Leyden savors sudden change of fortune
Fresh off ending a five-game losing streak at Proviso West on Friday, Leyden's girls soccer team fired back with another victory Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles closed out their PepsiCo Showdown effort with a 3-0 win over Chicago's Solorio Academy.
Rosa Truplano struck the game-winner just before intermission, while teammates Mayra Salenas and Elise Roa put the icing on the cake with second-half goals.
"It feels good to win back-to-back games, and our last tournament game also," said Mareli Diaz, who with her backline mates Sanchez and Nohely Suarez and center defender Bianca Medina kept the Sun Warriors (1-6-0) from getting anything dangerous toward keeper Karina Sanchez (subbing for injured starter Ruth Merlos).
"We're not anywhere near an elite team," said Leyden coach Rob Fowler, "but I feel it's important that we compete hard and win games against opponents of equal or even a little better talent than us, and we've done just that these past two games. We hope to carry that forward on Tuesday when we play our conference rival Morton."
It was clear during the early exchanges the Eagles (4-9-0) had too much pace for their opponent, as they flooded forward from the opening whistle to keep Solorio under pressure.
"We haven't been around that long as a program, and after losing 13 seniors from last year's team that went 7-7-0, we obviously have a long way to go as we continued to put a very young team into battle against teams with more varsity experience, as well as soccer experience," said Solorio coach Adrian Calleros, who also directs an up-and-coming boys program during the fall.
Truplano was the benefactor of a wicked free kick from teammate Michelle Andrade, who rattled the bar from 30 yards. The rebound spilled nicely to the Truplano, whose return strike hit the bar as well but fell over the end line thanks to a favorable backward bounce.
Prior to that 38th-minute goal, the Eagles enjoyed most of the run of play as Sasha Cordero, Brenda Valdez and Diaz managed the game well at midfield.
"We got off to a poor start, but we also had a lot of new girls on our roster this spring and it's taken awhile for them to get used to the speed and play on the varsity, but I feel we're beginning to come around right now," said Diaz
Salenas took full advantage of a gusty wind down on the floor of Olympic Park in Schaumburg when she unleashed a long free kick. With a wayward bounce at the end, the ball found its way past Solorio keeper Kayla Angel just five minutes into the second period.
Some steady nerves, and a bit of patience paid off for Angel, who stayed with a well aimed shot from Medina that was redirected. The sure hands of the Solorio keeper kept the Leyden advantage to just 2 after this 55th-minute strike.
Roa ended the scoring at 68 minutes when her long range attempt found the back of the net.
"We hope to continue this little mini-win streak Tuesday against Morton, who the girls know really well because of club soccer, so I expect them to be ready to go come game time for that one," Fowler said.
After Morton, the Eagles host Proviso East on Thursday before going on the road next Saturday at Riverside-Brookfield.