Sports
Athlete of the Week: Lemont Soccer's Shannon Briggs
The junior midfielder is a captain for the Indians while scoring five goals and three assists this season.
Beginning the soccer season strong at 6-2, Lemont owes part of its success to the performance of junior midfielder Shannon Briggs.
Briggs, a third-year varsity member, is one of four captains on the team along with senior defenders Amy Skowronski and Elise Cody and junior midfielder Kelly Trojak. As a captain, Briggs said she is expected to play hard and pick her team up if its struggling or losing.
“I have to be the leader and help everybody while scoring goals,” Briggs said.
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Lemont head coach Rick Prangen said Briggs, who had an assist against Oak Lawn Tuesday, did not just have a solid week, but has been extremely vital to the team’s success.
“It’s just not been her week,” Prangen said. “If you talk about an athlete of the week, I’m ruling everything she’s done for us so far this year. When we have gone forward and have gotten goals, it’s mostly been because of her.
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"Most things have come through her this year. She needs to understand that as she goes, the team goes. If she understands that, she’ll be a little bit more consistent.”
In 2011, Briggs has five goals and three assists. During the Tinley Park game, she had two goals, including the winning tally with five minutes remaining.
Briggs puts her team first and is proud of the Indians’ early season achievements. The Indians beat Downers Grove North and played state ranked Sandburg and Downers Grove South tough in two losses. She feels Lemont can go to the playoffs and do well if her team continues playing hard.
“We need to keep up the intensity,” Briggs said. “We lost to Sandburg 2-0 and that should have been a tie game. They are ranked first in state while Downers Grove South (winning 4-0 Wednesday) is ranked seventh. We stayed with them pretty well and we beat Downers Grove North. All are all bigger schools than us.”
She said Prangen taught her how to play well with her left foot and now is having her work on turning away from pressure, which she said would polish her play. Briggs plays midfield and other positions with the Darien Dynamo Soccer Club’s U-17 team under head coach Chris Karabatsis.
For college, Briggs hopes to play competitively and is looking at Iowa State University’s program.
