Confident Sands leads
Lake Forest past St. Francis
Early PK sets tone, Scouts end Deep Dish Classic with 3-0 win
By Michael Wojtychiw
LAKE FOREST -- It takes a certain type of person to feel comfortable walking to the penalty spot to try to put the ball past the keeper.
Earlier in the season, Lake Forest manager Ty Stuckslager asked his team in a practice who wanted to take penalty kicks and everyone raised their hands. He then added a caveat: if the shooter missed, the whole team would have to run after practice.
Only one player still volunteered to take the shot: defender Hanna Sands. Luckily for the team, the sophomore didn’t miss.
Sands found herself in a similar situation in a Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic consolation game Saturday against St. Francis; she came through again.
After a teammate drew a foul in the box in the game’s seventh minute, Sands walked up the penalty mark looking to not only give her team its first lead of the tournament, but also score its first goal of the tournament as well.
Sands buried the kick past Spartans’ keeper Kennedy Karl to set off a celebration.
“When I get out there, I tell myself that ‘It’s easy. It’s a huge goal. You got this. You’re going to make this,'” Sands said. “I pick a side but not make it obvious and decide that that’s where I’m going, lock it in and focus on making it like a fast pass into the corner.”
For the Scouts, it’s been a struggle scoring this year; the team has been shut out in five of its six losses. That, however, wouldn’t be an issue for the Scouts on Saturday. They added two more goals to bring home a commanding 3-0 win.
“It was nice for them to score,” Stuckslager said. “We’ve been working hard and talking about how all the teams in the tournament are tough. We just haven’t had that breakthrough to get that opportunity. That goal emphasized the hard work they’ve put in.
“It’s great for the girls to finally see it paying off, and it went our way.”
For the first half of the first half, the Scouts (3-6-0) put a lot of pressure on the St. Francis defense, earning two early corners, forcing Karl to make two saves and putting two shots over the goal.
For Sands, it was good to see her team come out aggressively, especially early.
St. Francis (1-6-0) settled in after that first stretch of the first half and started to gain more confidence in its play.
The Spartans, who started seven freshmen and sophomores, have been struggling to stay consistent so far this season, something that manager Jim Winslow knows will come eventually.
“We’re not consistent right now, and that’s the sign of a young team,” Winslow said. “Right now, they need to not worry about what they’re doing right or wrong on the field and just play. You have to let the game come to you and not overthink it.”
St. Francis’ freshman defender Elle Wainscott got the Spartans into numerous opportunities by placing multiple free kicks into potentially dangerous opportunities.
Her six free kicks in the first half helped threaten the home team, but none of the opportunities came to fruition.
Lake Forest was able to get back on the board again 12 minutes into the second half when junior forward Maeve Bradley dialed up a shot from left of the goal. Her shot deflected off a Spartans defender and went into the goal.
The second half saw the Scouts get more consistent pressure into the St. Francis zone. Deeper runs forced the visitors defense to step up and make key plays to keep the deficit at two goals.
“At the end of the first half, I thought we picked it up and played better,” Winslow said. “The beginning of the second half, we started to play well. But that second goal killed us. We didn’t respond to it.”
“After having a first half that was better than some of our others earlier in the year … we’ve had some rough first halves this year, we were more confident,” Sands said. “We had the energy. We wanted it more, and we ended up showing it.”
“The second half, the girls wanted to prove that they could do it,” Stuckslagger said. “The girls did a great job putting them under pressure and the talk about that was that if you put teams under pressure, good things happen.
“And we’re not just talking technically or tactically, it’s just the physical sense of putting them in panic mode.”
Lake Forest’s persistence paid off when Ashleigh Rupprecht put in a ball from Elizabeth Flynn with just under four minutes remaining that closed out the scoring.
Despite both teams’ struggles during the tournament, they learned a lot about themselves and who they are as they go into their respective conference season.
