Free kick undoes Trinity rally
Blazers fight back from 2-goal deficit, but fall 3-2 to Willows
By Ken Keenan
MELROSE PARK -- Two quick goals by Trinity in the second half knotted the score at 2-2 against Willows Thursday afternoon at Serpico Memorial Field, but the visiting Eagles had the answer. Their late strike nailed down a 3-2 win.
The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Blazers, who fell to 3-2-0 after dropping the nonconference match.
Trailing 2-0 in a physical affair that saw Trinity lose a pair of starters to injury -- sophomore defender Nora Clements and temporarily junior forward Natalia Guerra -- the Blazers cut the lead in half in the 54th minute when sophomore forward Caroline Leyden scored on a short shot in traffic past Willows junior goalkeeper Kathryn Stangel.
Trinity junior forward Natalie Maite earned the assist, and then followed suit just two minutes later, steering a sharp pass to Leyden in-close for a tap-in -- and a 2-2 deadlock.
"We changed our positioning at halftime ... made an adjustment," Leyden said. "After we scored to make it 2-1, I thought, 'We have to tie or win.'"
A tremendous, leaping save by Blazers junior keeper Cristina Olmos on a wicked, 25-yard blast by Willows sophomore midfielder Ashleigh Fischer in the 59th minute kept things even. Fischer then fired wide-right after settling the ensuing corner kick.
But Fischer, Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match, didn't miss on her next attempt. Sizing up a 40-yard free kick from the far left side, Fischer sent a blistering rocket that sailed over the outstretched arms of Olmos and into the top left corner for a 3-2 Willows lead with 15 minutes remaining in the contest.
"My plan was to aim up-top, so it's harder for the goalie to stop," Fischer said. "I've practiced that shot a lot, so I wasn't surprised it went in. But it felt amazing. The rush I got from scoring that goal was the same as the final whistle when we won."
Though Fischer admitted that Trinity gained the momentum after tying the score, she said the Eagles didn't allow that to get the best of them.
"At 2-0, I felt we had it in the bag," Fischer said. "At 2-2, we could have got down on ourselves. But we stayed positive and said we're not gonna give up, no matter what."
Willows head coach Leah Kartsimas, whose squad improved to 4-1-0 with the win, said, "I don't think we let up. Maybe a little miscommunication (on Trinity's goals), and keeping the momentum, we dropped a bit. But we always play like it's 0-0 anyway, so we still had faith in each other and trust in each other."
Added Kartsimas: "We didn't stop. The game's not over until the final horn."
Fischer opened the scoring in the 10th minute, taking a pass from junior mid Theresa Presberg and firing from the right side into the left corner past Olmos. Three minutes later, Fischer missed high and wide from a sharp angle, and Eagles senior mid Kailey Mongoven misfired wide-left with a left-footed try during the same sequence.
Looking for the equalizer, Trinity sophomore midfielder Isabella Whitlock uncorked a hard, left-footed strike from 20 yards that was stopped by Stangel in the 28th minute, and freshman defender Bridget Whiteside shot wide-right with 10 minutes to go in the opening session.
Whiteside also sent a 35-yard bouncing shot that Stangel handled with ease in the 37th minute, and Willows entered the break with a 1-0 lead.
Seven minutes into the second half, Leyden stole a ball deep in Willows territory and delivered a cross from the left side side that skipped through the box. Returning to action, Guerra smacked a solid, 40-yard free kick that Stangel snared in juggling fashion with 30 minutes remaining.
Willows upped the advantage to 2-0 with 27 minutes to go when senior forward Fransi Inguanti popped in the rebound of a shot by freshman forward Emma Dunaway.
Soon after, the Blazers struck for the pair of goals to make it 2-2. But Willows shut the door from there, including a save by Stangel to spoil a try by Whiteside from 15 yards on the right side in the 75th minute.
"We were not going to give up," Guerra said. "We fought to the end."
First-year Trinity head coach Kyle McClure said the early deficit served as "a wake-up call," resulting from his players possibly looking ahead to the upcoming spring break.
