NL_092718

40 | September 27, 2018 | The New Lenox Patriot SPORTS
newlenoxpatriot.com
Boys Soccer
PK goal keeps West from
repeating as PepsiCo champs
McGrath: Strong
tournament run
boosts confidence
moving forward
RANDY WHALEN
Freelance Reporter
It was the game the Lincoln-Way
West boys soccer
team wanted to play in. It
was not the result the Warriors
wanted.
Playing in the title game
of one of the brackets of
the PepsiCo Showdown
Tournament for the third
straight season, the Warriors
couldn’t find the back of the
net. The result was a 1-0
loss to St. Edward in championship
of the U.S. Coast
Guard Bracket on Sunday.
Sept. 23 at the Robert Morris
University Sports Complex
in Arlington Heights.
West (5-4) suffered its
second setback of the week.
The Warriors, however, are
still confident moving forward
for the rest of the season.
“They scored on a PK,”
West coach Matt Laude of
the Green Wave’s penalty
kick goal. “It sucks to lose
on a PK, but they had a run,
and we fouled them from
behind. It was a good call.
Then their guy just put it in
a spot, in the lower corner,
where no goalie could get
it.”
That came early on in the
game, in the 11th minute.
Junior forward Joshua Johansen
scored on the penalty
kick and that would be
all that the Green Wave (14-
1-1) would need. They won
one of the four brackets of
the PepsiCo for the second
straight year.
“We were threatening the
whole game,” Laude said.
“We just couldn’t find the
back of the net. Their goalie
[6-foot-2 junior Evan Sajtar]
is tall and lanky. He
played well.
“But we had around 20
corner kicks in the game,
including five in the first
eight minutes or so. We just
couldn’t convert. We were
defending champions there,
too, and wanted to take it
back-to-back. But it’s a
great tournament, and I like
the fact that we travel to different
places and see different
teams there.”
A year ago the Warriors
defeated St. Patrick 4-1 in
one of the title games. This
season they defeated Jones
Prep 3-0, Fenton 4-2, and
then Crystal Lake Central
3-0 on Sept, 15 in one of the
semifinals to get to the title
match.
Senior midfielder Nolan
McGrath (10 goals, 3 assists)
has been the leading
scorer for West this season.
“It was unfortunate,”
McGrath said of the loss
to St. Edward. “We worked
hard to get there and fell a
little short. But it was our
third year in the tournament
and we’ve got to three title
games. So altogether it was
a solid team effort. This
should give us motivation
and midway through the
season we should be proud
of each other for making it
this far again.
“This year we’re young.
It’s all about the chemistry
and our young guys getting
confidence. If we keep
having that same mentality,
I think we can win the
[SouthWest Suburban] conference.”
Other key players for
West include senior keeper
Connor O’Shaughnessy,
who Laude said “has been
playing real well in net.”
Also junior midfielder Justin
Darlage, senior forward
David Flores and junior
center back Ethan Sall.
Earlier in the week, on
Thursday, Sept. 20, the Warriors
saw their four-game
win streak come to an end
as they traveled to District
210 rival Lincoln-Way East
and fell by the score of 2-1.
“That was our annual Pediatric
Cancer Awareness
Night,” Laude said of the
annual event between the
two schools. “It’s a great
event and the boys really
did a good job with it.”
The Warriors are 1-0 in
the Red Division of the
SWSC. That was a 2-1
win on Sept. 6 over visiting
Bradley-Bourbonnais.
The Red Division schedule
picks up again starting this
week as West traveled to
Andrew on Tuesday, Sept.
23. This Saturday, Sept. 29
at 11 a.m. brings a SWSC
crossover at Sandburg.