Lake Park late goal
stops Glenbard North, skid
Lancers win for the 1st time in more than a year
By Michael Wojtychiw
CAROL STREAM - The streak is over.
Both Glenbard North and Lake Park came into Saturday's game looking for their first win on the year. Each team was also looking for another set of firsts as well: the Lancers aimed for their first overall win since April 23, 2019 (the 2020 season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic); while the Panthers were trying for their first win in a conference game since May 1, 2018. The DuKane Conference, of which they are now members, didn't exist then. The teams then played in the DuPage Valley Conference.
Coincidentally those wins were against each other.
It was Lake Park, however, that ended its streak on a gorgeous, but extremely windy Saturday morning. The Lancers got a goal from Anna Odisho with just over 10 minutes remaining to send the visitors home happy with a 1-0 win.
"This is huge for our coaching staff. Obviously we want to win, and we want it for the girls," Lake Park manager Sean Crosby said. "We don't have an easy schedule; we play in one of the toughest conferences in the state, and it's very difficult to go from game-to-game preaching what you want to see.
"It's always good to see that what we're preaching in training is showing up during games."
"It feels amazing," Odisho said. "We've been kind of off lately, but to finally get the win, that's going to really boost our morale as we head forward.
"We knew eventually we'd get a win. It was just about finishing."
At the beginning of the game, it seemed as if the Lancers could do no wrong.
They were possessing the ball, keeping it in their offensive front for a good majority of the first half and not allowing the hosts to mount much of a attack. However one thing was missing -- a finishing touch.
"In the first half, we were a little surprised," said Crosby. "We had some time and space to make plays, but we weren't quite sure how to do that, because the position they set up defensively, we had the ball in the areas we didn't want time and space. We wanted to be more dangerous toward the goal.
"It was difficult for us to figure out how to break down their defense, their midfield. But in the second half, we moved off the ball, played simpler, didn't hold on and dribble too much. We worked together more unselfishly, and that gave us chances to move forward."
Glenbard East, on the other hand, wasn't having such luck. A lot of their offensive tries came up short and for 10 minutes or so, the Panthers struggled to get the ball past midfield. Every time they tried to make a run, the ball was cleared.
The first opportunity the Panthers had was with 11:58 remaining in the first half, when a free kick by Anna Pedraza was stopped by Lake Park goalie Emma Thorne. Forty-one seconds later Thorne made a great save on a nearly point-blank shot, keeping her squad even and denying the Panthers the opportunity to score their first goal of the year.
The shutout was the first of Thorne's career, which is completely understandable. The former all-conference defender stepped into the goalkeeper's position this season to help out her team.
"We had probably the best chance of the game in the first half but their keeper made a really good save," Glenbard North manager Spero Mandakas said. "If we put that in and go up 1-0, it could have been a bit of a different story. But unfortunately we didn't execute on our opportunities."
After being shut out in the first half, the Lancers talked about what they needed to do to change that in the second half to pull out the win.
"We knew the pace and timing had to change," Crosby said. "We'd get the ball and be fine just having it, instead of moving forward to press. I think at times we made ourselves not open in the first half, because we stood still. In the second half, started to move more.
"Higher sense of urgency, higher pace and faster decision-making -- and it was very much executed in the second half."
The second half started much like the first, with the Lancers getting consistent pressure on the Glenbard North goal, peppering Panther goalie Adriana Ruffalo with multiple shots, forcing her to make three saves in the half's first 10 minutes.
Even though it was Lake Park that was the aggressor early, it was the home team that got the best scoring opportunity first. That was a Panthers free kick right outside the box, but Olivia Corona's attempt sailed wide.
Lake Park finally broke the deadlock with Odisho's goal with 10 minutes, 21 seconds remaining off a pretty assist by Patty Lachowiez.
"We had been kind of trying to get that play to work all day," Odisho said. "We got it to where there was enough space for Patty to dish it off to me, and it was just perfect timing.
"I've been wanting to score really badly, so that goal, for me, felt like it'd been a long time coming."
Even though his team has struggled this season, Mandakas is still encouraged. The squad is extremely inexperienced and learning how to play together and many in their first season at the varsity level.
He knows that the Panthers' time will come, it might just not be right now.
"The girls have been great. They've shown really positive attitudes no matter what happens," he said. "We've got a young squad though. Five or so have played varsity soccer and six or seven who haven't played high school soccer before, so for a team stacked with freshmen and sophomores, they're all learning and learning how to play together as a team.
"You can really see how much they've grown and developed since we first started. We're starting to play the type of style we've hoped to and seeing it is really nice, because you can only get better from there."
Starting lineups
Lake Park
GK: Emma Thorne
D: Payton Sarubbi
D: Gianna Kubica
D: Lauren Malone
MF: Patty Lachowiez
MF: Cecilia Defino
MF: AnnMarie Ahrens
MF: Madeline Mintrup
MF: Francesca Cali
F: Alexis Morgan
F: Anna Odisho
Glenbard North
GK: Adriana Ruffalo
D: Alexis Stone
D: Anna Pedraza
D: Katelyn Nolan
MF: Emily Guy
MF: Olivia Corona
MF: Fatima Perez Granados
F: Payton Crawford
F: Stephanie DeLaTorre
F: Reese Harle
F: Criselle Culhi
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Anna Odisho, junior F, Lake Park
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Lake Park - Anna Odisho (Patty Lachowiez), 70th minute
stops Glenbard North, skid
Lancers win for the 1st time in more than a year
By Michael Wojtychiw
CAROL STREAM - The streak is over.
