Lyons blanks York to complete
perfectly perfect regular-season
Lions win 6-0, go unbeaten and unscored upon in 14 games
By Matt Le Cren
LA GRANGE – “It’s unbelievable.”
Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary repeated those words several times after the Lions pulled off the stunning achievement of finishing the regular-season unbeaten and unscored upon.
Eleanor Musgrove had two goals and an assist and Ava Dallavo, Jordan Lee-Caracci, Reese Komsthoeft and Rielly Chesna also scored in Thursday’s 6-0 victory over York in a West Suburban Conference West Division matchup.
The Lions (14-0, 12-0) head into the state tournament having outscored their opponents 62-0.
Nobody saw that coming.
“We had some players returning, not just from last year but from the previous year when we had a season and made a nice playoff run (to a 2019 Class 3A fourth place finish),” Lanspeary said. “We brought some of our sophomores up to train with us for that playoff run, and we knew they were going to be key pieces going forward.
“But then you lose last season, and you don’t know what you’re going to be. But we could tell in the first week or so we thought we had a good group ability-wise and chemistry-wise.”
That chemistry led to an unprecedented run of success this spring. The Lions incredible run was accomplished without any Division I commits, and only two of their eight seniors have committed to play in college. Komsthoeft, a forward, is a Grinnell recruit. Midfielder Avery Livingston is headed to Mt. Holyoke.
Lee-Caracci is the current scoring leader with nine goals with Sullivan in close pursuit with eight goals. Dallavo and Musgrove, a junior, each have seven.
The offense has been deadly all year, scoring at least three goals in all but two matches. Against York, the attack was efficient. The Lions scored on each of their first three shots, which included Chesna’s penalty kick with 27:46 remaining in the first half that gave them a 3-0 lead.
“When you can finish and get a few early, it changes the game for sure,” Lanspeary said. “And we’ve been able to do that.
“We’ve been pretty dangerous going forward. I think the balance of being really solid in the back and our mids work hard and control things; we’ve got a little bit of everything. The kids are clicking and playing well.”
Indeed, the backline of seniors Elli Kosanovich and Maddie McPartlin, junior Ava Pike and junior Kate Fulscher has been so strong that junior goalkeeper Izzy Lee has been mostly a spectator.
“It feels pretty good,” Lee said. “It’s definitely a lot (of props) to our backline.
“Nothing has really gotten through. I had the one PK I saved against Glenbard West, but no clear breakaways or anything.”
Lee did not have to make a save against the Dukes (3-10-1, 2-10-0), who were outshot 21-2, before halftime. Backup Brigid Dunne made two saves in the second half.
“It’s been super fun,” Kosanovich said. “Obviously, at the beginning of the year all we wanted was to play our best.
“Clearly I think the score sheet has proved that. Being one of the rocks on the backline has been really fulfilling, because last year we didn’t have a season. Coming out with this great team that we’re only going to get to play once with, it sets us up good for playoffs.”
Unlike most of the top teams, the Lions don’t have a big goal-scorer. But Kosanovich thinks that might be an advantage.
“Although there is no one leader, I think that benefits us because we each get a chance to prove ourselves each and every game,” she said. “Maybe one game it’s one of our forwards and then it’s one of our midfielders or defenders, or the goalie even.
“A lot of us have played together since we were young, and I think that chemistry almost flows right into our season now. So even though we haven’t all played together in a while, this year I think it really showed we have that chemistry from a while ago.”
Dallavo and midfielder Lily Mattern have been on varsity since their freshman year, while Kosanovich joined them when they were sophomores. But most of the seniors have played together outside of high school for far longer.
“Our group, we’ve been playing club together and we’re really close on and off the field,” Dallavo said. “I’ve been playing club with most of them since first grade, so this year we’re finally on varsity together, and I feel like we’ve clicked together.
“All the girls are so great. It’s been awesome.”
The Lions have gotten contributions from everyone on the roster. Sixteen different field players have scored at least one goal and the same number has recorded at least one assist, led by Musgrove and Kosanovich with five each.
While scoring an average of 4.5 goals per game is impressive, some of that production has come against weaker teams, and the Lions know goals will be harder to come by in the playoffs. But Dallavo isn’t worried.
