Focused Schomig leads
Wheaton North past Lake Park
Senior converts open chance to give Falcons 1-0 DVC road win
By Ken Keenan
ROSELLE -- Wheaton North senior forward Sammie Schomig found herself in the right place at the right time against host Lake Park in DuPage Valley Conference action Tuesday night.
Facing a wide-open cage after finding a tipped cross from senior forward Kate Kortenhoeven, Schomig made the most of the moment, firing in a low, hard shot from the left side with 21:01 remaining in the second half to give the Falcons a 1-0 victory.
"I saw the ball at my feet, and I thought, 'Just take a second ... stay composed and put the ball in,'" said Schomig, Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match.
Falcons head coach Tim McEvilly, who saw his team improve to 3-7-0 overall and 1-1-0 with its first league win of the season, said it's not as easy as it looks to finish a so-called "gimme."
"(Schomig) did a nice job ... maintained composure and slotted it home," he said. "It's easy to get too excited when the ball slips across right to you like that. Sometimes you have too much time to think."
Meanwhile, Lake Park skipper Sean Crosby was thinking about what might have happened if Kortenhoeven's pass hadn't ricocheted right to the waiting Schomig.
"The ball goes through, and unfortunately we deflected it to the wrong spot," said Crosby, whose squad fell to 2-10-0, 0-3-0 with the loss, which came after a two-game winning streak. "You can't blame the backline, the goalkeeper. It's just unfortunate -- not much you can do. You do everything right for 60, 65 minutes, and a goal sneaks in."
Lancers goalkeeper Amanda Reining, a softball player by trade who joined the team last week after starting keeper Sarah Yochem suffered a foot injury in practice, had little chance to stop Schomig's strike. Reining also showed little fear in just her second time between the pipes, thwarting several solid tries by the Falcons to keep the match scoreless for nearly 60 minutes.
"It's totally different than what I'm used to, but I wasn't nervous at all," the low-key Reining said. "It's really fun."
The senior had the answer for a wide-angle try from the right side by Kortenhoeven in the 10th minute, snared a 30-yard shot by Falcons junior midfielder Sarah Brcka three minutes later, and then made a juggling save on a pop-up shot by sophomore mid Riley Winckler with 10:20 to go before the break.
In the 36th minute, Reining stayed low to snag a 30-yard dipping try by Wheaton North junior mid Abby Atkinson, and she also corralled a curving 25-yard strike by Winckler with 1:10 left in the first half.
"She came in for Yochem and stepped up ... fit right in and just played," Crosby said. "She plays the game very even-keeled, as if she's been here all along. Very impressive."
The Falcons had a few more cracks at Reining early in the second half, including a sharp, left-footed turnaround shot by shifty senior forward Kailee Sowers that sailed high in the 47th minute, a 30-yard free kick by senior defender Jaden Trometer that bounced to the keeper 40 seconds later, and a 25-yard whistler by junior forward Kate McKee with 29:50 remaining in regulation.
Less than 2 minutes before Schomig dented the twine, Brcka sent a short chip shot wide-left.
"That goal was something we'd been missing the first 40 or 50 minutes," McEvilly said. "But then we couldn't find the composure to put the game away, and that gave Lake Park a chance late."
Indeed, the Falcons' tally did seem to set off the alarm clock for the Lancers, who pushed hard for the equalizer down the stretch.
"After the goal, we needed to fight harder, and we got close at the end," said Lake Park senior mid Jaclyn Lamz.
Wheaton North senior keeper Ava Lynch kept the shutout intact with a spectacular, one-handed leaping save to deny a try by sophomore mid Lili Giron following a well-placed corner by freshman midfielder Ann Marie Ahrens with 5:20 left. Then, with merely 2 minutes to go, a strong 35-yard free kick by Lake Park senior defender Stephanie Zachemski barely missed high and wide to the left.
"Lili's try, that nearly dropped in," Crosby said. "And then Steph's free kick -- inches away. It could have been 1-1.
"The spirit, the passion, the energy, it's there," Crosby continued. "With the spirit and the fight we have, we'll get back to some wins."
In the end, Wheaton North counted its third win in four matches following a 5-0 loss to Naperville North on April 4 that marked the Falcons' sixth-consecutive defeat to open the season.
"After the Naperville North loss, we decided we were starting the season over," Sowers said. "We embraced that with open arms, and things are going well now."
Added Schomig: "I think this win will definitely boost our confidence even more. We want to end this year on a big note, and this will keep pushing us that way."
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
G: Ava Lynch
D: Micaela Van Meter
D: Jaden Trometer
D: Rachel Brady
M: Sarah Brcka
M: Stacie Galo
M: Kristen Szumski
M: Anna Warfield
F: Kailee Sowers
F: Kate McKee
F: Kate Kortenhoeven
Lake Park
G: Amanda Reining
D: Elizabeth Guenther
D: Sarah Novak
D: Stephanie Zachemski
D: Emma Thorne
D: Amber Sedwick
M: Jaclyn Lamz
M: Lauren Tarchala
M: Anna Marie Ahrens
M: Brianna McAloon
F: Cyndi Martinez
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Sammie Schomig, sr. F, Wheaton North
Officials: Robert Mulhim, Justin O'Bryan, Chris Bajorek
Scoring summary
Second half
1. Wheaton North: Sammie Schomig (assisted by Kate Kortenhoeven) in 59th minute
Wheaton North past Lake Park
Senior converts open chance to give Falcons 1-0 DVC road win
By Ken Keenan
ROSELLE -- Wheaton North senior forward Sammie Schomig found herself in the right place at the right time against host Lake Park in DuPage Valley Conference action Tuesday night.
