Lockport takes heed of training,
tops Bolingbrook
Fischer tallies give Porters road win in league opener
By Dave Owen
BOLINGBROOK – Practice quickly made perfect for Allyson Fischer and her Lockport teammates.
Fischer’s two powerful finishes late in the first half of Tuesday’s conference opener at Bolingbrook gave the Porters (3-1-0, 1-0-0) all the offense they needed.
From there, Lockport’s defense stood tall -- despite the absence of standout defender Jamie Hansen -- to produce a 2-0 win.
“This morning in practice actually we were working on making flat runs, like across the face of the defenders,” Fischer said. “And that’s how a lot of our through-balls and scoring ended up happening, so it worked out well.”
After Fischer and Karlee Stortz (off a Natalie Miller pass) sent shots wide of the net in the first four minutes, a Fischer pass set up Lockport’s first high quality chance in the 16th minute.
Off a feed from Stephanie Quigley, Fischer found Finley Travis for a 12-yard shot that went just wide left of the net.
Six minutes later, another nice passing combo paid off. Monica Colon’s cross from the right sideline connected with Fischer in front, who crushed a 6-yard drive inside the left post for a 1-0 lead 18:43 before halftime.
Fischer just missed another goal when she lined a right side shot high off the right post with 11:40 left in the half.
Back on the right-side attack 9:33 before halftime, Fischer was on target. She tucked a tough angle 20-yard shot perfectly into the upper left corner of the net under the crossbar to make the score 2-0.
“It hit off the post the first time,” Fischer said. “So I was like ‘OK, now I know that could go in.’ So I tried it again and it went in.”
The two putaways gave Fischer three goals this season.
“We’ve been struggling a little bit to create some chances offensively, so we worked on it this morning,” Lockport coach Todd Elkei said. “Both goals were just heart, desire, work ethic goals.
“The first one on the cross she went hard in front of the first defender and put it in. And the second one you shoot it hard and you never know what’s going to happen. It was a nice shot. Ally’s effort was good, and she’s rewarded with goals.”
Bolingbrook goalkeeper Julia Lentz was strong throughout the match coming off her line and making several nice saves, but had no chance on either of Fischer’s perfect strikes.
“She was definitely very quick. and she played the ball really well, especially from the side in the first half,” Lentz said.
The two finishes were a big boost for a Lockport squad that had scored just one goal over its previous two matches.
There were the opposite for Bolingbrook.
“No. 7 Fischer put the first one away, we got a little loose on ‘D’ and she gained some confidence,” Bolingbrook coach Matt Kocourek said.
“She had one shot hit the post, and then she made the same shot with her confidence and buried it. She’s a nice player, she has some energy.”
Lockport also had plenty of electricity at the other end of the field, despite dealing with adversity.
Hansen required stitches after an injury in last Thursday’s 1-0 loss to Plainfield East, which Elkei said will sideline the junior standout for the next week or two.
But Lockport showed no ill effects Tuesday en route to its third shutout of 2016.
“Brooke (Janeczek) stepped in (for Hansen), but we’re replacing an all-stater so it wasn’t just Brooke,” Elkei said. “It was Maddy (Hannion) and Monica (Colon), and Sylvia (Kordaczka) played well in the back.
“They work well as a unit,” Elkei added. “I don’t even know if they (Bolingbrook) had a shot – they limited their chances for sure through the flow of play and did a nice job.”
Bolingbrook’s closest chance came with just 1:15 left, when a foul left of the box gave Erika Rivillas a free kick from the sideline 10 yards out. But her cross went across the crease, untouched past the far post and out.
Before that, Bolingbrook free kicks with 14:50 and 13:40 to play created minor threats, but each were from beyond 42 yards. The second Raider restart ended with a strong clear by Lockport’s Quigley that set up an eventual Jenifer Latoza shot on goal at the other end.
“It’s been pretty good because the group of us (on defense) can move pretty well and fill in where we need to,” said Hannion, a standout defender who also handles most Lockport throw-ins. “And if I go up (field) the mid drops back, so we all kind of work together.”
