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Sports

Girls Soccer: Lemont Finishes Third in State

Lemont 2, Wheaton Academy 0; Jerantowski scores twice; Indians win bronze at IHSA Class 2A state finals.

NAPERVILLE—It may not have been the title it wanted, but Lemont girls soccer team certainly went out on a high note.

For the second time in three years, the girls soccer teams received a berth into the IHSA Class 2A State Finals, which were held Friday and Saturday at Naperville Central High School.

Although the Indians lost a tough 3-0 match to Marian Central Catholic on Friday morning, they bounced back quickly with a 2-0 win over Wheaton Academy in the third-place game Saturday.

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Lemont freshmen midfielder Kim Jerantowski and goalkeeper Kelly Fritz led the way for the Indians' finish. Jerantowski scored both goals, while Fritz notched her 16th shutout of the season. Junior midfielder Sydney Goushas added an assist on Jerantowski’s first goal.

“The girls believe in each other,” said Lemont head coach Rick Prangen. “I think we had a lot of character this year getting third place. It’s hard to win that.

"Sometimes after a hard loss, a team will have no adrenaline from the night before. I thought if we could contain (Wheaton Academy juniors forward Ally Witt and midfielder Crystal Thomas), we could get a win.”

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Witt and Thomas were responsible for 54 of Wheaton Academy's 65 goals this season. The constant pressure from Lemont defenders, however, held the duet at bay. Witt and Thomas only attempted two shots on goal.

The Indians' first goal followed a penalty kick off the foot of Goushas. Goushas shot rebounded to Jerantowski whose header trickled past the Warriors' keeper.

“We had to redeem ourselves from [Friday],” Jerantowski said. “We aimed high with our expectations this year. We came into the season to make a stand and worked hard to get here.”

Wheaton Academy had several chances. With 29 minutes 29 seconds remaining in the second half, Witt drove into a penalty kick. Fritz dived for the save, which was deflected off of a player toward Thomas on an open goal. However, her kick was sent through the uprights of the field goal post.

“It’s awesome,” said Lemont senior defender and co-captain Elise Cody of the win. “I can’t say enough about this team. Coach [Prangen] said this was the first team he’s coached to finish the season with a win.

"My advice to the younger kids coming up is to spend a lot of time getting closer to one another. A lot of underclassmen like Kim [Jerantowski] and Kelly [Fritz] will help the newer players come in. We have a lot of skilled players here.”

Lemont’ loses seniors Cody, Amy Skowronski and Nicole Papiernik. Cody will attend DePaul University, while co-captain Skowronski moves to the University of Illinois. Neither will continue playing soccer in college.

Papiernik plans to play at St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Ind., during the fall.

“The three are going to be hard to replace,” Prangen said. “Amy [Skowronski] has been with me for four years and she’s always had the greatest character. Elise [Cody] has played hard the three years she was on varsity.

"She played hard in every single game, and was very competitive. Nicole [Papiernik], was not loud and screaming but she led by example and brought positivity. “

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