Newcomer Briedis saves day for Lake Park
Goalkeeper's 2 PK saves in varsity debut seal PepsiCo win
By Dave Owen
SCHAUMBURG -- Penalty kick sessions can often produce unexpected heroines.
Lake Park took that fact to new levels Saturday at Olympic Park in its PepsiCo Showdown match against St. Laurence.
Elevated to varsity Friday night due to an injury to Lancers starting goalkeeper Sarah Yochem, junior Lilija Briedis was thrust into the ultimate keeper spotlight when the 0-0 tie through regulation sent the match to penalty kicks.
After each team traded conversions through three kickers, Briedis made consecutive saves towards the left post to stop St. Laurence (6-3-3).
Those stops combined with fourth Lancer shooter Cyndi Martinez’s conversion to give Lake Park (2-9-1) a dramatic 4-3 win over the Vikings in the PK session.
“I’m so proud of Lilija,” Lake Park midfielder Ann Marie Ahrens said. “I love that girl so much.
“She came in today, and she gave it her best. We all were there supporting her and to cover when we needed to, but those PKs -- that’s all her. None of us are there to clean up the goal. I’m so proud of her for that.”
Lake Park shooters Emma Thorne, Sophie Giron, Ahrens and Martinez all converted on their PKs, then watched as Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match Briedis sealed the win.
“Lilija was huge for us,” Thorne said. “She did such an amazing job -- to save two out of five PKs, that’s amazing.
“I was confident in her. We’ve played club together, and she’s always there for us. But of course we miss Sarah Yochem. She’s our rock back there.”
After Yochem was injured in the last 10 minutes of the Lancers’ loss to Dundee-Crown on Friday, Briedis’ initial feelings hardly made her likely to be Saturday’s star.
“I found out last night (I’d be starting), and I was really nervous,” Briedis said. “I felt like I was sick.
“This was a big game for us. I was nervous, but I knew I had a great team to support me.”
After her save on the fifth shooter, that support turned to absolute bedlam and a team celebration in front of the net.
“We came off a rough game yesterday,” Ahrens said. “We didn’t play as good as we should have, but overall this one today -- as you could see from that mosh pit over there (rushing out to mob Briedis and celebrate the win) -- hugs, everyone just felt so great.
“It’s so good to get this win. It’s definitely going to be a confidence booster going into our Monday and Tuesday games.”
Lake Park coach Sean Crosby sounded like a Hollywood scriptwriter in reviewing Briedis’ Saturday morning.
“Think about it, it’s your first varsity match and you’re asked to step up and defend five penalty kicks,” Crosby said. “And to get two saves out of it -- we couldn’t be happier with the result, and I feel so great for her.
“She was definitely nervous at the start, but I’m sure she’s all smiles now. She deserves it.
“It was fantastic,” Crosby added. “It’s great to have Lilija with us. Unfortunately our starting keeper Yochem goes down last night, and it’s a pretty serious injury so it might be three weeks or more.
“Sarah has been our rock in the back so we were pretty nervous. To see Lilija step up, that’s got to feel good for her and hopefully build her confidence. And obviously the girls were psyched to support her and see her succeed. That was really cool.”
The Lancers also had a strong leadup to the PK drama, producing waves of scoring chances in the second half.
In the first 18 minutes of the half, St. Laurence goalkeeper Nina Zheng had saves on Ahrens’ high 35-yard free kick, a Martinez right side shot off a Lily Giron pass, then an Ahrens low 18-yard drive off a deflected cross.
In the 20th minute of the half, Lake Park’s defense stepped up. Heidi Chacon’s shot was blocked by Olivia Wroblewski and cleared by Sarah Novak.
Even with a newcomer in the nets, Crosby made few if any defensive adjustments.
“We stuck to our game plan,” he said. “I feel defense is a strength of ours. The results we have aren’t the way we want them. We’re not huge in the win column, but it’s very hard to score on us. We play top teams in the state, and they’re getting one, two goals on us.