Up 2-0, the Lockport offense kept rolling but met resistance with Lentz and the Bolingbrook defense.
With 37:55 left, Lentz made a nice diving deflection wide of a Quigley low 22-yard drive. Lentz again came up big with a diving stop to deny a Quigley 10-yard header try off a Lauren Pikulski cross with 33 minutes to play.
“I just do whatever comes to my gut,” Lentz said of her aggressive and strong play. “You can’t let an easy goal go in, and you just get back to the techniques – play simple and do what you’ve been trained to do.”
The sophomore is confident that the Raiders have good times ahead this season.
“I just feel like we need to connect better and work on the little things,” Lentz said. “We’re doing pretty good in the big picture, but now we need to just work on the little techniques and that will get us over the hump.”
After a good practice session, Lockport’s offense cleared its own hurdle.
“We had some really good crosses,” Hannion said, “and took some good through-balls and went and got them. When we went up the side, we were doing well going around (defenders) at different angles.”
Fischer provided the initial spark.
“I try to get as many shots off as I can and always motivate my team,” Fischer said. “We just have to get going. It always starts with one player who has that energy, and then everyone does.”
The Porters had plenty of other high-energy offensive performances Tuesday.
“Monica Colon had a nice game,” Elkei said, “and Stephanie Quigley was playing defensive mid and we moved her to attacking mid and she seemed a little more comfortable there.
“Lauren Pikulski had some great runs in the second half getting to the endline. We didn’t finish the crosses, but she’s creating those chances so her aggressiveness was nice to see. And Ally Polinski played well in the middle controlling the ball. It was a good team win.”
Bolingbrook takes its own positives from the game, especially with its strong second half defensive effort.
“We made some adjustments in the second half,” Kocourek said. “We have some girls in the back that are learning.
“Julia Lentz is strong in the net. Sophomore Jasmine Urbanek is doing a nice job, (senior) Ty Holmes is our left center back and is strong, and Gracie Navas is a freshman playing well.
“We have some youth back there and Ty’s trying to get everybody in order, but it’s a growth process,” Kocourek added. “We had some nice players come off the bench – Esmerelda Gutierrez at central defensive mid and did a nice job for us, and Salma Ramos as well. We have some youth that we’re trying to get out there to see what they can do and get some confidence.”
Lockport is also young, but playing with veteran poise despite the key absence of Hansen.
“It was hard not penciling her in the lineup,” Elkei said. “But sometimes things like this are good because it makes other girls step up and elevate their play, and when she comes back we’re that much better for it.”
After winning 13 games last spring, the Porters have just one senior this season (starting goalkeeper Cassidy Henson) but even bigger optimism.
“We’re doing really well this year,” Fischer said. “Our season opener we beat Lisle 4-0 instead of 1-0 (in 2015), which is awesome. We have a lot of talent on the team this year. It’s a very young team, but I think we’re going to do really well.”
Elkei has similar high hopes.
“We just hope to keep getting better and everything clicks,” he said. “We know Sandburg is headed down the line in a month or so – they’re loaded, but we’ll see what we can do.
“We’re improving every day and that’s all you can ask, especially with so many young kids. We have three freshmen and three sophomores, so we have a lot of inexperience. But we’re getting better.”
Starting line-ups
Lockport
GK: Cassidy Henson
D: Sylvia Kordaczka
D: Brooke Janeczek
D: Madisyn Hennion
D: Lauren Pikulski
MF: Karlee Stortz
MF: Allison Polinski
MF: Stephanie Barrientos
MF: Stephanie Quigley
F: Natalie Miller
F: Allyson Fischer
Bolingbrook
GK: Julia Lentz
D: Tyler Holmes
D: Graciela Navas
D: Vynuss Vazquez
D: Jasmine Urbanek
MF: Deisy Torrijos
MF: Bianca Herrera
MF: Concepcion Perez
MF: Silvia Salas
F: Erika Rivillas
F: Rachel Perez
MVP of the Match: Allyson Fischer, F, Lockport
tops Bolingbrook
Fischer tallies give Porters road win in league opener
By Dave Owen
BOLINGBROOK – Practice quickly made perfect for Allyson Fischer and her Lockport teammates.
