Girls soccer: Leyden puts an end to scoring woes

It took 430 minutes, but Leyden's girls soccer team finally ended its long scoring drought.

Nicole Sedlacek broke the ice in the 30th minute, and teammate Liliana Herrera later put the finishing touches on the Eagles' 2-0 victory over visiting Addison Trail in a West Suburban Gold contest in Northlake on Tuesday.

"We were getting a little down after losing and not scoring again, but we all came together and kind of talked things out and made up our minds tonight was the night we would score some goals and get a win," said Sedlacek, who will attend nearby Dominican University next fall and hopes to continue playing soccer there.

"We really needed this one," said Leyden coach John Schiemann, whose club goes to 5-9-2 overall and 1-2-0 in the division. "The effort has always been there with this team, but we've really struggled to find the back of the net. It it was good to see the girls create some real good chances, and get a couple of goals as well."

During the Eagles' recent five-game losing streak, they'd conceded 12 goals. Addison Trail had struggled too, managing just a draw in its last six games, including back-to-back defeats in divisional play.

"We both came into this game unable to score goals - it's something we've lacked all throughout the season thus far, and tonight Leyden was the better team, especially in the second half," said Blazers coach Sergio Nunez.

Addison Trail (2-9-2, 0-3-0) found itself chasing the Eagles at the break when Sedlacek converted her 30th minute spot-kick after Kathy Sotelo was brought down after both Sedlacek and Catherine Saponieri helped get their teammate inside the Blazers' box.

The lone goal of the first half ended a sluggish 40 minutes of soccer, as neither team was able to generate much through the run of play.

Things would be different, however, after the intermission.

Sotelo, Sedlacek and Saponieri got the Eagles off to a flying start. First Sotelo earned a corner for the Eagles, followed by a Saponieri free kick that forced Blazers keeper Demi Koulogeorgas to save.

Koulogeorgas was fearless in a strong challenge off her line when Saponieri burst through, stopping what could have been a 1v1 opportunity for Leyden.

"Catherine did a great job for us all night, regardless if we had her as an attacking midfielder, or when we dropped her back into a more defensive role," said Schiemann.

Addison Trail surged behind the play of Nahelly Reyna, Vanessa Ramirez, Valeria Soto and Kate Lugardo. But the Eagles' back line absorbed the pressure well, with keeper Evelyn Arzola taking command of the situation with confidence.

Saponieri rattled the bar with a wicked free kick in the 72nd minute before Herrera left a lasting impression on this game with a brilliant strike at 80 minutes.

"The girls fought hard for 80 minutes, especially Bernice (Berrumen) along the back, and Valeria (Soto), our freshman," Nunez said. "And that's all I can ask of them - to play hard and to give a strong effort when they're in there playing."

The Blazers host Proviso West on Thursday, while the Eagles' busy week continues with the third of its four games this week on Wednesday against visiting Elmwood Park.

Christian Liberty 14, Christian Life 0: So far, so good for Morgan Elzinga and her Christian Liberty Academy soccer team.

Last season, the Chargers finished 5-8-0 overall and 2-5-0 in the Northeastern Athletic Conference. But after they outclassed visiting Christian Life 14-0 in Arlington Heights on Tuesday, the Chargers now stand at 6-4-0 and a perfect 3-0-0 in league play.

"It took a while for the players to figure out and be comfortable with the new system we installed, especially with so many freshmen on our roster," said Elzinga, who joined the Chargers program after serving as an assitant at Trinity International University. "But they have really come around of late.

"It's been fun to see the players begin to understand what we've implemented. They have become much more dynamic in our attack, and have slowly come around to building our attack, and how to defend as a team, not just along our backline. We didn't have much of a challenge today from our opponent, but we have a couple of difficult games ahead of us, beginning on Thursday against Harvest."

Before the quarter-hour, the Chargers forced the visitors to chase 5 goals - two of which came from freshman Ava Bennett, who bagged four on the day, and the first of six from another freshman, Veronique Tolpygo, who scored the first 3 of the second half.

"Ava is such a great 1v1 player for us on the outside, and you saw today how she creates for herself and others," said Elzinga of Bennett, whose pace and ability to provide quality service from the left side was too much for Christian Life to match.

Tolpygo, one of six freshmen on the team, along with a trio of sophomores, always seemed to be in the right place at the right time Tuesday afternoon. She finished with 4 unassisted goals, and a well struck free kick in the 11th minute which she curled in from a seemingly impossible angle.

Brae Aiello, Kelly Sullivan and Ellie DeRidder also scored, and Julia Baer complete the scoring in the 49th minute.

Senior Becky Davis recorded the shutout.

"It's been fun to see this team grow together all at once, and, again, with so many new players to our team, the future is bright for us here," Elzinga said.