"We may have had that 'spring break' mindset at first," McClure said. "We came out not aggressive enough. But we fought back, so I was happy with the comeback. If we had that mentality from the start, it wouldn't have been 2-0. You have to come out with an aggressive mindset.
"At the same time, we did tie it, and at 2-2 the game can go either way. I like the way we fought. We stayed in the game and never gave up."
In the bigger picture, McClure is seeking to stabilize a program that has experienced a revolving door of coaches in recent years.
"It's not always just about the result," he said. "We're very young, only two seniors (midfielder/defender Christina Martinez and defender Tabitha Mucci), so it's about figuring out the type of soccer we want to play. That's the most important thing. Another thing is our overall conditioning. We're not at the fitness level we need to be, so we want to do some open gyms, some summer workouts ... change the culture a bit.
"I think the future is exciting for the program. We expect to get things established and put in place."
Added Leyden: "The key is to learn from everything we do and keep going -- and keep a positive attitude."
Starting lineups
Willows
G: Kathryn Stangel
D: Bridget Mongoven
D: Celia Coyle
D: Ana Kagan
D: Mary Grace Kenny
M: Ashleigh Fischer
M: Kailey Mongoven
M: Theresa Presberg
M: Claire Kelly
F: Fransi Inguanti
F: Grace Chapello
Trinity
G: Cristina Olmos
D: Bridget Whiteside
D: Nora Clements
D: Daniela Olmos
M: Antonella Rivoir
M: Natalia Guerra
M: Christina Martinez
M: Grace McCaughey
M: Jessica Olmos
F: Natalie Maite
F: Patricia Aguilar
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Ashleigh Fischer, so., MF, Willows
Officials: Gary Dulaney, Hector Santacruz, Humberto Ramirez
Scoring summary
First half
Willows: Ashleigh Fischer (assisted by Theresa Presberg) in 10th minute
Second half
Willows: Fransi Inguanti (assisted by Emma Dunaway) in 53rd minute
Trinity: Caroline Leyden (assisted by Natalie Maite) in 54th minute
Trinity: Leyden (assisted by Maite) in 56th minute
Willows: Fischer (unassisted) in 65th minute
Blazers fight back from 2-goal deficit, but fall 3-2 to Willows
By Ken Keenan
MELROSE PARK -- Two quick goals by Trinity in the second half knotted the score at 2-2 against Willows Thursday afternoon at Serpico Memorial Field, but the visiting Eagles had the answer. Their late strike nailed down a 3-2 win.
The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Blazers, who fell to 3-2-0 after dropping the nonconference match.
Trailing 2-0 in a physical affair that saw Trinity lose a pair of starters to injury -- sophomore defender Nora Clements and temporarily junior forward Natalia Guerra -- the Blazers cut the lead in half in the 54th minute when sophomore forward Caroline Leyden scored on a short shot in traffic past Willows junior goalkeeper Kathryn Stangel.
Trinity junior forward Natalie Maite earned the assist, and then followed suit just two minutes later, steering a sharp pass to Leyden in-close for a tap-in -- and a 2-2 deadlock.
"We changed our positioning at halftime ... made an adjustment," Leyden said. "After we scored to make it 2-1, I thought, 'We have to tie or win.'"
A tremendous, leaping save by Blazers junior keeper Cristina Olmos on a wicked, 25-yard blast by Willows sophomore midfielder Ashleigh Fischer in the 59th minute kept things even. Fischer then fired wide-right after settling the ensuing corner kick.
But Fischer, Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match, didn't miss on her next attempt. Sizing up a 40-yard free kick from the far left side, Fischer sent a blistering rocket that sailed over the outstretched arms of Olmos and into the top left corner for a 3-2 Willows lead with 15 minutes remaining in the contest.
"My plan was to aim up-top, so it's harder for the goalie to stop," Fischer said. "I've practiced that shot a lot, so I wasn't surprised it went in. But it felt amazing. The rush I got from scoring that goal was the same as the final whistle when we won."
Though Fischer admitted that Trinity gained the momentum after tying the score, she said the Eagles didn't allow that to get the best of them.
"At 2-0, I felt we had it in the bag," Fischer said. "At 2-2, we could have got down on ourselves. But we stayed positive and said we're not gonna give up, no matter what."