Facing a wide-open cage after finding a tipped cross from senior forward Kate Kortenhoeven, Schomig made the most of the moment, firing in a low, hard shot from the left side with 21:01 remaining in the second half to give the Falcons a 1-0 victory.
"I saw the ball at my feet, and I thought, 'Just take a second ... stay composed and put the ball in,'" said Schomig, Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match.
Falcons head coach Tim McEvilly, who saw his team improve to 3-7-0 overall and 1-1-0 with its first league win of the season, said it's not as easy as it looks to finish a so-called "gimme."
"(Schomig) did a nice job ... maintained composure and slotted it home," he said. "It's easy to get too excited when the ball slips across right to you like that. Sometimes you have too much time to think."
Meanwhile, Lake Park skipper Sean Crosby was thinking about what might have happened if Kortenhoeven's pass hadn't ricocheted right to the waiting Schomig.
"The ball goes through, and unfortunately we deflected it to the wrong spot," said Crosby, whose squad fell to 2-10-0, 0-3-0 with the loss, which came after a two-game winning streak. "You can't blame the backline, the goalkeeper. It's just unfortunate -- not much you can do. You do everything right for 60, 65 minutes, and a goal sneaks in."
Lancers goalkeeper Amanda Reining, a softball player by trade who joined the team last week after starting keeper Sarah Yochem suffered a foot injury in practice, had little chance to stop Schomig's strike. Reining also showed little fear in just her second time between the pipes, thwarting several solid tries by the Falcons to keep the match scoreless for nearly 60 minutes.
"It's totally different than what I'm used to, but I wasn't nervous at all," the low-key Reining said. "It's really fun."
The senior had the answer for a wide-angle try from the right side by Kortenhoeven in the 10th minute, snared a 30-yard shot by Falcons junior midfielder Sarah Brcka three minutes later, and then made a juggling save on a pop-up shot by sophomore mid Riley Winckler with 10:20 to go before the break.
In the 36th minute, Reining stayed low to snag a 30-yard dipping try by Wheaton North junior mid Abby Atkinson, and she also corralled a curving 25-yard strike by Winckler with 1:10 left in the first half.
"She came in for Yochem and stepped up ... fit right in and just played," Crosby said. "She plays the game very even-keeled, as if she's been here all along. Very impressive."
The Falcons had a few more cracks at Reining early in the second half, including a sharp, left-footed turnaround shot by shifty senior forward Kailee Sowers that sailed high in the 47th minute, a 30-yard free kick by senior defender Jaden Trometer that bounced to the keeper 40 seconds later, and a 25-yard whistler by junior forward Kate McKee with 29:50 remaining in regulation.
Less than 2 minutes before Schomig dented the twine, Brcka sent a short chip shot wide-left.
"That goal was something we'd been missing the first 40 or 50 minutes," McEvilly said. "But then we couldn't find the composure to put the game away, and that gave Lake Park a chance late."
Indeed, the Falcons' tally did seem to set off the alarm clock for the Lancers, who pushed hard for the equalizer down the stretch.
"After the goal, we needed to fight harder, and we got close at the end," said Lake Park senior mid Jaclyn Lamz.
Wheaton North senior keeper Ava Lynch kept the shutout intact with a spectacular, one-handed leaping save to deny a try by sophomore mid Lili Giron following a well-placed corner by freshman midfielder Ann Marie Ahrens with 5:20 left. Then, with merely 2 minutes to go, a strong 35-yard free kick by Lake Park senior defender Stephanie Zachemski barely missed high and wide to the left.
"Lili's try, that nearly dropped in," Crosby said. "And then Steph's free kick -- inches away. It could have been 1-1.
"The spirit, the passion, the energy, it's there," Crosby continued. "With the spirit and the fight we have, we'll get back to some wins."
In the end, Wheaton North counted its third win in four matches following a 5-0 loss to Naperville North on April 4 that marked the Falcons' sixth-consecutive defeat to open the season.
"After the Naperville North loss, we decided we were starting the season over," Sowers said. "We embraced that with open arms, and things are going well now."
Added Schomig: "I think this win will definitely boost our confidence even more. We want to end this year on a big note, and this will keep pushing us that way."
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
G: Ava Lynch
D: Micaela Van Meter
D: Jaden Trometer
D: Rachel Brady
M: Sarah Brcka
M: Stacie Galo
M: Kristen Szumski
M: Anna Warfield
F: Kailee Sowers
F: Kate McKee
F: Kate Kortenhoeven
Lake Park
G: Amanda Reining
D: Elizabeth Guenther
D: Sarah Novak
D: Stephanie Zachemski
D: Emma Thorne
D: Amber Sedwick
M: Jaclyn Lamz
M: Lauren Tarchala
M: Anna Marie Ahrens
M: Brianna McAloon
F: Cyndi Martinez
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Sammie Schomig, sr. F, Wheaton North
Officials: Robert Mulhim, Justin O'Bryan, Chris Bajorek
Scoring summary
Second half
1. Wheaton North: Sammie Schomig (assisted by Kate Kortenhoeven) in 59th minute