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newlenoxpatriot.com sports
the new lenox patriot | March 21, 2019 | 41
Girls Soccer
Warriors show offensive firepower in season-opening win
Nine returning
starters means
plenty of optimism
for West
Steve Millar
Sports Editor
With nine starters returning
from last season,
Lincoln-Way West’s girls
soccer team already had
plenty of reasons to be optimistic
about this year.
There’s even more cause
for excitement after its
season opener on March
12, as a pair of newcomers
combined for three goals
in West’s 3-2 win over
Willowbrook in a Windy
City Ram Classic firstround
game.
Freshman Zoey Trout
scored twice for the Warriors
(1-0). Sophomore
Abby Wasowicz, who
missed all of last season
with a torn ACL, also produced
her first high school
goal.
“This is the most depth
we’ve ever had,” West
coach Jeff Theiss said.
“It’s a good problem to
have. I was trying to rotate
as much as possible.
We’ve got to figure out
what works best and it’s
going to take some time,
but the season is such a
grind so it’s huge to have
this depth.
“It’s something we’ve
always been lacking. This
group is like a little army.
They’re all hungry and
they all want to see the
field.”
The Warriors had to deal
with some early adversity
as Lizzy Florey scored in
the sixth minute to give
Willowbrook (0-1) the
lead.
West answered 11 minutes
later, though. Senior
midfielder Sara Loichinger,
the Warriors’ leading
goal-scorer last year,
showed off her passing
skills Tuesday with three
assists.
The first came off a free
kick from 50 yards out as
Loichinger played a dangerous
ball into the box,
where Trout got her right
foot on it and scored on
a line-drive shot from 15
yards.
“I was pretty psyched,”
Trout said. “It was pretty
cool. I didn’t believe it,
you know.
“My goal was to make
varsity, but I wanted to
make the team and play,
not just be on the bench.
So, I got my chance and I
really appreciated (Theiss)
putting me in the lineup.”
It didn’t take long for
Trout to produce goal
number two as she corralled
a Loichinger cross
in the middle of the box
and hammered it home to
put the Warriors on top 2-1
with 15:13 left in the first
half.
“I love the way (Trout)
plays,” Theiss said. “She’s
confident, she’s vocal. She
works really well with
‘Loich’. They communicate
really well.
“We started with one
forward and we weren’t
getting anything going, so
we put Trout and (Wasowicz)
up top together. Abby
runs like a tank. With those
two up top, they were a
handful.”
Wasowicz made it 3-1
less than 90 seconds into
the second half. After receiving
a cross from Loichinger,
Wasowicz had her
initial shot blocked, but
the ball came back to her
and she buried her second
shot.
“I was so upset last year
to not be able to play, just
sitting on the bench with
my injury,” Wasowicz
said. “I was excited to be
back, and this was awesome.”
Florey scored her second
goal with 27:28 left to
pull Willowbrook within
3-2, but the Warriors held
on from there.
Lia Krohe made two
saves for West.
Going forward, Theiss
expects his team to continue
to be dangerous offensively.
“We have some dynamic
goal scorers now,” he said.
“We had to grind out goals
last year and it was tough
to score sometimes. Now
we can get scoring from
all over, from the wings,
the forwards, Loichinger
can hit a bomb at any time.
“Everything kind of ran
through (Loichinger) last
year and now we can kind
of take some of the weight
off her shoulders.”
Loichinger certainly appreciates
that.
“We’ve struggled before
with finishing and I think
this year we’ll be really
good at getting the ball
in the back of the net, so
hopefully I can get some
more assists,” Loichinger
said. “It’s super exciting
having these young girls
who are confident on the
ball.”
Theiss likes the way his
veteran players and young
girls are meshing.
“Our chemistry is awesome,”
he said. “These
girls are so supportive of
each other. The positivity
is amazing and it’s genuine.”
Defensively, the Warriors
will rely heavily on
seniors Kylee Brandau,
Sam Sarna and Meghan
Lincoln-Way West forward Abby Wasowicz takes a shot March 12 during the
Warriors’ season opener against Willowbrook in New Lenox. Wasowicz, who missed
all of last year with a knee injury, scored a goal.
Photos by Adam Jomant/22nd Century Media
Schick as they break in
new goalkeepers. Krohe
and freshman Olivia
Franczyk are both expected
to see time in net.
Sophomore Amanda
Yaeger is also a strong
defender who’s versatile
enough to move to midfielder
or forward when
more offense is needed.
Midfielders Carissa
Knezz, Anna Kirk and
Jane Pinkerton are part
of an experienced senior
class.
“This is our year,” Loichinger
said. ‘When we
were freshmen, there were
so much of us on varsity
and we were always looking
forward to when we
were seniors. Now we’re
seniors and we want to finish
strong with a big year.”
Warriors midfielder Zoey Trout (left) and four-year
varsity defender Sam Sarna celebrate after a goal.