Lane edges St. Francis on a wild night
PK in 66th minute carries Indians to 4-3 Malnati's win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- The backdrop was almost as stunning as the game that propelled the wild and sharp turn of events.
The breezy and balmy night air, the old fashioned Chicago Public League stadium and a game performed under the lights conjured a magical night of great theater and contributed significantly to the exhilarating atmosphere.
The soccer was pretty extraordinary as well.
What else is there to say about a game that featured a goal in the first four minutes and one with six seconds left in the first half, or a blitz of two goals in four minutes by the eventual winner to start the second half?
The mathematical possibilities proved dizzying.
Two great teams with something to prove showed toughness, skill and pure emotion.
In an often remarkable game that featured two lead changes and three ties, host Lane, ranked 11th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, finally subdued the Spartans 4-3 on a penalty kick goal by sophomore forward Eily Quinn in the 66th minute in Group A play of Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic on Monday night.
After suffering its first loss of the year against no. 4 New Trier on Saturday, Lane (8-1-1) kept its hope alive of securing the wild card slot for the semifinal rounds on Thursday at New Trier.
The Indians play at Stevenson on Wednesday.
St. Francis remains cursed, without question the best team in the state that has yet to secure a win. The 2018 Class AA state champions, the Spartans (0-2-2) have played no. 2 St. Charles North, honorable mention Naperville Central, no. 20 Stevenson and the Indians and host New Trier in the final pool play game Wednesday.
“The idiot head coach who made this schedule should get fired,” said St. Francis coach Jim Winslow. In the larger context, records are meaningless. The Spartans showed vigor and an electric forward attack as they tried to knock the Indians out at the start.
“We are still looking for that win, but we will get there eventually,” star forward Hannah Rittenhouse said. “This is a good challenge.
“We have worked very hard to make each other and ourselves better. Our performances have actually been pretty good, and we are just going to continue to work hard in practice and just keep working to get a couple of wins.”
In the fourth minute, Rittenhouse fought with two Lane defenders over a deflection before she brilliantly controlled the ball and broke free down the right wing. Unencumbered she drilled a rocket ball inside the far post from about 14 yards.
The Spartans shaped the opening narrative. Early goals break in different ways, sometimes favoring the team that scores and sometimes forcing the side scored on to elevate their game. Over the next 30 minutes, Lane was the dominant team.
“I think after our first goal they kind of woke up and reacted very well,” Rittenhouse said. “I think we needed to come back harder too. That first goal helped us settle down.”
Lane forward Grace Dunaway, a senior, answered the challenge. In the eighth minute, she made two quick forays at the Spartans’ goal, underscoring the point that Lane was locked in.
“We had a bit of a slow start, and we are working on trying not to do that every single time,” Dunaway said. “It fired us up, woke us up, and we said this is our home stadium and we are going to defend it.”
Dunaway found her groove in the 13th minute, collaborating with defender Samantha Sorich on a dazzling scoring sequence. Sorich blasted a free kick and the electric Dunaway, a two-time Chicagoland Soccer all-state player, cut between two defenders and forced Spartans’ keeper Emily Dziengel off her line. Dunaway won the race and got the first touch with a left-footed punch that eased past the on rushing Dziengel for the Indians’ first goal.
Dziengel was exceptional for the Spartans throughout the first half. Lane created repeated pressure, and she countered with some spectacular saves. The most impressive was a kick-stop off a short volley by Lisa Rios in the 17th minute.
She had five saves in the first half.
The teams appeared headed to halftime squared away at 1-1 apiece until a stunning final sequence. Off a free kick, St. Francis sophomore defender Katherine Lempke hammered a high and beautiful ball that caught Lane keeper Brianna Love off guard.
The ball took a sharp and unexpected angle and eluded the grasp of Love as Alex Salemy made an alert play to finish inside the box for a 2-1 Spartans lead.
After all of that St. Francis had the momentum and the Indians had to again look inside themselves and regroup.
“Our talk at halftime really helped us get our momentum back,” Dunaway said. “Coach V [Michelle Vale] is really good at firing us up at the beginning, and we came out in the second half stronger. We were down, so I think that motivated us to get back up and win this game.”
Lane was supercharged at the start of the second half. Dunaway slotted a ball to junior midfielder Camaron Niforos that she pushed just wide of the far post in the 42nd minute.