Willows head coach Leah Kartsimas, whose squad improved to 4-1-0 with the win, said, "I don't think we let up. Maybe a little miscommunication (on Trinity's goals), and keeping the momentum, we dropped a bit. But we always play like it's 0-0 anyway, so we still had faith in each other and trust in each other."
Added Kartsimas: "We didn't stop. The game's not over until the final horn."
Fischer opened the scoring in the 10th minute, taking a pass from junior mid Theresa Presberg and firing from the right side into the left corner past Olmos. Three minutes later, Fischer missed high and wide from a sharp angle, and Eagles senior mid Kailey Mongoven misfired wide-left with a left-footed try during the same sequence.
Looking for the equalizer, Trinity sophomore midfielder Isabella Whitlock uncorked a hard, left-footed strike from 20 yards that was stopped by Stangel in the 28th minute, and freshman defender Bridget Whiteside shot wide-right with 10 minutes to go in the opening session.
Whiteside also sent a 35-yard bouncing shot that Stangel handled with ease in the 37th minute, and Willows entered the break with a 1-0 lead.
Seven minutes into the second half, Leyden stole a ball deep in Willows territory and delivered a cross from the left side side that skipped through the box. Returning to action, Guerra smacked a solid, 40-yard free kick that Stangel snared in juggling fashion with 30 minutes remaining.
Willows upped the advantage to 2-0 with 27 minutes to go when senior forward Fransi Inguanti popped in the rebound of a shot by freshman forward Emma Dunaway.
Soon after, the Blazers struck for the pair of goals to make it 2-2. But Willows shut the door from there, including a save by Stangel to spoil a try by Whiteside from 15 yards on the right side in the 75th minute.
"We were not going to give up," Guerra said. "We fought to the end."
First-year Trinity head coach Kyle McClure said the early deficit served as "a wake-up call," resulting from his players possibly looking ahead to the upcoming spring break.
"We may have had that 'spring break' mindset at first," McClure said. "We came out not aggressive enough. But we fought back, so I was happy with the comeback. If we had that mentality from the start, it wouldn't have been 2-0. You have to come out with an aggressive mindset.
"At the same time, we did tie it, and at 2-2 the game can go either way. I like the way we fought. We stayed in the game and never gave up."
In the bigger picture, McClure is seeking to stabilize a program that has experienced a revolving door of coaches in recent years.
"It's not always just about the result," he said. "We're very young, only two seniors (midfielder/defender Christina Martinez and defender Tabitha Mucci), so it's about figuring out the type of soccer we want to play. That's the most important thing. Another thing is our overall conditioning. We're not at the fitness level we need to be, so we want to do some open gyms, some summer workouts ... change the culture a bit.
"I think the future is exciting for the program. We expect to get things established and put in place."
Added Leyden: "The key is to learn from everything we do and keep going -- and keep a positive attitude."
Starting lineups
Willows
G: Kathryn Stangel
D: Bridget Mongoven
D: Celia Coyle
D: Ana Kagan
D: Mary Grace Kenny
M: Ashleigh Fischer
M: Kailey Mongoven
M: Theresa Presberg
M: Claire Kelly
F: Fransi Inguanti
F: Grace Chapello
Trinity
G: Cristina Olmos
D: Bridget Whiteside
D: Nora Clements
D: Daniela Olmos
M: Antonella Rivoir
M: Natalia Guerra
M: Christina Martinez
M: Grace McCaughey
M: Jessica Olmos
F: Natalie Maite
F: Patricia Aguilar
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Ashleigh Fischer, so., MF, Willows
Officials: Gary Dulaney, Hector Santacruz, Humberto Ramirez
Scoring summary
First half
Willows: Ashleigh Fischer (assisted by Theresa Presberg) in 10th minute
Second half
Willows: Fransi Inguanti (assisted by Emma Dunaway) in 53rd minute
Trinity: Caroline Leyden (assisted by Natalie Maite) in 54th minute
Trinity: Leyden (assisted by Maite) in 56th minute
Willows: Fischer (unassisted) in 65th minute