“Maddie and Elli together in the backline are always (going) for the shutout,” Dallavo said. “I think it’s the best backline we’ve had in a while.
“With the backline we have, I feel like we could make it far this year, which would be really nice.”
The Lions are seeded second at the Morton Sectional and are one of three undefeated teams in the field along with top-seeded Benet (15-0-0) and Downers Grove South (13-0-0). Lyons did not play either squad during the regular-season.
“We kind of treat the regular-season as one season and the playoffs as something different,” Lanspeary said. “I think they’re pretty focused, and they will maintain their focus. They have high expectations of themselves, so they’ll be ready.”
There is no doubt about that.
“Not having a season last year made us super hungry, because we knew this is going to be our only chance to play together,” Kosanovich said. “With our seniors last year not being able to play with us, I think we kind of wanted to kind of make it up for everyone and show that we were going to be one of the best teams last year, and we are going to be one of the best teams this year.”
Starting lineups
York
GK Daly Wangler
D Sydney Lee
D Natalie DeSimone
D Abby DeMichel
D Ava Hansman
M Michaela Quinn
M Allison Sheehan
M Emerson Dondlinger
M Olivia Greco
F Danielle Stockwell
F Maya Rebic
Lyons
GK Izzy Lee
D Maddie McPartlin
D Ellie Kosanovich
D Ava Pike
D Kate Fulscher
M Lily Mattern
M Avery Livingston
M Eleanor Musgrove
F Ava Dallavo
F Jordan Lee-Caracci
F Reese Komsthoeft
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Eleanor Musgrove, jr., MF, Lyons
Scoring summary
First half
Lyons – Eleanor Musgrove 36:03 remaining
Lyons – Reese Komsthoeft (Eleanor Musgrove) 32:46 remaining
Lyons – Rielly Chesna (PK) 27:46 remaining
Lyons – Jordan Lee-Caracci 16:54 remaining
Lyons – Ava Dallavo 10:37 remaining
Second half
Lyons – Musgrove 5:58 remaining
perfectly perfect regular-season
Lions win 6-0, go unbeaten and unscored upon in 14 games
By Matt Le Cren
LA GRANGE – “It’s unbelievable.”
Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary repeated those words several times after the Lions pulled off the stunning achievement of finishing the regular-season unbeaten and unscored upon.
Eleanor Musgrove had two goals and an assist and Ava Dallavo, Jordan Lee-Caracci, Reese Komsthoeft and Rielly Chesna also scored in Thursday’s 6-0 victory over York in a West Suburban Conference West Division matchup.
The Lions (14-0, 12-0) head into the state tournament having outscored their opponents 62-0.
Nobody saw that coming.
“We had some players returning, not just from last year but from the previous year when we had a season and made a nice playoff run (to a 2019 Class 3A fourth place finish),” Lanspeary said. “We brought some of our sophomores up to train with us for that playoff run, and we knew they were going to be key pieces going forward.
“But then you lose last season, and you don’t know what you’re going to be. But we could tell in the first week or so we thought we had a good group ability-wise and chemistry-wise.”
That chemistry led to an unprecedented run of success this spring. The Lions incredible run was accomplished without any Division I commits, and only two of their eight seniors have committed to play in college. Komsthoeft, a forward, is a Grinnell recruit. Midfielder Avery Livingston is headed to Mt. Holyoke.
Lee-Caracci is the current scoring leader with nine goals with Sullivan in close pursuit with eight goals. Dallavo and Musgrove, a junior, each have seven.
The offense has been deadly all year, scoring at least three goals in all but two matches. Against York, the attack was efficient. The Lions scored on each of their first three shots, which included Chesna’s penalty kick with 27:46 remaining in the first half that gave them a 3-0 lead.
“When you can finish and get a few early, it changes the game for sure,” Lanspeary said. “And we’ve been able to do that.
“We’ve been pretty dangerous going forward. I think the balance of being really solid in the back and our mids work hard and control things; we’ve got a little bit of everything. The kids are clicking and playing well.”
