So close proves so frustrating for Reavis
Rams scoring threats denied in 0-0 draw with Shepard
By Dave Owen
BURBANK -- Reavis’ speed and offensive punch ran head on into a strong goalkeeper and a run of bad luck.
The result: a 0-0 tie on Thursday with Shepard (0-6-3, 0-0-3 in conference), and postgame words from the host Rams (4-3-2, 1-0-2) that mixed superlatives with what-ifs.
“These girls put the blood, sweat and tears and the time in,” Reavis first-year coach Jeff Grider said. “It’s a great group of girls. Good vibes, they work hard; everything is there.”
With Reavis playing its third game in four days (having tied Bremen 1-1 on Monday and defeated Oak Lawn 4-1 on Tuesday), the Rams’ most exhausting moments Thursday seemed to stem from the mental strain of missed chances.
“It’s just a weird day,” Grider said. “We came up short (of scoring) -- but 20 shots, hats off to the girls. Everything before the game I asked for, they did it: be competitive; get numbers forward; let’s be a team out there. Unfortunately we just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.
“It’s a tough one,” Grider added, “but I’m really proud of the girls. They fought.”
From an offensive perspective, here was a quick summary of Reavis’ 20-shot day.
Star senior Litzy Corona routinely put on an open-field dribbling clinic to create space, but ensuing quality shots by Corona or her teammates either met with bad luck or great saves by Shepard senior goalkeeper Veronica Janik.
“Ever since I was a freshman, Reavis has always been a big rival,” said Janik, who shared MVP of the Match honors with Corona. “I also play basketball, and we had lost to them in a really close game this year.
“I was like, ‘You know what? This is my last time I have a chance at them. I’m going to play my best.’”
The first sign Janik was at her best came in the ninth minute, when she made a nice foot save on a Lily Saenz 10-yard liner.
The next seven minutes featured three more Reavis quality scoring bids.
Off a Jasmin Pascual cross in the 11th minute, Melenie Martinez’s straight-on 12-yard shot was denied on a diving grab by Janik.
Corona then began her relentless push to put the Rams on the board. Having already launched four shots, her next rocket 24:50 before halftime met an unlucky fate.
Dribbling in right and then across to the top of the box, Corona left-footed a rising 20-yard drive that caromed off the crossbar. Martinez followed with a nice short-hop rebound try on the wet field, but Janik grabbed the skidding shot to keep the score 0-0.
“She (Janik) made good plays,” said Reavis freshman midfielder Pascual. “But we did everything good today to be honest. We tried hard. But we just didn’t score.”
Corona’s crossbar denting seemed to only add to her fire. In the 22nd minute, she beat two defenders but had her 12-yard shot deflected wide by Janik.
In the 25th minute, Corona had a high 18-yard blast bravely blocked by defender Yuliania Valencia.
That play came in between two quality Corona sends on corner kicks. The first (in the 23rd minute) resulted in a 10-yard Alyssa Froylan header caught by Janik, and the second set up an Andy Flores 10-yard shot just over the net 11:20 before halftime.
As Reavis’ lone senior starter Thursday, Corona knows her role goes beyond scoring goals.
“I work hard and try to motivate them (the Rams’ younger players) to be the best players,” Corona said. “I want to win conference, and I want to go out there and teach these girls that no matter what, you need to keep going.
“The number one thing is discipline. You need to listen to your coaches and keep your head up. When girls are getting frustrated it just makes it worse for all of us, and it’s a bad game. Our mentality is to stay high.”
That wasn’t easy, as opportunities continued but the scoreboard remained locked at 0-0.
The two teams exchanged threats late in the first half.
In the 39th minute, a send by Shepard’s Gabby Taylor sprung Olivia Lopez on a 1-v.-1 run with Flores. But the Reavis sophomore defender won the loose ball and cleared the box.
Flores is part of Reavis’ group of freshman and sophomores making a huge early impact.
“Andy our center back, she’s one of the most coachable girls I’ve seen,” Grider said.
“Sandy Garcia’s a sophomore, and you could see the heart, the energy. Other girls thrive off that, and I thrive off that as a coach. And she’s so coachable. She listens.