“We’re defensive-minded enough that we can protect our goal and minimize chances, so we didn’t want to change a whole lot. And we knew we could attack today. Emma is one we will put in the back sometimes when we need to save things, but we felt confident that our other girls were stepping up, and we were fine the way we were.”
Instead of shifting to defender, Thorne moved up from midfielder to attacker during the second half.
“We talked at halftime about how we wanted to get farther up into the attack and get it past their backline,” Thorne said. “And I felt we did that really well. Everyone was pressing.”
Late in the second half, a breakthrough seemed imminent. In a two-minute span beginning with 12 minutes to go, a Martinez low 18-yard shot and a Lilli Giron 22-yard free kick both went wide right.
Sophie Giron followed with her own high-powered chance with seven minutes left, a 28-yard one-timer that Zhang caught high at the left post.
A Sophie Giron and Thorne rush was then denied, followed by Ahrens plays as a passer (setting up Martinez’s 18-yard chip just over the crossbar) and shooter (Ahrens’ right side run and shot off the side of the net).
Finally with three minutes left, Sophie Giron won a loose ball 25 yards out and lined a 20-yard shot that was deflected over the net.
“We pushed Sophie (Giron) into the midfield (from defender) late in the game to try to get a goal,” Crosby said, “and she really opened things up for us and stepped up big time. And Ann Marie is always a solid player for us in the middle.
“And Emma really stepped up. We moved her around everywhere. We put her up front for a little bit at the end, and she had a lot of chances to make life difficult for their backs.
“Those were the players who gave us an advantage going forward,” Crosby added. “I was very happy with their play.”
Then came the PK session, and the Lancers’ happiness turned to celebration.
“It always feels good to win,” Thorne said. “Getting a victory like that even in PKs is definitely a team win. Everybody worked hard for a full 80 minutes, no matter what role they were playing.
“A lot of girls were in different positions than usual, but they worked so hard whatever they were doing.”
Said Ahrens: “We definitely fought hard. We wanted to win, and although it went to PKs you could tell throughout the PKs that we were all supportive of each other.
“It was honestly who wanted it more,” Ahrens added. “Who was going to place it better? Who was going to finish the strike?”
After a perfect 4-of-4 by Lake Park strikers and Briedis’ clinching saves, the Lancers had a happy bounce back from a painful Friday loss.
And with games to come Monday and Tuesday to cap a grueling four-game, five-day stretch, the PK win was a huge emotional lift.
“It definitely boosts our confidence going into our next two games,” Thorne said. “We’re just looking to build off of this and keep this momentum going, especially when we get back into conference play.”
In a spring that has included very competitive 2-0 losses to strong opponents like Batavia and St. Charles North, the Lancers had a well-earned reward Saturday against yet another foe with an above-.500 record.
“This season’s been very rough in the sense of us having great games and the results not coming out like we wanted,” Ahrens said.
“This game was one of those where we played amazing. We fought until the end, absolutely 110 percent from everyone, and it shows for us (with the win).”
Said Crosby: “Win lose or draw for us, it’s always tight to the end.
“It’s hard to have confidence sometimes and look at what you did well at the end of every game. But this is one that’s good personally, and good in the result that we stepped up and got the win.”
Starting lineups
Lake Park
GK: Lilija Briedis
D: Isabella Witt
D: Sarah Novak
D: Olivia Wroblewski
D: Sophie Giron
M: Ann Marie Ahrens
M: Emma Thorne
M: Erin Mack
M: Alexis Morgan
F: Lili Geron
F: Cyndi Martinez
St. Laurence
GK: Nina Zheng
D: Jess Escobedo
D: Avery Geigner
D: Abby Lawlor
D: Heidi Chacon
M: Hannah Potter
M: Gabby Belanski
M: Olivia Woulfe
M: Taylor Healy
F: Julia Bagley
F: Jocelyn Ruiz
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Lilija Briedis, jr. GK, Lake Park
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring
Penalty kicks
LP (4): Emma Thorne, Sophie Giron, Ann Marie Ahrens, Cyndi Martinez
SL (3): Taylor Healy, Jocelyn Ruiz, Avery Geigner
Goalkeeper's 2 PK saves in varsity debut seal PepsiCo win
By Dave Owen
SCHAUMBURG -- Penalty kick sessions can often produce unexpected heroines.
