Sports
Extras: Team Chemistry Key to Lemont Soccer Success
Lemont completes their regular season with important games against Minooka, Richards and T.F. Co-op.
The Lemont High School girls soccer team is preparing for its final run as the regular season nears its end.
After the Indians (14-4, 9-0) recorded a third-place finish in their hosted tournament, they hope to have a strong finish to their regular season by strengthening their communication and building on their strong team chemistry.
The team was state runner-up in 2008-09, but faltered in the regional semifinals last year.
“We get a lot of adrenaline out of the (Lemont) Invite,” said Lemont three-year varsity defender Elise Cody, who will head to DePaul University this fall. “If we play like how I know we can, we can go pretty far.”
With only three seniors remaining of the roster, Lemont is a very young team. (The rest of the team showcases 10 juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen.)
However, the team is unified by the leadership of captains Cody and junior midfielder Kelly Trojak.
“We all love each other on the team,” Trojak said. “The younger girls listen good, and help the older players not have to do so much because they’re very talented.”
The increasing experience of the underclassmen shined through last weekend in the Lemont Invite.
On Friday, Lemont defeated Hinsdale South in a thriller, scoring three unanswered shootout goals (after a 1-1 tie in regulation). Lemont lost 3-1 to Waubonsie Valley on Saturday morning, but retaliated with a 2-1 win against Lincoln-Way North for the third place finish.
Lemont sophomore Wendy Mazur netted a clutch goal in the Hinsdale South game with 1:10 remaining to force the overtime shootout. In the loss to Waubonsie Valley, freshman forward Kim Jerantowski connected on a penalty kick for the Indians' only goal. Freshman keeper Kelly Fritz saved more than 10 balls throughout the entire tournament.
“Overall I think we did pretty well,” said Trojak, who tallied two goals and one assist in the tournament. “We took a big step forward. This tournament always has great competition to get us ready for the playoffs.”
Lemont enters the final week of regular season this week with matches against Minooka on Tuesday, Richards on Wednesday and Thornton Fractional Co-op on Thursday.
“Our finish in the (Lemont Invite) was well-deserved,” said Lemont head coach Rick Prangen. “It was like night and day between (Friday) and (Saturday). The purpose of this invite is to get ready for the state playoffs. We need to keep this momentum going to get us energized for the end of the season.”
