yielded two goals and a handful of other scoring chances, particularly on set pieces.
“She is a forward for us, basically, and she ended up playing center back today because we had a girl go down with an injury,” Prangen said of Ruane, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match. “She’s an all-state player, because she can play anywhere on the field, and she showed it today.”
Even with a two-goal lead, the Indians were reluctant to celebrate until the final whistle.
“Teams don’t want their seasons to end,” Ruane said. “They have eight seniors, like us, so the seniors were especially fighting for their lives, and the team is playing for the seniors. We know how that is.”
With two games left in her own prep career, Ruane plans on making this weekend one to remember.
“We know what it is,” Ruane said of the state finals. “My freshman year, I couldn’t even tell you, I don’t even remember it. I didn’t take it in enough. This year I’m just excited. We don’t want to waste this opportunity.”
Starting lineups
Lemont
GK: Michelle Jerantowski
D: Michaele Egan
D: Sarah Knoepfle
D: Mairead Ruane
M: Katie Knutte
M: Adriana Patino
M: Danielle Irwin
M: Isabel Silvar
M: Jacqueline Aleman
F; Niamh Hehir
F: Erin Crispo
Notre Dame (Peoria)
GK: Leah Anderson
D: Allie Dries
D: Autumn Weeks
D: Haley Salander
D: Ashley Motteler
M: Rachel Kottoor
M: Tori Timerman
M: Kaitlyn Lamb
M: Colleen O’Donnell
F: Bridget Taylor
F: Tegan Timerman
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Mairead Ruane, sr., midfielder, Lemont
Scoring summary
Lemont 3, Notre Dame 1
Lemont (24-1-0) 1 2 -- 3
Notre Dame (22-4-0) 1 0 -- 1
First half
Lemont: Knutte (Ruane) 1:57
ND: Te.Timerman (Taylor) 12:28
Second half
Lemont: Knoepfle (Ruane) 41:33
Lemont: Crispo (Aleman) 73:23.
Shots on goal
Lemont 3
ND 10
Corner kicks
Lemont 8
ND 3
Fouls
Lemont 10
ND 12
Offsides
None
Saves
Lemont 9
ND 0