Lake Park took that fact to new levels Saturday at Olympic Park in its PepsiCo Showdown match against St. Laurence.
Elevated to varsity Friday night due to an injury to Lancers starting goalkeeper Sarah Yochem, junior Lilija Briedis was thrust into the ultimate keeper spotlight when the 0-0 tie through regulation sent the match to penalty kicks.
After each team traded conversions through three kickers, Briedis made consecutive saves towards the left post to stop St. Laurence (6-3-3).
Those stops combined with fourth Lancer shooter Cyndi Martinez’s conversion to give Lake Park (2-9-1) a dramatic 4-3 win over the Vikings in the PK session.
“I’m so proud of Lilija,” Lake Park midfielder Ann Marie Ahrens said. “I love that girl so much.
“She came in today, and she gave it her best. We all were there supporting her and to cover when we needed to, but those PKs -- that’s all her. None of us are there to clean up the goal. I’m so proud of her for that.”
Lake Park shooters Emma Thorne, Sophie Giron, Ahrens and Martinez all converted on their PKs, then watched as Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match Briedis sealed the win.
“Lilija was huge for us,” Thorne said. “She did such an amazing job -- to save two out of five PKs, that’s amazing.
“I was confident in her. We’ve played club together, and she’s always there for us. But of course we miss Sarah Yochem. She’s our rock back there.”
After Yochem was injured in the last 10 minutes of the Lancers’ loss to Dundee-Crown on Friday, Briedis’ initial feelings hardly made her likely to be Saturday’s star.
“I found out last night (I’d be starting), and I was really nervous,” Briedis said. “I felt like I was sick.
“This was a big game for us. I was nervous, but I knew I had a great team to support me.”
After her save on the fifth shooter, that support turned to absolute bedlam and a team celebration in front of the net.
“We came off a rough game yesterday,” Ahrens said. “We didn’t play as good as we should have, but overall this one today -- as you could see from that mosh pit over there (rushing out to mob Briedis and celebrate the win) -- hugs, everyone just felt so great.
“It’s so good to get this win. It’s definitely going to be a confidence booster going into our Monday and Tuesday games.”
Lake Park coach Sean Crosby sounded like a Hollywood scriptwriter in reviewing Briedis’ Saturday morning.
“Think about it, it’s your first varsity match and you’re asked to step up and defend five penalty kicks,” Crosby said. “And to get two saves out of it -- we couldn’t be happier with the result, and I feel so great for her.
“She was definitely nervous at the start, but I’m sure she’s all smiles now. She deserves it.
“It was fantastic,” Crosby added. “It’s great to have Lilija with us. Unfortunately our starting keeper Yochem goes down last night, and it’s a pretty serious injury so it might be three weeks or more.
“Sarah has been our rock in the back so we were pretty nervous. To see Lilija step up, that’s got to feel good for her and hopefully build her confidence. And obviously the girls were psyched to support her and see her succeed. That was really cool.”
The Lancers also had a strong leadup to the PK drama, producing waves of scoring chances in the second half.
In the first 18 minutes of the half, St. Laurence goalkeeper Nina Zheng had saves on Ahrens’ high 35-yard free kick, a Martinez right side shot off a Lily Giron pass, then an Ahrens low 18-yard drive off a deflected cross.
In the 20th minute of the half, Lake Park’s defense stepped up. Heidi Chacon’s shot was blocked by Olivia Wroblewski and cleared by Sarah Novak.
Even with a newcomer in the nets, Crosby made few if any defensive adjustments.
“We stuck to our game plan,” he said. “I feel defense is a strength of ours. The results we have aren’t the way we want them. We’re not huge in the win column, but it’s very hard to score on us. We play top teams in the state, and they’re getting one, two goals on us.
