Move pays off for Kane, Wheaton North

Wheaton North senior Niamh Kane wasn't exactly comfortable when she played forward for the first time recently.

"I did it one other game," Kane said. "Honestly, I didn't know what I was doing."

It didn't take her long to figure it out.

Kane, who usually starts on defense, was moved up top late in the first half Tuesday night and responded by scoring two goals and adding an assist as Wheaton North beat Lake Park 3-0 at Rexilius Field in Wheaton.

It was the first 2-goal game for Kane, who had scored 2 earlier goals this season on headers against Naperville North and Wheaton Warrenville South.

"I just made the slant runs because (her teammates) were playing the balls over (the top), so it was really just chasing and going as fast as I could," Kane said. "That's what I tried to do."

Wheaton North (5-6, 1-3 DuPage Valley Conference) was having a difficult time breaking down Lake Park's determined defense until Falcons coach Tim McEvilly moved his big center back to forward with five minutes left in the first half.

"We did that for the first time in our last game, just gave her some minutes up there," McEvilly said. "We've got a couple kids that are mending some injuries and we're trying to giving them (a rest).

"But she's a physical presence. When you've got a kid up top that's 5-foot-10, 5-11 that can control the ball, it opens space for other people. We know we need her at center mid sometimes, too, but if we can steal some minutes here and there we'll work her in combinations with others, we'll do that."

The switch paid dividends with 2:04 left in the first half. Rose Quinn sent a long ball up the left side that sprung Kane on a breakaway.

Lake Park defender Caitlin Lang did a good job of staying with Kane and eventually forced her to turn inside and slow down. That allowed other defenders to get back, but Kane maneuvered into space and scored on a shot inside the right post.

"They were tight (defensively)," Kane said. "I felt like we were splitting them well the entire game.

"We were just having trouble getting on the end of it. Our balls were close but they really became perfect toward the end of the first half, which is how I got on the end of that one."

Kane made it 2-0 at the 33:38 mark of the second half when she scored on a rebound after Lake Park goalkeeper Sarah Yokem made a diving stop on Addy Atkinson.

Kane nearly had a hat trick. She redirected a corner kick from Margaret Hupp toward the Lake Park net but defender Morghin Klein blasted it in to make sure the lead grew to 3-0 with 4:47 left.

Lake Park (1-9, 0-4) had only one shot, a 45-yard free kick that Gabi Suazo saved easily.

"We're starting to pull it together a little bit," Lake Park coach Sean Crosby said. "We're not as susceptible to the long ball as we used to be. We just can't put the full 80 minutes together."