Lyons and Hinsdale C. always ready to go
One of the WSC's best, oldest rivalries set for renewal Friday
By Gary Larsen
If a full season lost to a pandemic taught players and coaches anything it was to take nothing for granted.
“We’ll take these games as they come and we’ll keep reminding the kids to enjoy every minute of it, just because we lost it last year,” Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary said. “It makes you appreciate even just being out there and practicing together.”
Hinsdale Central coach Tony Madonia’s program is similarly operating on the adrenaline born from the triumphant return of a girls’ soccer season in Illinois.
“Me and my assistant coach, Maura Langevin, can’t stop texting and talking about how the girls are doing, or what we’re doing next,” Madonia said. “We’ve been extremely excited for the girls, because the season is about them. We’re just excited for them.”
Lyons and host Hinsdale Central square off at 6 p.m. on Friday in West Suburban Conference Silver Division play, in what figures to be another hard-fought game in the tradition of their longstanding rivalry.
Hinsdale Central (2-0-0, 1-0-0) heads into the game on the heels of a 6-0 win over Hinsdale South and a 4-2 win over divisional foe Oak Park and River Forest.
Madonia’s squad has likely started fast thanks to an intangible that can’t be taught.
“We have a group this year that’s gritty,” Madonia said. “I don’t see them laying down for anybody, and that’s what we’ll need to compete with a team like Lyons. Bill (Lanspeary) is a talented coach, and he gets his players to play for each other. It’s always a well-oiled machine.”
Madonia’s backline starts with goalkeeper Rania Again, “a really strong presence on the field for us,” Madonia said. “Then we have (defender) Lauren Oleferchik, who’s in her third year on varsity. She’s the only girl on our roster who had varsity game experience prior to this season.”
Lilly Mersinger, Maggie Sanders and Maddy Panveno will all be pivotal to the Red Devils’ success at midfield, where University of Tennessee-Martin recruit Emma Elliot will do what she’s always done.
“She’s just real steady, she’s not about the glory and just a really hard-working, selfless player,” Madonia said. “Up-top we have Francesca Schiavitti, who is the definition of grit. You could tell she has older brothers. She’s strong, athletic, technical, vocal, and she has a heck of a presence. She’s really strong-willed.”
All four of the Red Devils’ rostered seniors are captains this year, in Grace Compton, Oleferchik, Elliot, and Schiavitti.
Friday’s tilt will be the first game of the season for Lyons, which features eight seniors on its roster. The last time the Lions played they had an all-everything attacking player in 2019 graduate and Chicagoland Soccer all-stater Eileen Murphy, who led them to a fourth place Class 3A finish.
The makeup of this year’s team will be different from the team of two years ago.
“I think this group will be a very good overall team, even without a player who is a center-of-attention player the way (Murphy) was,” Lanspeary said. “I think we’re pretty well-balanced. Our defense also brings back a lot of experience, so I think we’ll be strong there.”
Elli Kosonovich and Maddie McPartlin will anchor that defense as two players who fit the mode as center defenders.
“We look for players that read the game really well, are solid and reliable, good communicators, and these two will do a nice job back there,” Lanspeary said. “They complement each other well.”
Keying the attack will be midfielder Lily Mattern and forward Ava Dallavo.
“Lily is special. She’s got great touch, vision, a great feel for the game and an incredible work rate in the middle of the field,” Lanspeary said.
“Ava has got speed, skill, a nose for the net and as much as a goal-scorer as she is, she’ll also create and share the ball. She’ll hopefully generate a lot of offense for us.”
The Lions will try to find fast cohesion in their first game, against a Red Devils team featuring two games’ worth of chemistry.
“I wish we had a couple games under our belt the way they do, and their results have certainly gotten our attention,” Lanspeary said. “It would have been nice to get a game in beforehand but you can’t ask for much more excitement for a first game of the year.
“I know Tony (Madonia). He’s a good guy and a good coach. I know they’ll play hard. We’ll get their best effort, we know that."
