HO_052319

homerhorizon.com sports
the homer horizon | May 23, 2019 | 43
Girls Soccer
Porters give their all in regional title match, falling 2-1
Team closes out
season with final
record of 14-4-5
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
Jennifer Latoza and Samantha
Shafabidy both
had birthdays on Friday,
May 17.
The Lockport Township
girls soccer players could
not think of a better present
than a regional championship.
But unfortunately for
them and the rest of the
Porters, that did not happen.
Instead, it was Metea
Valley with a pair of goals
in a 70-second span late in
the first half that stood up
for the winning goals over
the host Porters in a 2-1
victory on May 17 in the
title game of the Class 3A
Lockport Regional at the
LTHS soccer field.
The No. 6-seeded Mustangs
(10-8-2) won their
sixth-straight regional title
and seventh in the past
eight years. They played
top-seeded Naperville
North, a 3-2 winner over
West Aurora in the regional
title game, on Wednesday,
May 22, in a semifinal of
the East Aurora Sectional.
Lockport (14-4-5),
which was seeded No. 4
in the sectional, closed
out one of its best seasons
in school history recordwise.
But the Porters fell
short in their bid to win a
regional championship for
the first time since 2012.
“A win would have been
a better birthday present,”
Latoza said. “But it’s OK.
We played hard the entire
time. It’s just unfortunate
that we didn’t get too many
chances, but we played our
best.”
Latoza, a forward, and
Natalie Miller, a midfielder,
were the only seniors
on the field for the Porters.
Their only other seniors,
forwards Finley Travis and
Gabby Zieba, were both
out with injuries. Travis
broke her right foot in the
last week of the regular
season in a key game, a
2-0 loss on May 6 at Sandburg.
Zieba tore the ACL
in her right knee on March
18 in a 3-0 loss at SWSC
Red champion Bradley-
Bourbonnais.
“It was a good game,”
Lockport coach Todd
Elkei said of the regional
title tilt. “It would have
been nice to not have two
seniors on the sideline. But
we played hard. It wasn’t
from lack of effort.”
It certainly was not and
will always be a memorable
season.
“I will definitely just
remember this group of
girls and these wonderful
coaches,” Miller said.
“The coaches taught me
everything. I’m looking
forward to the next chapter
in college [at St. Ambrose
University], but I will miss
these girls so much.”
Playing in their second
regional title game in the
past three seasons, Lockport
scored first. That was
when freshman Karolina
Stasik was able to redirect
a crossing pass from the
left by junior midfielder
Chloe Barrett and punch it
in just 3:18 into the game.
“We came out on fire,
just how we wanted to
play,” Elkei said. “I had
seen that play we scored
on and passed it along to
the team the night before
the game. That’s exactly
how we scored our goal.”
Unfortunately for the
Porters, their opportunities
after that were few and far
between. Five minutes after
the goal, freshman forward
Anna Domina had a
shot opportunity from the
right sail high. Another
freshman, defender Sarah
Matuszek, took a corner
kick with 16 minutes left
in the first half and added a
restart kick from the top of
the box about seven minutes
later that went wide.
Less than a minute after
that, Metea Valley
had an excellent opportunity,
as senior midfielder
Kayla Hurst got the ball
all alone on the left side.
She drew junior keeper
Reagan Tompkins out of
the net and sent in a shot.
The grounder was headed
into the goal, but Latoza
swooped in and made a
non-goalie save with 8:25
to play in the first half.
“I saw Reagan come
out, and I wanted to fill in
her spot,” Latoza said of
the play. “I was blessed to
be in the right spot at the
right time.”
The Mustangs, however,
came back four minutes
later and scored. Following
a foul, they had a restart
opportunity from the
top of the box. From there,
senior midfielder Kiley
McKee put in the free
kick, and the game was
tied at 1-1 with 4:51 left in
the first half.
Just over a minute later,
sophomore defender Katy
Flanders fired in a shot
that Tompkins saved. But
she gave up a rebound near
the right post, and freshman
midfielder Jocelyn
Grabow was there to put
it in with 3:41 left in the
opening half. So, the two
goals came within 70 seconds
of each other.
“The first goal was from
right outside the box, so
there wasn’t much we
could do,” Latoza said of
the Mustangs’ goal. “Then
the second one, we were
out of position and gave
up a rebound goal.”
Those proved to be the
difference.
“Once they got the first
goal, we got in a threeminute
panic mode,” Elkei
said. “Anyone could have
been the No. 4 through 10
seed in this sectional. Our
younger kids got a lot of
experience. We just need a
goal scorer.”
That was the Porters’
issue in the second half.
They had exactly one opportunity,
a restart from
the top of the box with
29:40 to play in the game.
From there, Matuszek
ripped a laser that was on
goal, but it went right to
junior keeper Nikki Coryell,
who corralled it.
The rest of the game belonged
to the Mustangs.
Junior midfielder Sydney
Rohm had corner kick opportunities
and also had
a shot roll off the top of
the crossbar. Junior midfielder
Grace Galfano also
made a non-goalie save for
Lockport late in the first
half. But, despite Metea
Valley being whistled for
two yellow cards in the
last 35 seconds, the Porters
never got off another shot
on goal.
In the semifinals, Lockport
defeated Bolingbrook
2-0 on May 14. It was the
third win for the Porters
over their fellow SouthWest
Suburban Conference opponent
this season. Galfano
and Barrett, on an assist by
Miller, had the goals. It was
Tompkins’ 15th shutout on
the season, including four
scoreless ties.
The next day, May 15,
Metea Valley knocked out
Oswego East by the score
of 3-0.
Shafabidy, a defender,
was one of six sophomores
on the team. There were
seven freshmen on the
Porter postseason roster.
So, the future looks bright.
“Obviously, it’s always
hard to leave,” Miller said.
“But I’m going to come
back and watch these girls.
I will be happy to see them
grow.”
Former Porter named to collegiate All-Conference team
Submitted by the
University of Wisconsin-
Stout
University of Wisconsin-Stout
sophomore and
Lockport Township High
School graduate Meghan
Kelly was recently named
to the honorable mention
All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference
team.
It was Kelly’s first
appearance on the All-
WIAC team. Kelly, who
plays first base, tied for
third in the conference in
doubles with 12. She hit
.327 (37-117) and was
second on the team in
RBI with 28. Kelly stole
six bases in six attempts.
Defensively, she posted a
.982 fielding percentage,
committing only four errors
in 222 chances.
RIGHT: LTHS graduate and
University of Wisconsin-
Stout sophomore Meghan
Kelly was an honorable
mention on this year’s All-
Wisconsin Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference team.
Photo courtesy of UW-
Stout Sports Information