“And Jasmin (Pascual),” Grider added, “a little freshy but she doesn’t play like one. And she’s still learning, adapting to the pace and the physicality. I think she’s going to be an impressive player here as long as she stays level-headed and keeps grinding.
“Plus we have a sophomore at goalie (Diana Gonzalez), and we’ve got some girls coming up. It’s exciting.”
Sophomores like midfielder Garcia are learning fast.
“You learn a lot from the older girls,” Garcia said, “especially Litzy because she’s such a good role model. We all work as a team, as an 11. We all work together.”
Senior Corona continued her own dominant play, turning a goal kick interception inside midfield into a 12-yard shot saved by Janik 30 seconds before halftime.
Under siege from an elite scorer, Janik hung tough.
“One thing I did was come out at her (Corona),” Janik said. “I wanted her to know I wasn’t afraid of her, and I wanted her to hopefully be afraid of me and what I was capable of doing.”
Whatever the fear factor on either side of the duel, neither Corona nor Janik ever let up.
And Reavis’ midfield showed hustle in routinely winning 50-50 goal kick sends throughout the second half to generate threats.
The first came with 35 minutes left, when such a win sprung Corona, whose pass set up a high 18-yard Pascual shot that Janik punched away.
Another frustrating chance followed with 33:20 left. Corona’s corner kick send to the front found Garcia, whose 10-yard shot in traffic was swatted away by Janik.
“She made a lot of good saves,” Corona said. “The one where we could have scored it, but she hit it upper 90 and it went out, that was crazy.”
Martinez followed with two more shots in the next five minutes, then another intercepted goal kick send with 27 minutes to go produced another Reavis blitz.
But Janik blocked Cami Valdez’s right side shot, and Garcia’s 20-yard long rebound was grabbed by Janik.
Grider saw positive performances from many players.
“Litzy, Lily, the girls have all been stepping up,” he said. “Today we just couldn’t put it in the back of the net.
“Alyssa (Froylan) really is the heart and soul of the team. She does so much of the dirty work. She wins tackles, she sets the tone, she’s just feisty. And that’s another thing people thrive off of.”
After Reavis’ dominance of chances over the first 60 minutes, Shepard answered with a strong finish.
But the Rams defense met the test. With 11:40 left, Gonzalez made a nice grab on Leah Rizzo’s 35-yard free kick that skipped on the soaked turf. Then 90 seconds later, a Shepard corner kick was headed upfield by Froylan.
With 7:50 to go, Corona’s steal and dribble drive fittingly produced the game’s last quality shot, a 25-yarder saved by Janik.
“Our keeper is probably the best in our area,” Shepard coach Colm McGhee said.
“(Corona) was a lefty, and we knew at the start of the second half to keep her to her left and force those far away shots because Veronica is going to save those all day. Then we got lucky with a few of those close ones.”
By luck or other means, 80 minutes ended in a frustrating draw for the Rams.
“I feel like we could have done way better,” Garcia said. “A lot of girls could have stepped up, not only our offensive players but our defensive players.
“We just needed to push up more. We were just staying back, and it didn’t happen. That didn’t help us.”
Said Corona: “I’m kind of frustrated because it was a beatable team, and we could have beat other teams (this year).”
But with a 3-1-2 record in their last six games, the Rams feel good moving forward.
“They did everything right – the intensity, the teamwork, the shape, the tactics,” Grider said of his team. “Everything is there.
“They’re grinders on this team; they’re really tough. And tomorrow we’ll get back at it, go back to practice, and I guarantee you we’ll work at finishing and come out strong. Everything will be just fine.”
Starting lineups
Shepard
GK: Veronica Janik
D: Yuliania Valencia
D: Jessie Eichweidel
D: Caroline Lepak
D: Paulina Slaby
M: Olivia Lopez
M: Rachel Lappano
M: Mariam Itani
M: Jasmine Iturbe
F: Leah Rizzo
F: Kira Longawa
Reavis
GK: Diana Gonzalez
D: Maggie Mrugala
D: Andy Flores
D: Simone Confederat
M: Alyssa Froylan
M: Melanie Martinez
M: Sandy Garcia
M: Jasmin Pascual
M: Cammi Valdez
F: Lily Saenz
F: Litzy Corona
Chicagoland MVPs of the Match: Litzy Corona, sr., F, Reavis
Veronica Janik, sr. GK, Shepard
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring
Rams scoring threats denied in 0-0 draw with Shepard
By Dave Owen
BURBANK -- Reavis’ speed and offensive punch ran head on into a strong goalkeeper and a run of bad luck.