Fischer’s two powerful finishes late in the first half of Tuesday’s conference opener at Bolingbrook gave the Porters (3-1-0, 1-0-0) all the offense they needed.
From there, Lockport’s defense stood tall -- despite the absence of standout defender Jamie Hansen -- to produce a 2-0 win.
“This morning in practice actually we were working on making flat runs, like across the face of the defenders,” Fischer said. “And that’s how a lot of our through-balls and scoring ended up happening, so it worked out well.”
After Fischer and Karlee Stortz (off a Natalie Miller pass) sent shots wide of the net in the first four minutes, a Fischer pass set up Lockport’s first high quality chance in the 16th minute.
Off a feed from Stephanie Quigley, Fischer found Finley Travis for a 12-yard shot that went just wide left of the net.
Six minutes later, another nice passing combo paid off. Monica Colon’s cross from the right sideline connected with Fischer in front, who crushed a 6-yard drive inside the left post for a 1-0 lead 18:43 before halftime.
Fischer just missed another goal when she lined a right side shot high off the right post with 11:40 left in the half.
Back on the right-side attack 9:33 before halftime, Fischer was on target. She tucked a tough angle 20-yard shot perfectly into the upper left corner of the net under the crossbar to make the score 2-0.
“It hit off the post the first time,” Fischer said. “So I was like ‘OK, now I know that could go in.’ So I tried it again and it went in.”
The two putaways gave Fischer three goals this season.
“We’ve been struggling a little bit to create some chances offensively, so we worked on it this morning,” Lockport coach Todd Elkei said. “Both goals were just heart, desire, work ethic goals.
“The first one on the cross she went hard in front of the first defender and put it in. And the second one you shoot it hard and you never know what’s going to happen. It was a nice shot. Ally’s effort was good, and she’s rewarded with goals.”
Bolingbrook goalkeeper Julia Lentz was strong throughout the match coming off her line and making several nice saves, but had no chance on either of Fischer’s perfect strikes.
“She was definitely very quick. and she played the ball really well, especially from the side in the first half,” Lentz said.
The two finishes were a big boost for a Lockport squad that had scored just one goal over its previous two matches.
There were the opposite for Bolingbrook.
“No. 7 Fischer put the first one away, we got a little loose on ‘D’ and she gained some confidence,” Bolingbrook coach Matt Kocourek said.
“She had one shot hit the post, and then she made the same shot with her confidence and buried it. She’s a nice player, she has some energy.”
Lockport also had plenty of electricity at the other end of the field, despite dealing with adversity.
Hansen required stitches after an injury in last Thursday’s 1-0 loss to Plainfield East, which Elkei said will sideline the junior standout for the next week or two.
But Lockport showed no ill effects Tuesday en route to its third shutout of 2016.
“Brooke (Janeczek) stepped in (for Hansen), but we’re replacing an all-stater so it wasn’t just Brooke,” Elkei said. “It was Maddy (Hannion) and Monica (Colon), and Sylvia (Kordaczka) played well in the back.
“They work well as a unit,” Elkei added. “I don’t even know if they (Bolingbrook) had a shot – they limited their chances for sure through the flow of play and did a nice job.”
Bolingbrook’s closest chance came with just 1:15 left, when a foul left of the box gave Erika Rivillas a free kick from the sideline 10 yards out. But her cross went across the crease, untouched past the far post and out.
Before that, Bolingbrook free kicks with 14:50 and 13:40 to play created minor threats, but each were from beyond 42 yards. The second Raider restart ended with a strong clear by Lockport’s Quigley that set up an eventual Jenifer Latoza shot on goal at the other end.
“It’s been pretty good because the group of us (on defense) can move pretty well and fill in where we need to,” said Hannion, a standout defender who also handles most Lockport throw-ins. “And if I go up (field) the mid drops back, so we all kind of work together.”