“We learned what we’re good at and to play into our strengths and less scared,” Sands said. “As the tournament went along, we got into a groove. The first few games were rough, but we took our anger from that and turned it into positive energy.”
St. Francis remains a work in progress.
“We’ve got to learn how to be consistent, that’s the hardest part,” Winslow said. “Our back four has done a great job. Thursday they were fantastic. Running out the same group for every game helps with that, now we just have to build on it.”
For Lake Forest, the North Suburban Conference season starts off tough. The Scouts begin with no. 8 Stevenson in Tuesday’s league opener. The Patriots won their group before falling in the Malnati’s semifinals.
“We talk about it’s not the result that dictates things or defines who we are,” Stuckslager said. “We just strive to be better every time. The score is just the icing on the cake.”
St. Francis, on the other hand, will go back into playing teams more its size or smaller. The Spartans meet Chicago Christian later this week.
Winslow hopes to have a couple more of his players back from injuries this week, something that should help the Spartans success.
“We start getting healthy next week, and that’ll be good,” he said. “It’ll help us to have more of our lineup back.
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK: Kennedy Karl
D: Alyssa Suriano
D: Ada Suriano
D: Elle Wainscott
MF: Olivia Basel
MF: Shannon Brown
MF: Claire Reinke
MF: Sara Dziengel
F: Lauren Bruce
F: Ella Wozniak
F: Ellie Bielenda
Lake Forest
GK: Sarah Constantine
D: Hanna Sands
D: Charlotte Andress
D: Alexandra Fontana
MF: Sophie Benjakul
MF: Emerson Waddle
MF: Lainey Tabor
MF: Kathy Peterson-Ross
F: Lily Cran
F: Ava Walsh
F: Ashleigh Rupprecht
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Hanna Sands, so., D, Lake Forest
Scoring summary
First half
Lake Forest - Hanna Sands (PK), 7th minute
Second half
Lake Forest - Maeve Bradley (unassisted), 52nd minute
Lake Forest - Ashleigh Rupprecht (Elizabeth Flynn), 77th minute
Lake Forest past St. Francis
Early PK sets tone, Scouts end Deep Dish Classic with 3-0 win
By Michael Wojtychiw
LAKE FOREST -- It takes a certain type of person to feel comfortable walking to the penalty spot to try to put the ball past the keeper.
Earlier in the season, Lake Forest manager Ty Stuckslager asked his team in a practice who wanted to take penalty kicks and everyone raised their hands. He then added a caveat: if the shooter missed, the whole team would have to run after practice.
Only one player still volunteered to take the shot: defender Hanna Sands. Luckily for the team, the sophomore didn’t miss.
Sands found herself in a similar situation in a Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic consolation game Saturday against St. Francis; she came through again.
After a teammate drew a foul in the box in the game’s seventh minute, Sands walked up the penalty mark looking to not only give her team its first lead of the tournament, but also score its first goal of the tournament as well.
Sands buried the kick past Spartans’ keeper Kennedy Karl to set off a celebration.
“When I get out there, I tell myself that ‘It’s easy. It’s a huge goal. You got this. You’re going to make this,'” Sands said. “I pick a side but not make it obvious and decide that that’s where I’m going, lock it in and focus on making it like a fast pass into the corner.”
For the Scouts, it’s been a struggle scoring this year; the team has been shut out in five of its six losses. That, however, wouldn’t be an issue for the Scouts on Saturday. They added two more goals to bring home a commanding 3-0 win.
“It was nice for them to score,” Stuckslager said. “We’ve been working hard and talking about how all the teams in the tournament are tough. We just haven’t had that breakthrough to get that opportunity. That goal emphasized the hard work they’ve put in.
“It’s great for the girls to finally see it paying off, and it went our way.”
For the first half of the first half, the Scouts (3-6-0) put a lot of pressure on the St. Francis defense, earning two early corners, forcing Karl to make two saves and putting two shots over the goal.
For Sands, it was good to see her team come out aggressively, especially early.