“We’re defensive-minded enough that we can protect our goal and minimize chances, so we didn’t want to change a whole lot. And we knew we could attack today. Emma is one we will put in the back sometimes when we need to save things, but we felt confident that our other girls were stepping up, and we were fine the way we were.”
Instead of shifting to defender, Thorne moved up from midfielder to attacker during the second half.
“We talked at halftime about how we wanted to get farther up into the attack and get it past their backline,” Thorne said. “And I felt we did that really well. Everyone was pressing.”
Late in the second half, a breakthrough seemed imminent. In a two-minute span beginning with 12 minutes to go, a Martinez low 18-yard shot and a Lilli Giron 22-yard free kick both went wide right.
Sophie Giron followed with her own high-powered chance with seven minutes left, a 28-yard one-timer that Zhang caught high at the left post.
A Sophie Giron and Thorne rush was then denied, followed by Ahrens plays as a passer (setting up Martinez’s 18-yard chip just over the crossbar) and shooter (Ahrens’ right side run and shot off the side of the net).
Finally with three minutes left, Sophie Giron won a loose ball 25 yards out and lined a 20-yard shot that was deflected over the net.
“We pushed Sophie (Giron) into the midfield (from defender) late in the game to try to get a goal,” Crosby said, “and she really opened things up for us and stepped up big time. And Ann Marie is always a solid player for us in the middle.
“And Emma really stepped up. We moved her around everywhere. We put her up front for a little bit at the end, and she had a lot of chances to make life difficult for their backs.
“Those were the players who gave us an advantage going forward,” Crosby added. “I was very happy with their play.”
Then came the PK session, and the Lancers’ happiness turned to celebration.
“It always feels good to win,” Thorne said. “Getting a victory like that even in PKs is definitely a team win. Everybody worked hard for a full 80 minutes, no matter what role they were playing.
“A lot of girls were in different positions than usual, but they worked so hard whatever they were doing.”
Said Ahrens: “We definitely fought hard. We wanted to win, and although it went to PKs you could tell throughout the PKs that we were all supportive of each other.
“It was honestly who wanted it more,” Ahrens added. “Who was going to place it better? Who was going to finish the strike?”
After a perfect 4-of-4 by Lake Park strikers and Briedis’ clinching saves, the Lancers had a happy bounce back from a painful Friday loss.
And with games to come Monday and Tuesday to cap a grueling four-game, five-day stretch, the PK win was a huge emotional lift.
“It definitely boosts our confidence going into our next two games,” Thorne said. “We’re just looking to build off of this and keep this momentum going, especially when we get back into conference play.”
In a spring that has included very competitive 2-0 losses to strong opponents like Batavia and St. Charles North, the Lancers had a well-earned reward Saturday against yet another foe with an above-.500 record.
“This season’s been very rough in the sense of us having great games and the results not coming out like we wanted,” Ahrens said.
“This game was one of those where we played amazing. We fought until the end, absolutely 110 percent from everyone, and it shows for us (with the win).”
Said Crosby: “Win lose or draw for us, it’s always tight to the end.
“It’s hard to have confidence sometimes and look at what you did well at the end of every game. But this is one that’s good personally, and good in the result that we stepped up and got the win.”
Starting lineups
Lake Park
GK: Lilija Briedis
D: Isabella Witt
D: Sarah Novak
D: Olivia Wroblewski
D: Sophie Giron
M: Ann Marie Ahrens
M: Emma Thorne
M: Erin Mack
M: Alexis Morgan
F: Lili Geron
F: Cyndi Martinez
St. Laurence
GK: Nina Zheng
D: Jess Escobedo
D: Avery Geigner
D: Abby Lawlor
D: Heidi Chacon
M: Hannah Potter
M: Gabby Belanski
M: Olivia Woulfe
M: Taylor Healy
F: Julia Bagley
F: Jocelyn Ruiz
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Lilija Briedis, jr. GK, Lake Park
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring
Penalty kicks
LP (4): Emma Thorne, Sophie Giron, Ann Marie Ahrens, Cyndi Martinez
SL (3): Taylor Healy, Jocelyn Ruiz, Avery Geigner