One of the WSC's best, oldest rivalries set for renewal Friday
By Gary Larsen
If a full season lost to a pandemic taught players and coaches anything it was to take nothing for granted.
“We’ll take these games as they come and we’ll keep reminding the kids to enjoy every minute of it, just because we lost it last year,” Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary said. “It makes you appreciate even just being out there and practicing together.”
Hinsdale Central coach Tony Madonia’s program is similarly operating on the adrenaline born from the triumphant return of a girls’ soccer season in Illinois.
“Me and my assistant coach, Maura Langevin, can’t stop texting and talking about how the girls are doing, or what we’re doing next,” Madonia said. “We’ve been extremely excited for the girls, because the season is about them. We’re just excited for them.”
Lyons and host Hinsdale Central square off at 6 p.m. on Friday in West Suburban Conference Silver Division play, in what figures to be another hard-fought game in the tradition of their longstanding rivalry.
Hinsdale Central (2-0-0, 1-0-0) heads into the game on the heels of a 6-0 win over Hinsdale South and a 4-2 win over divisional foe Oak Park and River Forest.
Madonia’s squad has likely started fast thanks to an intangible that can’t be taught.
“We have a group this year that’s gritty,” Madonia said. “I don’t see them laying down for anybody, and that’s what we’ll need to compete with a team like Lyons. Bill (Lanspeary) is a talented coach, and he gets his players to play for each other. It’s always a well-oiled machine.”
Madonia’s backline starts with goalkeeper Rania Again, “a really strong presence on the field for us,” Madonia said. “Then we have (defender) Lauren Oleferchik, who’s in her third year on varsity. She’s the only girl on our roster who had varsity game experience prior to this season.”
Lilly Mersinger, Maggie Sanders and Maddy Panveno will all be pivotal to the Red Devils’ success at midfield, where University of Tennessee-Martin recruit Emma Elliot will do what she’s always done.
“She’s just real steady, she’s not about the glory and just a really hard-working, selfless player,” Madonia said. “Up-top we have Francesca Schiavitti, who is the definition of grit. You could tell she has older brothers. She’s strong, athletic, technical, vocal, and she has a heck of a presence. She’s really strong-willed.”
All four of the Red Devils’ rostered seniors are captains this year, in Grace Compton, Oleferchik, Elliot, and Schiavitti.
Friday’s tilt will be the first game of the season for Lyons, which features eight seniors on its roster. The last time the Lions played they had an all-everything attacking player in 2019 graduate and Chicagoland Soccer all-stater Eileen Murphy, who led them to a fourth place Class 3A finish.
The makeup of this year’s team will be different from the team of two years ago.
“I think this group will be a very good overall team, even without a player who is a center-of-attention player the way (Murphy) was,” Lanspeary said. “I think we’re pretty well-balanced. Our defense also brings back a lot of experience, so I think we’ll be strong there.”
Elli Kosonovich and Maddie McPartlin will anchor that defense as two players who fit the mode as center defenders.
“We look for players that read the game really well, are solid and reliable, good communicators, and these two will do a nice job back there,” Lanspeary said. “They complement each other well.”
Keying the attack will be midfielder Lily Mattern and forward Ava Dallavo.
“Lily is special. She’s got great touch, vision, a great feel for the game and an incredible work rate in the middle of the field,” Lanspeary said.
“Ava has got speed, skill, a nose for the net and as much as a goal-scorer as she is, she’ll also create and share the ball. She’ll hopefully generate a lot of offense for us.”
The Lions will try to find fast cohesion in their first game, against a Red Devils team featuring two games’ worth of chemistry.
“I wish we had a couple games under our belt the way they do, and their results have certainly gotten our attention,” Lanspeary said. “It would have been nice to get a game in beforehand but you can’t ask for much more excitement for a first game of the year.
“I know Tony (Madonia). He’s a good guy and a good coach. I know they’ll play hard. We’ll get their best effort, we know that."