Indeed, the backline of seniors Elli Kosanovich and Maddie McPartlin, junior Ava Pike and junior Kate Fulscher has been so strong that junior goalkeeper Izzy Lee has been mostly a spectator.
“It feels pretty good,” Lee said. “It’s definitely a lot (of props) to our backline.
“Nothing has really gotten through. I had the one PK I saved against Glenbard West, but no clear breakaways or anything.”
Lee did not have to make a save against the Dukes (3-10-1, 2-10-0), who were outshot 21-2, before halftime. Backup Brigid Dunne made two saves in the second half.
“It’s been super fun,” Kosanovich said. “Obviously, at the beginning of the year all we wanted was to play our best.
“Clearly I think the score sheet has proved that. Being one of the rocks on the backline has been really fulfilling, because last year we didn’t have a season. Coming out with this great team that we’re only going to get to play once with, it sets us up good for playoffs.”
Unlike most of the top teams, the Lions don’t have a big goal-scorer. But Kosanovich thinks that might be an advantage.
“Although there is no one leader, I think that benefits us because we each get a chance to prove ourselves each and every game,” she said. “Maybe one game it’s one of our forwards and then it’s one of our midfielders or defenders, or the goalie even.
“A lot of us have played together since we were young, and I think that chemistry almost flows right into our season now. So even though we haven’t all played together in a while, this year I think it really showed we have that chemistry from a while ago.”
Dallavo and midfielder Lily Mattern have been on varsity since their freshman year, while Kosanovich joined them when they were sophomores. But most of the seniors have played together outside of high school for far longer.
“Our group, we’ve been playing club together and we’re really close on and off the field,” Dallavo said. “I’ve been playing club with most of them since first grade, so this year we’re finally on varsity together, and I feel like we’ve clicked together.
“All the girls are so great. It’s been awesome.”
The Lions have gotten contributions from everyone on the roster. Sixteen different field players have scored at least one goal and the same number has recorded at least one assist, led by Musgrove and Kosanovich with five each.
While scoring an average of 4.5 goals per game is impressive, some of that production has come against weaker teams, and the Lions know goals will be harder to come by in the playoffs. But Dallavo isn’t worried.
“Maddie and Elli together in the backline are always (going) for the shutout,” Dallavo said. “I think it’s the best backline we’ve had in a while.
“With the backline we have, I feel like we could make it far this year, which would be really nice.”
The Lions are seeded second at the Morton Sectional and are one of three undefeated teams in the field along with top-seeded Benet (15-0-0) and Downers Grove South (13-0-0). Lyons did not play either squad during the regular-season.
“We kind of treat the regular-season as one season and the playoffs as something different,” Lanspeary said. “I think they’re pretty focused, and they will maintain their focus. They have high expectations of themselves, so they’ll be ready.”
There is no doubt about that.
“Not having a season last year made us super hungry, because we knew this is going to be our only chance to play together,” Kosanovich said. “With our seniors last year not being able to play with us, I think we kind of wanted to kind of make it up for everyone and show that we were going to be one of the best teams last year, and we are going to be one of the best teams this year.”
Starting lineups
York
GK Daly Wangler
D Sydney Lee
D Natalie DeSimone
D Abby DeMichel
D Ava Hansman
M Michaela Quinn
M Allison Sheehan
M Emerson Dondlinger
M Olivia Greco
F Danielle Stockwell
F Maya Rebic
Lyons
GK Izzy Lee
D Maddie McPartlin
D Ellie Kosanovich
D Ava Pike
D Kate Fulscher
M Lily Mattern
M Avery Livingston
M Eleanor Musgrove
F Ava Dallavo
F Jordan Lee-Caracci
F Reese Komsthoeft
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Eleanor Musgrove, jr., MF, Lyons
Scoring summary
First half
Lyons – Eleanor Musgrove 36:03 remaining
Lyons – Reese Komsthoeft (Eleanor Musgrove) 32:46 remaining
Lyons – Rielly Chesna (PK) 27:46 remaining
Lyons – Jordan Lee-Caracci 16:54 remaining
Lyons – Ava Dallavo 10:37 remaining
Second half
Lyons – Musgrove 5:58 remaining