Dunaway maintained the pressure. She worked the left flank and drove the ball hard at Dziengel, who blocked the initial ball.
Senior midfielder Alana Coffman was perfectly positioned for the rebound touch for the Indians’ second goal to tie the game 2-2 in the 44th minute.
“We have a saying the start of every half, the first 45 seconds is about how we want to come out and play,” Coffman said.
“If you remember our Premier (Division) game with Whitney Young last year, we came back and scored 30 seconds after they scored to tie the game. Our big thing is coming back harder after each goal, whether it be ours or theirs.
“I think that goal [at the end of the first half] was disheartening, but one of our strengths is our ability to pick ourselves back up and play even harder.”
Just minutes, Coffman helped the Indians grab their first lead. Working about 35 yards out on the right wing, she slotted a ball to the middle that Niforos finished with a breathtaking goal, a left-footed blast that ripped past Dziengel inside the near post in the 38th minute.
“Camaron is such an impressive player,” Coffman said. “She goes from center midfielder to forward, and she started tonight at outside midfielder. She just thrives at every position.
“We have been playing together for so many years, I know exactly where she is going to be before she knows. We have a nice connection going on, which is helpful in finding her feet at the top of the box.”
This was the type of game where neither side could ever feel fully comfortable or secure in their status.
Lemke, a talented and versatile sophomore, helped nullify the Indians’ advantage when she caught a vulnerable Love off her line to clear a 50/50 ball that Lemke reached and hammered home inside the near post in 61st minute.
Lane has more depth than most programs. With Niforos out for much of the second half with a foot cramp Quinn had her moment, and she took advantage. A quick and explosive young talent, Quinn showed off her dangerous and creative opportunities.
“I got really nice balls from the center midfielders,” Quinn said. “I think on our team it is really nice, because we have so many options, and we have so many stronger players who can get us the ball, and we can get good touches.”
Quinn was bearing down on the St. Francis in the 66th minute when the official ruled she was fouled from behind in the penalty area after the Spartans’ defender was determined not to have made a play on the ball.
Quinn promptly stepped up and drilled the penalty kick inside the near post.
“Personally I have always been pretty good with penalty kicks, and I am very confident about them,” she said. “I just pick a side and go for it.”
To their credit, St. Francis did not go easy into the night. Rittenhouse had a ball skip off the top of the post in the 69th minute. She applied great pressure, and Lane had to summon all its disparate parts to hold off the Spartans.
St. Francis is frustrated by the outcomes of its early games. Records aside, it is clear they are a formidable team, and the wins are inevitable.
“We are trying to do too much at times, and you end up really hurting yourself,” Winslow said. “I have tried different kids at different spots, to give kids time and figure out who goes here and who goes there. That’s on me, but we are trying to get a feel for what we can do, especially trying to figure out how to free up Hannah more, or play four or five kids and try to see who else on our team can play on the flank.”
In scoring a goal and adding an assist and occasionally dropping back to slow down Rittenhouse, Coffman earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match distinction.
Lane always takes a great measure of satisfaction at beating teams outside of the city. As a first year participant in the tournament, the first victory was very memorable.
“Being four-time city champions, obviously that is important to us,” Dunaway said. “We want to prove we can play with the bigger teams, the teams they call the Big Dogs.
“We want to prove we can hang, and today we proved we could win.”
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK: Emily Dziengel
D: Jill DiTusa
D: Emma Armbrust
D: Katherine Lemke
D: Lauren Douglass
MF: Mickey Corrigan
MF: Julia Zeman
MF: Emily Thill
F: Adriana Rotondi
F: Julia Mills
F: Hannah Rittenhouse
Lane
GK: Brianna Love
D: Zehra Halilic
D: Alexis Dempsey
D: Samantha Sorich
D: Carlye Makuch
MF: Camaron Niforos
MF: Melissa Garcia
MF: Alana Coffman
MF: Sydney Varga
F: Grace Dunaway
F: Kayla Dutton
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Alana Coffman, sr., MF, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
St. Francis—Hannah Rittenhouse (unassisted), 4th minute
Lane—Grace Dunaway (Samantha Sorich), 13th minute
St. Francis—Alex Salemy (Katherine Lemke), 40th minute
Second half
Lane—Alana Coffman (Dunaway), 44th minute
Lane—Camaron Niforos (Coffman), 48th minute
St. Francis—Lemke (unassisted), 61st minute
Lane—Eily Quinn (penalty kick), 66th minute
PK in 66th minute carries Indians to 4-3 Malnati's win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- The backdrop was almost as stunning as the game that propelled the wild and sharp turn of events.