The result: a 0-0 tie on Thursday with Shepard (0-6-3, 0-0-3 in conference), and postgame words from the host Rams (4-3-2, 1-0-2) that mixed superlatives with what-ifs.
“These girls put the blood, sweat and tears and the time in,” Reavis first-year coach Jeff Grider said. “It’s a great group of girls. Good vibes, they work hard; everything is there.”
With Reavis playing its third game in four days (having tied Bremen 1-1 on Monday and defeated Oak Lawn 4-1 on Tuesday), the Rams’ most exhausting moments Thursday seemed to stem from the mental strain of missed chances.
“It’s just a weird day,” Grider said. “We came up short (of scoring) -- but 20 shots, hats off to the girls. Everything before the game I asked for, they did it: be competitive; get numbers forward; let’s be a team out there. Unfortunately we just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.
“It’s a tough one,” Grider added, “but I’m really proud of the girls. They fought.”
From an offensive perspective, here was a quick summary of Reavis’ 20-shot day.
Star senior Litzy Corona routinely put on an open-field dribbling clinic to create space, but ensuing quality shots by Corona or her teammates either met with bad luck or great saves by Shepard senior goalkeeper Veronica Janik.
“Ever since I was a freshman, Reavis has always been a big rival,” said Janik, who shared MVP of the Match honors with Corona. “I also play basketball, and we had lost to them in a really close game this year.
“I was like, ‘You know what? This is my last time I have a chance at them. I’m going to play my best.’”
The first sign Janik was at her best came in the ninth minute, when she made a nice foot save on a Lily Saenz 10-yard liner.
The next seven minutes featured three more Reavis quality scoring bids.
Off a Jasmin Pascual cross in the 11th minute, Melenie Martinez’s straight-on 12-yard shot was denied on a diving grab by Janik.
Corona then began her relentless push to put the Rams on the board. Having already launched four shots, her next rocket 24:50 before halftime met an unlucky fate.
Dribbling in right and then across to the top of the box, Corona left-footed a rising 20-yard drive that caromed off the crossbar. Martinez followed with a nice short-hop rebound try on the wet field, but Janik grabbed the skidding shot to keep the score 0-0.
“She (Janik) made good plays,” said Reavis freshman midfielder Pascual. “But we did everything good today to be honest. We tried hard. But we just didn’t score.”
Corona’s crossbar denting seemed to only add to her fire. In the 22nd minute, she beat two defenders but had her 12-yard shot deflected wide by Janik.
In the 25th minute, Corona had a high 18-yard blast bravely blocked by defender Yuliania Valencia.
That play came in between two quality Corona sends on corner kicks. The first (in the 23rd minute) resulted in a 10-yard Alyssa Froylan header caught by Janik, and the second set up an Andy Flores 10-yard shot just over the net 11:20 before halftime.
As Reavis’ lone senior starter Thursday, Corona knows her role goes beyond scoring goals.
“I work hard and try to motivate them (the Rams’ younger players) to be the best players,” Corona said. “I want to win conference, and I want to go out there and teach these girls that no matter what, you need to keep going.
“The number one thing is discipline. You need to listen to your coaches and keep your head up. When girls are getting frustrated it just makes it worse for all of us, and it’s a bad game. Our mentality is to stay high.”
That wasn’t easy, as opportunities continued but the scoreboard remained locked at 0-0.
The two teams exchanged threats late in the first half.
In the 39th minute, a send by Shepard’s Gabby Taylor sprung Olivia Lopez on a 1-v.-1 run with Flores. But the Reavis sophomore defender won the loose ball and cleared the box.
Flores is part of Reavis’ group of freshman and sophomores making a huge early impact.
“Andy our center back, she’s one of the most coachable girls I’ve seen,” Grider said.
“Sandy Garcia’s a sophomore, and you could see the heart, the energy. Other girls thrive off that, and I thrive off that as a coach. And she’s so coachable. She listens.
“And Jasmin (Pascual),” Grider added, “a little freshy but she doesn’t play like one. And she’s still learning, adapting to the pace and the physicality. I think she’s going to be an impressive player here as long as she stays level-headed and keeps grinding.
