Lyons rallies from 1st deficit of
season to eliminate Sandburg
Lions earn consecutive state finals berth with 2nd half goals
By Steve Millar
BURBANK – Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary was confident his team would have a strong response if it was ever in need to make a comeback.
Still, when you have not trailed the entire season, there is some question about how adversity will be handled.
“It’s always in the back of your mind, because you don’t know until you’re in it,” Lanspeary said. “At halftime, we were able to stay calm and stay focused, and we knew what we had to do. I give the girls credit for maintaining that poise. It’s not easy in these kinds of games.”
After falling behind for the first time this season, Lyons rallied with a pair of second half goals Monday and senior Jordan Lee-Caracci came up with another game-winner to lift the Lions to a 2-1 win over Sandburg in the Class 3A Reavis Supersectional.
The Lions (19-0-0) will make their return to state after finishing fourth in 2019 after a gap year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Second-seeded Lyons is set to take on a top seed in either Barrington or St. Charles East in a semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Hoffman Estates.
“I am so excited,” junior midfielder Eleanor Musgrove said. “I could not be more happy about it.”
Sandburg (18-2-0) put Lions in uncharted territory by breaking down their nearly impenetrable defense on a beautiful play late in the first half.
In the 36th minute, senior forward Emily Ibrahim made a strong, long run down the right side of the field and beat a defender into the box. Then she slipped a pass to the middle of the field.
Junior midfielder Ashley Sak was there to slam it into the back of the net, producing just the second goal allowed by Lyons all season.
“It was all Emily,” Sak said. “She took it up and made the play, and I was just there to put it in. We’re really close off the field, and I think we have that connection on the field. She beat that girl and played it perfectly to me, so I give her credit for that.”
Ibrahim was back in action after an ankle injury kept her out of the sectional final against Lincoln-Way Central.
“I was kind of hesitant to take it all the way down,” Ibrahim said. “At first, I was looking for a pass. I heard (assistant coach Victoria Kappel) on the sideline say, ‘Just go for it.’ She knows better than I do, so I took the ball down the line. I saw the pass for Ashley, and she capitalized. It was a great finish.”
Down at halftime, Lyons was not in panic mode.
“In the first half, we believed that we weren’t working as a team,” Lee-Caracci said. “We were all trying to make plays in separate situations. In the second half, we just said, ‘This is our game. Let’s play our game.’ (Sandburg) is insanely good. I I give them credit, but we couldn’t play their game. We had to play ours.”
The momentum flipped just over five minutes into the second half. Lyons defender Kate Fulscher, who got the game-winning assist in the sectional final, played a long pass ahead that caused Sandburg goalkeeper Molly Fischer to charge off her line.
Lee-Caracci, Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match, bolted toward the ball. Fischer collided with her in the box, and Lyons was awarded a penalty kick.
Musgrove converted to tie it with 34 minutes, 47 seconds to go.
“Kate played a long ball,” Lanspeary said. “I think the wind held it up a little bit. Jordan saw an opportunity and tried to make a play on it. Their keeper came out and challenged on it, and we got the call.
“That was huge for us. Not that we were lacking confidence, but it gave us that boost and that momentum. You could see it really energize us.”
Musgrove was cool under pressure, ripping a high shot into the back of the net.
“Usually it’s pretty stressful, but I’ve been practicing them a lot lately,” she said. “It’s all about confidence. You have to have that practice mentality and just get up there and go for it. There was a little bit of anxiety. It’s practice makes perfect on those, though.”
Musgrove felt the belief grow around her team after the penalty kick.
“It was the equalizer,” she said. “It just got our team going. We felt like we had the momentum to get another one. We don’t want to go into overtime or PKs, so it was a whole team effort and we all gave it our all to get that second goal by Jordan.”
Lee-Caracci said her game-winning goal was reminiscent of the one she scored in the 1-0 sectional final win over top-seeded and previously undefeated Benet.
She took a pass from Rielly Chesna near the top right corner of the box, faked going right and made a quick move to her left to beat her defender, then quickly fired a shot on goal.
A diving Fischer got her hand on the ball, but it slowly tricked over the goal line to put Lyons on top 2-1 with 20:01 to go.
“I remember cutting in,” Lee-Caracci said. “That’s how I scored against Benet, too. I cut in, hit it with my left foot, and it slowly went in. I saw it roll in, but I could not tell you how it all happened. I forgot. It was just all a flash.
“It was this huge ‘Oh my goodness.’ It was a sigh of relief. Then the fans are amazing. Hearing them make so much noise fired us up, and we all felt it.”
Sandburg created a few dangerous opportunities quickly after falling behind. Rosie Richardson put a pair of free kicks from striking distance just over the net. Lyons goalkeeper Izzy Lee saved another Richardson free kick from 35 yards.
Lee, who finished with three saves, stopped Kristiana Pappanastos’ shot from 25 yards with 11:30 to go, and that was the last serious threat the Eagles could mount.
Fischer finished with five saves for Sandburg.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the equalizer, but I’m really proud of how our girls kept fighting the whole way through,” Sandburg coach Tom Kubowicz said. “It would have been really easy to put their heads down after the first goal and even easier after the second, but they kept battling. They kept fighting. They kept working. They stayed together, and that’s all you can ask for as a coach.”
While Sandburg’s season ends after the program’s first sectional championship since 2013, Lyons is guaranteed a state trophy and has a chance to extend its undefeated season all the way to the finish line.
“I’m so excited,” Lee-Caracci said. “I went to state with this team two years ago, and it feels amazing to be going back.”
Starting lineups
Lyons
GK – Izzy Lee
D – Maddie McPartlin
D – Ava Pike
D – Kate Fulscher
D – Elli Kosanovich
MF – Avery Livingston
MF – Eleanor Musgrove
MF – Lily Mattern
F – Ava Dallavo
F – Jordan Lee-Caracci
F – Reese Komsthoeft
Sandburg
GK – Molly Fischer
D – Rosie Richardson
D – Shelby Fuller
D – Maddy Pertle
D – Erin O’Connor
MF – Bella Corluka
MF – Ashley Sak
MF – Kathy Barrios
MF – Jelena Vasiljevic
F – Emily Ibrahim
F – Kristiana Pappanastos
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Jordan Lee-Caracci, sr. F, Lyons
Scoring summary
First half
Sandburg – Sak (Ibrahim), 36th minute
Second half
Lyons – Musgrove (penalty kick), 44th minute
Lyons – Lee-Caracci (Rielly Chesna), 60th minute
season to eliminate Sandburg
Lions earn consecutive state finals berth with 2nd half goals
By Steve Millar
BURBANK – Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary was confident his team would have a strong response if it was ever in need to make a comeback.
Still, when you have not trailed the entire season, there is some question about how adversity will be handled.
“It’s always in the back of your mind, because you don’t know until you’re in it,” Lanspeary said. “At halftime, we were able to stay calm and stay focused, and we knew what we had to do. I give the girls credit for maintaining that poise. It’s not easy in these kinds of games.”
After falling behind for the first time this season, Lyons rallied with a pair of second half goals Monday and senior Jordan Lee-Caracci came up with another game-winner to lift the Lions to a 2-1 win over Sandburg in the Class 3A Reavis Supersectional.
The Lions (19-0-0) will make their return to state after finishing fourth in 2019 after a gap year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Second-seeded Lyons is set to take on a top seed in either Barrington or St. Charles East in a semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Hoffman Estates.
“I am so excited,” junior midfielder Eleanor Musgrove said. “I could not be more happy about it.”
Sandburg (18-2-0) put Lions in uncharted territory by breaking down their nearly impenetrable defense on a beautiful play late in the first half.
In the 36th minute, senior forward Emily Ibrahim made a strong, long run down the right side of the field and beat a defender into the box. Then she slipped a pass to the middle of the field.
Junior midfielder Ashley Sak was there to slam it into the back of the net, producing just the second goal allowed by Lyons all season.
“It was all Emily,” Sak said. “She took it up and made the play, and I was just there to put it in. We’re really close off the field, and I think we have that connection on the field. She beat that girl and played it perfectly to me, so I give her credit for that.”
Ibrahim was back in action after an ankle injury kept her out of the sectional final against Lincoln-Way Central.
“I was kind of hesitant to take it all the way down,” Ibrahim said. “At first, I was looking for a pass. I heard (assistant coach Victoria Kappel) on the sideline say, ‘Just go for it.’ She knows better than I do, so I took the ball down the line. I saw the pass for Ashley, and she capitalized. It was a great finish.”
Down at halftime, Lyons was not in panic mode.
“In the first half, we believed that we weren’t working as a team,” Lee-Caracci said. “We were all trying to make plays in separate situations. In the second half, we just said, ‘This is our game. Let’s play our game.’ (Sandburg) is insanely good. I I give them credit, but we couldn’t play their game. We had to play ours.”
The momentum flipped just over five minutes into the second half. Lyons defender Kate Fulscher, who got the game-winning assist in the sectional final, played a long pass ahead that caused Sandburg goalkeeper Molly Fischer to charge off her line.
Lee-Caracci, Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match, bolted toward the ball. Fischer collided with her in the box, and Lyons was awarded a penalty kick.
Musgrove converted to tie it with 34 minutes, 47 seconds to go.
“Kate played a long ball,” Lanspeary said. “I think the wind held it up a little bit. Jordan saw an opportunity and tried to make a play on it. Their keeper came out and challenged on it, and we got the call.
“That was huge for us. Not that we were lacking confidence, but it gave us that boost and that momentum. You could see it really energize us.”
Musgrove was cool under pressure, ripping a high shot into the back of the net.
“Usually it’s pretty stressful, but I’ve been practicing them a lot lately,” she said. “It’s all about confidence. You have to have that practice mentality and just get up there and go for it. There was a little bit of anxiety. It’s practice makes perfect on those, though.”
Musgrove felt the belief grow around her team after the penalty kick.
“It was the equalizer,” she said. “It just got our team going. We felt like we had the momentum to get another one. We don’t want to go into overtime or PKs, so it was a whole team effort and we all gave it our all to get that second goal by Jordan.”
Lee-Caracci said her game-winning goal was reminiscent of the one she scored in the 1-0 sectional final win over top-seeded and previously undefeated Benet.
She took a pass from Rielly Chesna near the top right corner of the box, faked going right and made a quick move to her left to beat her defender, then quickly fired a shot on goal.
A diving Fischer got her hand on the ball, but it slowly tricked over the goal line to put Lyons on top 2-1 with 20:01 to go.
“I remember cutting in,” Lee-Caracci said. “That’s how I scored against Benet, too. I cut in, hit it with my left foot, and it slowly went in. I saw it roll in, but I could not tell you how it all happened. I forgot. It was just all a flash.
“It was this huge ‘Oh my goodness.’ It was a sigh of relief. Then the fans are amazing. Hearing them make so much noise fired us up, and we all felt it.”
Sandburg created a few dangerous opportunities quickly after falling behind. Rosie Richardson put a pair of free kicks from striking distance just over the net. Lyons goalkeeper Izzy Lee saved another Richardson free kick from 35 yards.
Lee, who finished with three saves, stopped Kristiana Pappanastos’ shot from 25 yards with 11:30 to go, and that was the last serious threat the Eagles could mount.
Fischer finished with five saves for Sandburg.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the equalizer, but I’m really proud of how our girls kept fighting the whole way through,” Sandburg coach Tom Kubowicz said. “It would have been really easy to put their heads down after the first goal and even easier after the second, but they kept battling. They kept fighting. They kept working. They stayed together, and that’s all you can ask for as a coach.”
While Sandburg’s season ends after the program’s first sectional championship since 2013, Lyons is guaranteed a state trophy and has a chance to extend its undefeated season all the way to the finish line.
“I’m so excited,” Lee-Caracci said. “I went to state with this team two years ago, and it feels amazing to be going back.”
Starting lineups
Lyons
GK – Izzy Lee
D – Maddie McPartlin
D – Ava Pike
D – Kate Fulscher
D – Elli Kosanovich
MF – Avery Livingston
MF – Eleanor Musgrove
MF – Lily Mattern
F – Ava Dallavo
F – Jordan Lee-Caracci
F – Reese Komsthoeft
Sandburg
GK – Molly Fischer
D – Rosie Richardson
D – Shelby Fuller
D – Maddy Pertle
D – Erin O’Connor
MF – Bella Corluka
MF – Ashley Sak
MF – Kathy Barrios
MF – Jelena Vasiljevic
F – Emily Ibrahim
F – Kristiana Pappanastos
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Jordan Lee-Caracci, sr. F, Lyons
Scoring summary
First half
Sandburg – Sak (Ibrahim), 36th minute
Second half
Lyons – Musgrove (penalty kick), 44th minute
Lyons – Lee-Caracci (Rielly Chesna), 60th minute