The breezy and balmy night air, the old fashioned Chicago Public League stadium and a game performed under the lights conjured a magical night of great theater and contributed significantly to the exhilarating atmosphere.
The soccer was pretty extraordinary as well.
What else is there to say about a game that featured a goal in the first four minutes and one with six seconds left in the first half, or a blitz of two goals in four minutes by the eventual winner to start the second half?
The mathematical possibilities proved dizzying.
Two great teams with something to prove showed toughness, skill and pure emotion.
In an often remarkable game that featured two lead changes and three ties, host Lane, ranked 11th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, finally subdued the Spartans 4-3 on a penalty kick goal by sophomore forward Eily Quinn in the 66th minute in Group A play of Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic on Monday night.
After suffering its first loss of the year against no. 4 New Trier on Saturday, Lane (8-1-1) kept its hope alive of securing the wild card slot for the semifinal rounds on Thursday at New Trier.
The Indians play at Stevenson on Wednesday.
St. Francis remains cursed, without question the best team in the state that has yet to secure a win. The 2018 Class AA state champions, the Spartans (0-2-2) have played no. 2 St. Charles North, honorable mention Naperville Central, no. 20 Stevenson and the Indians and host New Trier in the final pool play game Wednesday.
“The idiot head coach who made this schedule should get fired,” said St. Francis coach Jim Winslow. In the larger context, records are meaningless. The Spartans showed vigor and an electric forward attack as they tried to knock the Indians out at the start.
“We are still looking for that win, but we will get there eventually,” star forward Hannah Rittenhouse said. “This is a good challenge.
“We have worked very hard to make each other and ourselves better. Our performances have actually been pretty good, and we are just going to continue to work hard in practice and just keep working to get a couple of wins.”
In the fourth minute, Rittenhouse fought with two Lane defenders over a deflection before she brilliantly controlled the ball and broke free down the right wing. Unencumbered she drilled a rocket ball inside the far post from about 14 yards.
The Spartans shaped the opening narrative. Early goals break in different ways, sometimes favoring the team that scores and sometimes forcing the side scored on to elevate their game. Over the next 30 minutes, Lane was the dominant team.
“I think after our first goal they kind of woke up and reacted very well,” Rittenhouse said. “I think we needed to come back harder too. That first goal helped us settle down.”
Lane forward Grace Dunaway, a senior, answered the challenge. In the eighth minute, she made two quick forays at the Spartans’ goal, underscoring the point that Lane was locked in.
“We had a bit of a slow start, and we are working on trying not to do that every single time,” Dunaway said. “It fired us up, woke us up, and we said this is our home stadium and we are going to defend it.”
Dunaway found her groove in the 13th minute, collaborating with defender Samantha Sorich on a dazzling scoring sequence. Sorich blasted a free kick and the electric Dunaway, a two-time Chicagoland Soccer all-state player, cut between two defenders and forced Spartans’ keeper Emily Dziengel off her line. Dunaway won the race and got the first touch with a left-footed punch that eased past the on rushing Dziengel for the Indians’ first goal.
Dziengel was exceptional for the Spartans throughout the first half. Lane created repeated pressure, and she countered with some spectacular saves. The most impressive was a kick-stop off a short volley by Lisa Rios in the 17th minute.
She had five saves in the first half.
The teams appeared headed to halftime squared away at 1-1 apiece until a stunning final sequence. Off a free kick, St. Francis sophomore defender Katherine Lempke hammered a high and beautiful ball that caught Lane keeper Brianna Love off guard.
The ball took a sharp and unexpected angle and eluded the grasp of Love as Alex Salemy made an alert play to finish inside the box for a 2-1 Spartans lead.
After all of that St. Francis had the momentum and the Indians had to again look inside themselves and regroup.
“Our talk at halftime really helped us get our momentum back,” Dunaway said. “Coach V [Michelle Vale] is really good at firing us up at the beginning, and we came out in the second half stronger. We were down, so I think that motivated us to get back up and win this game.”
Lane was supercharged at the start of the second half. Dunaway slotted a ball to junior midfielder Camaron Niforos that she pushed just wide of the far post in the 42nd minute.
Dunaway maintained the pressure. She worked the left flank and drove the ball hard at Dziengel, who blocked the initial ball.
