Notebook: Lockport, Streamwood
By Patrick Z. McGavin
SCHAUMBURG -- On a windblown morning here Saturday at Olympic Park, senior midfielder Alexis Hernandez ended Lockport's participation in this year's iteration of the PepsiCo Showdown in highly satisfying style.
Her rebound shot catapulted the Porters past Streamwood 2-1 in a consolation game in the Gatorade Bracket of the tournament. Lockport finished 3-1. The tournament served as a very particular litmus test of where the Porters have been and where they hope to be at the right moment.
Another senior midfielder, Taylor Stortz, drilled a ball just outside the top of the box for the team's 1-0 first half lead. Streamwood created the equalizer on a goal by its star forward, Tawny Carroll.
Lockport retaliated and found something about itself in the process.
"This year's tournament was definitely better than last year,’ Stortz said. “But there was definitely a game in there we let go and we should have gone harder there but we let it go and hopefully we can build off of this victory."
"We love the Pepsi Showdown," Lockport coach Todd Elkei said. "We look at the preseason and this is our first big hurdle of the year. We always mark it on the calendar. It's good competition. We are so young with so many underclassmen, and we want to give them a taste of what's going on, and it will help us at the end of the year."
Lockport started five sophomores and three freshmen against Streamwood. The tournament was a natural trial by fire as the team's young core is introduced to the intensity, speed and contrasting styles of play.
Every game is a chance to grow and develop. Like a lot of the game, it happens on the fly, but the learning curve is steep. The best players absorb quite a bit, incrementally at first and then more and more intuitively.
"Coming from our first game of the year against Minooka to where we are now, the concepts are starting to develop," Elkei said.
Junior keeper Henson was stellar for the Porters. She posted shutouts against Maine East (7-0) and Bloom (3-0) respectively. The team's only loss was a 1-0 overtime defeat against St. Ignatius, who reached the semifinals of the draw.
The play not only deepens the team's collective confidence, it helps shore up the rest of the season to come, moving to the next stage. For the Porters, that meant a crucial conference showdown with Sandburg on Tuesday.
"We're never satisfied but we're pleased with the development we're making," Elkei said.
From Streamwood’s perspective, the Lockport game marked another bittersweet lesson. Except the Sabres also pointed to bright moments and inspired play. This was, after all, a team that won twice as many games in the tournament (two) as it had outside the draw.
Streamwood survived Hinsdale South 2-1 in double overtime in first-round play before a 2-0 loss to Minooka knocked it out of the championship draw. Coach Matt Polovin, who directed the boys to a fourth place finish last fall, saw the dividends of playing in the tournament with his boys teams. He wanted his girls to have the same depth of experience.
"The girls really enjoyed it and loved the atmosphere of the tournament," Polovin said. "It's exciting, because you play a team like Lockport, or we went and played Minooka, a team that otherwise we'd never play with our schedule.
"Each game was different than the other. Our attitude was just to go out and play our style the best we can."
Carroll, a Drake recruit, understands that the team is going through difficult times trying to learn what it takes to win. The Sabres have only two senior starters in field positions.
"Our whole backline is freshmen and sophomores," Carroll said. "Even though we're young, this is probably the most talented group of players I've ever had in my four years. The big problem we're having is we're not connecting as well as we need.
"I hope it's going to happen somewhere."
The Sabres won one of their first six matches. The tournament jump-started what Polovin hopes is an improved stretch of play. The Monday after its tournament ended, Streamwood (4-7) demolished Addison Trail 11-1. Carroll scored three goals.
The signs are promising. "It's a learning lesson," Polovin said. "We learn when we win and we learn when we lose."
By Patrick Z. McGavin
SCHAUMBURG -- On a windblown morning here Saturday at Olympic Park, senior midfielder Alexis Hernandez ended Lockport's participation in this year's iteration of the PepsiCo Showdown in highly satisfying style.
Her rebound shot catapulted the Porters past Streamwood 2-1 in a consolation game in the Gatorade Bracket of the tournament. Lockport finished 3-1. The tournament served as a very particular litmus test of where the Porters have been and where they hope to be at the right moment.
Another senior midfielder, Taylor Stortz, drilled a ball just outside the top of the box for the team's 1-0 first half lead. Streamwood created the equalizer on a goal by its star forward, Tawny Carroll.
Lockport retaliated and found something about itself in the process.
"This year's tournament was definitely better than last year,’ Stortz said. “But there was definitely a game in there we let go and we should have gone harder there but we let it go and hopefully we can build off of this victory."
"We love the Pepsi Showdown," Lockport coach Todd Elkei said. "We look at the preseason and this is our first big hurdle of the year. We always mark it on the calendar. It's good competition. We are so young with so many underclassmen, and we want to give them a taste of what's going on, and it will help us at the end of the year."
Lockport started five sophomores and three freshmen against Streamwood. The tournament was a natural trial by fire as the team's young core is introduced to the intensity, speed and contrasting styles of play.
Every game is a chance to grow and develop. Like a lot of the game, it happens on the fly, but the learning curve is steep. The best players absorb quite a bit, incrementally at first and then more and more intuitively.
"Coming from our first game of the year against Minooka to where we are now, the concepts are starting to develop," Elkei said.
Junior keeper Henson was stellar for the Porters. She posted shutouts against Maine East (7-0) and Bloom (3-0) respectively. The team's only loss was a 1-0 overtime defeat against St. Ignatius, who reached the semifinals of the draw.
The play not only deepens the team's collective confidence, it helps shore up the rest of the season to come, moving to the next stage. For the Porters, that meant a crucial conference showdown with Sandburg on Tuesday.
"We're never satisfied but we're pleased with the development we're making," Elkei said.
From Streamwood’s perspective, the Lockport game marked another bittersweet lesson. Except the Sabres also pointed to bright moments and inspired play. This was, after all, a team that won twice as many games in the tournament (two) as it had outside the draw.
Streamwood survived Hinsdale South 2-1 in double overtime in first-round play before a 2-0 loss to Minooka knocked it out of the championship draw. Coach Matt Polovin, who directed the boys to a fourth place finish last fall, saw the dividends of playing in the tournament with his boys teams. He wanted his girls to have the same depth of experience.
"The girls really enjoyed it and loved the atmosphere of the tournament," Polovin said. "It's exciting, because you play a team like Lockport, or we went and played Minooka, a team that otherwise we'd never play with our schedule.
"Each game was different than the other. Our attitude was just to go out and play our style the best we can."
Carroll, a Drake recruit, understands that the team is going through difficult times trying to learn what it takes to win. The Sabres have only two senior starters in field positions.
"Our whole backline is freshmen and sophomores," Carroll said. "Even though we're young, this is probably the most talented group of players I've ever had in my four years. The big problem we're having is we're not connecting as well as we need.
"I hope it's going to happen somewhere."
The Sabres won one of their first six matches. The tournament jump-started what Polovin hopes is an improved stretch of play. The Monday after its tournament ended, Streamwood (4-7) demolished Addison Trail 11-1. Carroll scored three goals.
The signs are promising. "It's a learning lesson," Polovin said. "We learn when we win and we learn when we lose."