Up 2-0, the Lockport offense kept rolling but met resistance with Lentz and the Bolingbrook defense.
With 37:55 left, Lentz made a nice diving deflection wide of a Quigley low 22-yard drive. Lentz again came up big with a diving stop to deny a Quigley 10-yard header try off a Lauren Pikulski cross with 33 minutes to play.
“I just do whatever comes to my gut,” Lentz said of her aggressive and strong play. “You can’t let an easy goal go in, and you just get back to the techniques – play simple and do what you’ve been trained to do.”
The sophomore is confident that the Raiders have good times ahead this season.
“I just feel like we need to connect better and work on the little things,” Lentz said. “We’re doing pretty good in the big picture, but now we need to just work on the little techniques and that will get us over the hump.”
After a good practice session, Lockport’s offense cleared its own hurdle.
“We had some really good crosses,” Hannion said, “and took some good through-balls and went and got them. When we went up the side, we were doing well going around (defenders) at different angles.”
Fischer provided the initial spark.
“I try to get as many shots off as I can and always motivate my team,” Fischer said. “We just have to get going. It always starts with one player who has that energy, and then everyone does.”
The Porters had plenty of other high-energy offensive performances Tuesday.
“Monica Colon had a nice game,” Elkei said, “and Stephanie Quigley was playing defensive mid and we moved her to attacking mid and she seemed a little more comfortable there.
“Lauren Pikulski had some great runs in the second half getting to the endline. We didn’t finish the crosses, but she’s creating those chances so her aggressiveness was nice to see. And Ally Polinski played well in the middle controlling the ball. It was a good team win.”
Bolingbrook takes its own positives from the game, especially with its strong second half defensive effort.
“We made some adjustments in the second half,” Kocourek said. “We have some girls in the back that are learning.
“Julia Lentz is strong in the net. Sophomore Jasmine Urbanek is doing a nice job, (senior) Ty Holmes is our left center back and is strong, and Gracie Navas is a freshman playing well.
“We have some youth back there and Ty’s trying to get everybody in order, but it’s a growth process,” Kocourek added. “We had some nice players come off the bench – Esmerelda Gutierrez at central defensive mid and did a nice job for us, and Salma Ramos as well. We have some youth that we’re trying to get out there to see what they can do and get some confidence.”
Lockport is also young, but playing with veteran poise despite the key absence of Hansen.
“It was hard not penciling her in the lineup,” Elkei said. “But sometimes things like this are good because it makes other girls step up and elevate their play, and when she comes back we’re that much better for it.”
After winning 13 games last spring, the Porters have just one senior this season (starting goalkeeper Cassidy Henson) but even bigger optimism.
“We’re doing really well this year,” Fischer said. “Our season opener we beat Lisle 4-0 instead of 1-0 (in 2015), which is awesome. We have a lot of talent on the team this year. It’s a very young team, but I think we’re going to do really well.”
Elkei has similar high hopes.
“We just hope to keep getting better and everything clicks,” he said. “We know Sandburg is headed down the line in a month or so – they’re loaded, but we’ll see what we can do.
“We’re improving every day and that’s all you can ask, especially with so many young kids. We have three freshmen and three sophomores, so we have a lot of inexperience. But we’re getting better.”
Starting line-ups
Lockport
GK: Cassidy Henson
D: Sylvia Kordaczka
D: Brooke Janeczek
D: Madisyn Hennion
D: Lauren Pikulski
MF: Karlee Stortz
MF: Allison Polinski
MF: Stephanie Barrientos
MF: Stephanie Quigley
F: Natalie Miller
F: Allyson Fischer
Bolingbrook
GK: Julia Lentz
D: Tyler Holmes
D: Graciela Navas
D: Vynuss Vazquez
D: Jasmine Urbanek
MF: Deisy Torrijos
MF: Bianca Herrera
MF: Concepcion Perez
MF: Silvia Salas
F: Erika Rivillas
F: Rachel Perez
MVP of the Match: Allyson Fischer, F, Lockport