Senior midfielder Alana Coffman was perfectly positioned for the rebound touch for the Indians’ second goal to tie the game 2-2 in the 44th minute.
“We have a saying the start of every half, the first 45 seconds is about how we want to come out and play,” Coffman said.
“If you remember our Premier (Division) game with Whitney Young last year, we came back and scored 30 seconds after they scored to tie the game. Our big thing is coming back harder after each goal, whether it be ours or theirs.
“I think that goal [at the end of the first half] was disheartening, but one of our strengths is our ability to pick ourselves back up and play even harder.”
Just minutes, Coffman helped the Indians grab their first lead. Working about 35 yards out on the right wing, she slotted a ball to the middle that Niforos finished with a breathtaking goal, a left-footed blast that ripped past Dziengel inside the near post in the 38th minute.
“Camaron is such an impressive player,” Coffman said. “She goes from center midfielder to forward, and she started tonight at outside midfielder. She just thrives at every position.
“We have been playing together for so many years, I know exactly where she is going to be before she knows. We have a nice connection going on, which is helpful in finding her feet at the top of the box.”
This was the type of game where neither side could ever feel fully comfortable or secure in their status.
Lemke, a talented and versatile sophomore, helped nullify the Indians’ advantage when she caught a vulnerable Love off her line to clear a 50/50 ball that Lemke reached and hammered home inside the near post in 61st minute.
Lane has more depth than most programs. With Niforos out for much of the second half with a foot cramp Quinn had her moment, and she took advantage. A quick and explosive young talent, Quinn showed off her dangerous and creative opportunities.
“I got really nice balls from the center midfielders,” Quinn said. “I think on our team it is really nice, because we have so many options, and we have so many stronger players who can get us the ball, and we can get good touches.”
Quinn was bearing down on the St. Francis in the 66th minute when the official ruled she was fouled from behind in the penalty area after the Spartans’ defender was determined not to have made a play on the ball.
Quinn promptly stepped up and drilled the penalty kick inside the near post.
“Personally I have always been pretty good with penalty kicks, and I am very confident about them,” she said. “I just pick a side and go for it.”
To their credit, St. Francis did not go easy into the night. Rittenhouse had a ball skip off the top of the post in the 69th minute. She applied great pressure, and Lane had to summon all its disparate parts to hold off the Spartans.
St. Francis is frustrated by the outcomes of its early games. Records aside, it is clear they are a formidable team, and the wins are inevitable.
“We are trying to do too much at times, and you end up really hurting yourself,” Winslow said. “I have tried different kids at different spots, to give kids time and figure out who goes here and who goes there. That’s on me, but we are trying to get a feel for what we can do, especially trying to figure out how to free up Hannah more, or play four or five kids and try to see who else on our team can play on the flank.”
In scoring a goal and adding an assist and occasionally dropping back to slow down Rittenhouse, Coffman earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match distinction.
Lane always takes a great measure of satisfaction at beating teams outside of the city. As a first year participant in the tournament, the first victory was very memorable.
“Being four-time city champions, obviously that is important to us,” Dunaway said. “We want to prove we can play with the bigger teams, the teams they call the Big Dogs.
“We want to prove we can hang, and today we proved we could win.”
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK: Emily Dziengel
D: Jill DiTusa
D: Emma Armbrust
D: Katherine Lemke
D: Lauren Douglass
MF: Mickey Corrigan
MF: Julia Zeman
MF: Emily Thill
F: Adriana Rotondi
F: Julia Mills
F: Hannah Rittenhouse
Lane
GK: Brianna Love
D: Zehra Halilic
D: Alexis Dempsey
D: Samantha Sorich
D: Carlye Makuch
MF: Camaron Niforos
MF: Melissa Garcia
MF: Alana Coffman
MF: Sydney Varga
F: Grace Dunaway
F: Kayla Dutton
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Alana Coffman, sr., MF, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
St. Francis—Hannah Rittenhouse (unassisted), 4th minute
Lane—Grace Dunaway (Samantha Sorich), 13th minute
St. Francis—Alex Salemy (Katherine Lemke), 40th minute
Second half
Lane—Alana Coffman (Dunaway), 44th minute
Lane—Camaron Niforos (Coffman), 48th minute
St. Francis—Lemke (unassisted), 61st minute
Lane—Eily Quinn (penalty kick), 66th minute