St. Francis (1-6-0) settled in after that first stretch of the first half and started to gain more confidence in its play.
The Spartans, who started seven freshmen and sophomores, have been struggling to stay consistent so far this season, something that manager Jim Winslow knows will come eventually.
“We’re not consistent right now, and that’s the sign of a young team,” Winslow said. “Right now, they need to not worry about what they’re doing right or wrong on the field and just play. You have to let the game come to you and not overthink it.”
St. Francis’ freshman defender Elle Wainscott got the Spartans into numerous opportunities by placing multiple free kicks into potentially dangerous opportunities.
Her six free kicks in the first half helped threaten the home team, but none of the opportunities came to fruition.
Lake Forest was able to get back on the board again 12 minutes into the second half when junior forward Maeve Bradley dialed up a shot from left of the goal. Her shot deflected off a Spartans defender and went into the goal.
The second half saw the Scouts get more consistent pressure into the St. Francis zone. Deeper runs forced the visitors defense to step up and make key plays to keep the deficit at two goals.
“At the end of the first half, I thought we picked it up and played better,” Winslow said. “The beginning of the second half, we started to play well. But that second goal killed us. We didn’t respond to it.”
“After having a first half that was better than some of our others earlier in the year … we’ve had some rough first halves this year, we were more confident,” Sands said. “We had the energy. We wanted it more, and we ended up showing it.”
“The second half, the girls wanted to prove that they could do it,” Stuckslagger said. “The girls did a great job putting them under pressure and the talk about that was that if you put teams under pressure, good things happen.
“And we’re not just talking technically or tactically, it’s just the physical sense of putting them in panic mode.”
Lake Forest’s persistence paid off when Ashleigh Rupprecht put in a ball from Elizabeth Flynn with just under four minutes remaining that closed out the scoring.
Despite both teams’ struggles during the tournament, they learned a lot about themselves and who they are as they go into their respective conference season.
“We learned what we’re good at and to play into our strengths and less scared,” Sands said. “As the tournament went along, we got into a groove. The first few games were rough, but we took our anger from that and turned it into positive energy.”
St. Francis remains a work in progress.
“We’ve got to learn how to be consistent, that’s the hardest part,” Winslow said. “Our back four has done a great job. Thursday they were fantastic. Running out the same group for every game helps with that, now we just have to build on it.”
For Lake Forest, the North Suburban Conference season starts off tough. The Scouts begin with no. 8 Stevenson in Tuesday’s league opener. The Patriots won their group before falling in the Malnati’s semifinals.
“We talk about it’s not the result that dictates things or defines who we are,” Stuckslager said. “We just strive to be better every time. The score is just the icing on the cake.”
St. Francis, on the other hand, will go back into playing teams more its size or smaller. The Spartans meet Chicago Christian later this week.
Winslow hopes to have a couple more of his players back from injuries this week, something that should help the Spartans success.
“We start getting healthy next week, and that’ll be good,” he said. “It’ll help us to have more of our lineup back.
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK: Kennedy Karl
D: Alyssa Suriano
D: Ada Suriano
D: Elle Wainscott
MF: Olivia Basel
MF: Shannon Brown
MF: Claire Reinke
MF: Sara Dziengel
F: Lauren Bruce
F: Ella Wozniak
F: Ellie Bielenda
Lake Forest
GK: Sarah Constantine
D: Hanna Sands
D: Charlotte Andress
D: Alexandra Fontana
MF: Sophie Benjakul
MF: Emerson Waddle
MF: Lainey Tabor
MF: Kathy Peterson-Ross
F: Lily Cran
F: Ava Walsh
F: Ashleigh Rupprecht
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Hanna Sands, so., D, Lake Forest
Scoring summary
First half
Lake Forest - Hanna Sands (PK), 7th minute
Second half
Lake Forest - Maeve Bradley (unassisted), 52nd minute
Lake Forest - Ashleigh Rupprecht (Elizabeth Flynn), 77th minute