Both Glenbard North and Lake Park came into Saturday's game looking for their first win on the year. Each team was also looking for another set of firsts as well: the Lancers aimed for their first overall win since April 23, 2019 (the 2020 season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic); while the Panthers were trying for their first win in a conference game since May 1, 2018. The DuKane Conference, of which they are now members, didn't exist then. The teams then played in the DuPage Valley Conference.
Coincidentally those wins were against each other.
It was Lake Park, however, that ended its streak on a gorgeous, but extremely windy Saturday morning. The Lancers got a goal from Anna Odisho with just over 10 minutes remaining to send the visitors home happy with a 1-0 win.
"This is huge for our coaching staff. Obviously we want to win, and we want it for the girls," Lake Park manager Sean Crosby said. "We don't have an easy schedule; we play in one of the toughest conferences in the state, and it's very difficult to go from game-to-game preaching what you want to see.
"It's always good to see that what we're preaching in training is showing up during games."
"It feels amazing," Odisho said. "We've been kind of off lately, but to finally get the win, that's going to really boost our morale as we head forward.
"We knew eventually we'd get a win. It was just about finishing."
At the beginning of the game, it seemed as if the Lancers could do no wrong.
They were possessing the ball, keeping it in their offensive front for a good majority of the first half and not allowing the hosts to mount much of a attack. However one thing was missing -- a finishing touch.
"In the first half, we were a little surprised," said Crosby. "We had some time and space to make plays, but we weren't quite sure how to do that, because the position they set up defensively, we had the ball in the areas we didn't want time and space. We wanted to be more dangerous toward the goal.
"It was difficult for us to figure out how to break down their defense, their midfield. But in the second half, we moved off the ball, played simpler, didn't hold on and dribble too much. We worked together more unselfishly, and that gave us chances to move forward."
Glenbard East, on the other hand, wasn't having such luck. A lot of their offensive tries came up short and for 10 minutes or so, the Panthers struggled to get the ball past midfield. Every time they tried to make a run, the ball was cleared.
The first opportunity the Panthers had was with 11:58 remaining in the first half, when a free kick by Anna Pedraza was stopped by Lake Park goalie Emma Thorne. Forty-one seconds later Thorne made a great save on a nearly point-blank shot, keeping her squad even and denying the Panthers the opportunity to score their first goal of the year.
The shutout was the first of Thorne's career, which is completely understandable. The former all-conference defender stepped into the goalkeeper's position this season to help out her team.
"We had probably the best chance of the game in the first half but their keeper made a really good save," Glenbard North manager Spero Mandakas said. "If we put that in and go up 1-0, it could have been a bit of a different story. But unfortunately we didn't execute on our opportunities."
After being shut out in the first half, the Lancers talked about what they needed to do to change that in the second half to pull out the win.
"We knew the pace and timing had to change," Crosby said. "We'd get the ball and be fine just having it, instead of moving forward to press. I think at times we made ourselves not open in the first half, because we stood still. In the second half, started to move more.
"Higher sense of urgency, higher pace and faster decision-making -- and it was very much executed in the second half."
The second half started much like the first, with the Lancers getting consistent pressure on the Glenbard North goal, peppering Panther goalie Adriana Ruffalo with multiple shots, forcing her to make three saves in the half's first 10 minutes.
Even though it was Lake Park that was the aggressor early, it was the home team that got the best scoring opportunity first. That was a Panthers free kick right outside the box, but Olivia Corona's attempt sailed wide.
Lake Park finally broke the deadlock with Odisho's goal with 10 minutes, 21 seconds remaining off a pretty assist by Patty Lachowiez.
"We had been kind of trying to get that play to work all day," Odisho said. "We got it to where there was enough space for Patty to dish it off to me, and it was just perfect timing.
"I've been wanting to score really badly, so that goal, for me, felt like it'd been a long time coming."
Even though his team has struggled this season, Mandakas is still encouraged. The squad is extremely inexperienced and learning how to play together and many in their first season at the varsity level.
He knows that the Panthers' time will come, it might just not be right now.
"The girls have been great. They've shown really positive attitudes no matter what happens," he said. "We've got a young squad though. Five or so have played varsity soccer and six or seven who haven't played high school soccer before, so for a team stacked with freshmen and sophomores, they're all learning and learning how to play together as a team.
"You can really see how much they've grown and developed since we first started. We're starting to play the type of style we've hoped to and seeing it is really nice, because you can only get better from there."
Starting lineups
Lake Park
GK: Emma Thorne
D: Payton Sarubbi
D: Gianna Kubica
D: Lauren Malone
MF: Patty Lachowiez
MF: Cecilia Defino
MF: AnnMarie Ahrens
MF: Madeline Mintrup
MF: Francesca Cali
F: Alexis Morgan
F: Anna Odisho
Glenbard North
GK: Adriana Ruffalo
D: Alexis Stone
D: Anna Pedraza
D: Katelyn Nolan
MF: Emily Guy
MF: Olivia Corona
MF: Fatima Perez Granados
F: Payton Crawford
F: Stephanie DeLaTorre
F: Reese Harle
F: Criselle Culhi
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Anna Odisho, junior F, Lake Park
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Lake Park - Anna Odisho (Patty Lachowiez), 70th minute