“Plus we have a sophomore at goalie (Diana Gonzalez), and we’ve got some girls coming up. It’s exciting.”
Sophomores like midfielder Garcia are learning fast.
“You learn a lot from the older girls,” Garcia said, “especially Litzy because she’s such a good role model. We all work as a team, as an 11. We all work together.”
Senior Corona continued her own dominant play, turning a goal kick interception inside midfield into a 12-yard shot saved by Janik 30 seconds before halftime.
Under siege from an elite scorer, Janik hung tough.
“One thing I did was come out at her (Corona),” Janik said. “I wanted her to know I wasn’t afraid of her, and I wanted her to hopefully be afraid of me and what I was capable of doing.”
Whatever the fear factor on either side of the duel, neither Corona nor Janik ever let up.
And Reavis’ midfield showed hustle in routinely winning 50-50 goal kick sends throughout the second half to generate threats.
The first came with 35 minutes left, when such a win sprung Corona, whose pass set up a high 18-yard Pascual shot that Janik punched away.
Another frustrating chance followed with 33:20 left. Corona’s corner kick send to the front found Garcia, whose 10-yard shot in traffic was swatted away by Janik.
“She made a lot of good saves,” Corona said. “The one where we could have scored it, but she hit it upper 90 and it went out, that was crazy.”
Martinez followed with two more shots in the next five minutes, then another intercepted goal kick send with 27 minutes to go produced another Reavis blitz.
But Janik blocked Cami Valdez’s right side shot, and Garcia’s 20-yard long rebound was grabbed by Janik.
Grider saw positive performances from many players.
“Litzy, Lily, the girls have all been stepping up,” he said. “Today we just couldn’t put it in the back of the net.
“Alyssa (Froylan) really is the heart and soul of the team. She does so much of the dirty work. She wins tackles, she sets the tone, she’s just feisty. And that’s another thing people thrive off of.”
After Reavis’ dominance of chances over the first 60 minutes, Shepard answered with a strong finish.
But the Rams defense met the test. With 11:40 left, Gonzalez made a nice grab on Leah Rizzo’s 35-yard free kick that skipped on the soaked turf. Then 90 seconds later, a Shepard corner kick was headed upfield by Froylan.
With 7:50 to go, Corona’s steal and dribble drive fittingly produced the game’s last quality shot, a 25-yarder saved by Janik.
“Our keeper is probably the best in our area,” Shepard coach Colm McGhee said.
“(Corona) was a lefty, and we knew at the start of the second half to keep her to her left and force those far away shots because Veronica is going to save those all day. Then we got lucky with a few of those close ones.”
By luck or other means, 80 minutes ended in a frustrating draw for the Rams.
“I feel like we could have done way better,” Garcia said. “A lot of girls could have stepped up, not only our offensive players but our defensive players.
“We just needed to push up more. We were just staying back, and it didn’t happen. That didn’t help us.”
Said Corona: “I’m kind of frustrated because it was a beatable team, and we could have beat other teams (this year).”
But with a 3-1-2 record in their last six games, the Rams feel good moving forward.
“They did everything right – the intensity, the teamwork, the shape, the tactics,” Grider said of his team. “Everything is there.
“They’re grinders on this team; they’re really tough. And tomorrow we’ll get back at it, go back to practice, and I guarantee you we’ll work at finishing and come out strong. Everything will be just fine.”
Starting lineups
Shepard
GK: Veronica Janik
D: Yuliania Valencia
D: Jessie Eichweidel
D: Caroline Lepak
D: Paulina Slaby
M: Olivia Lopez
M: Rachel Lappano
M: Mariam Itani
M: Jasmine Iturbe
F: Leah Rizzo
F: Kira Longawa
Reavis
GK: Diana Gonzalez
D: Maggie Mrugala
D: Andy Flores
D: Simone Confederat
M: Alyssa Froylan
M: Melanie Martinez
M: Sandy Garcia
M: Jasmin Pascual
M: Cammi Valdez
F: Lily Saenz
F: Litzy Corona
Chicagoland MVPs of the Match: Litzy Corona, sr., F, Reavis
Veronica Janik, sr. GK, Shepard
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring