[Preview of this week’s story in Inside—Booster.]
By Jack Lydon
Lane Tech girls’ soccer defeated DePaul Prep 3-1 in IHSA 3A Regional final Friday evening. The control and trepidation of the first half exploded into back-and-forth frenetic pace and four goals in the second half.
Although the two schools are literally right next to each other, this game was played out at CPS’s Knute Rochne Stadium because Lane Stadium is having the track replaced. That didn’t matter to the teams. Had the game been played on the moon, it would not have mattered. Both teams were dialed in.
By all accounts, Lane Tech was considered the favorite coming in. The Champions controlled the ball most of the first half playing in the DePaul Prep end of the field. Even so, the Rams’ defense was solid. Not only did the defense hold off serious challenges by Lane, DePaul turned the tables on Lane with some break aways and multiple shots on goal.
Lane Tech had a game on their hands going into the half. DePaul Prep was not just hanging around, the game was largely even. Lane head coach Sean Harkness had some work to do at half time.
“ We knew that the opportunities were there. We knew that we could control this game. We just talked at half time about to focus on what we can control, focus on the movement off the ball, trust one another to make the passes to connect from back to front, connect amongst the central mids and the forwards. Once they trusted each other it just opened up. They were so positive and confident at half time, about [what they needed to do], they made all the adjustments,” Harkness said.
The second half was different. The speed and energy for both teams ramped up exponentially. Both teams turned on the offense.
Lane Tech senior Caitlyn Shane opened the scoring.
“Olivia Winters passed it through past Kendall [Willis] and I just kind of one-touched it. I was in the perfect spot, the right spot at the right time,” said Shane.
It was a great pass but it was a great finish by Shane to open the scoring.
Just a few minutes later, that same freshman Olivia Winters who made the great pass added a goal of her own from right in front of the goal.
There was no let up. The Rams quickly answered on a long break away. Junior Ivy Lisnich scored a great shot from left of the goal to make the score 2-1.
With 6:18 to play Lane dealt the death blow on a corner kick from Caitlyn Shane. Lane sophomore Rebecca LoVerde headed the ball in a crowd of DePaul defenders making the score 3-1.
“Just the control to just flip it in, and it was such a soft contact too. To have that kind of touch and dexterity on a header coming in that hard, just to like ‘dink’ right in the corner, it was unbelievable,” is how Harkness described the goal.
DePaul Prep coach Kelly Keckler was a little emotional after the game.
“Very successful season. We set a lot of goals for ourselves. We accomplished almost all of them except for tonight. I am really proud of them. They never backed down from moving from 1A to 2A to 3A. Every time we stepped up a division, they just stepped up with it,” Kecker said.
Lane moves on the play the winner of New Trier and Niles West in the sectional semi-final on Wednesday.
