Saints can't match Lyons

By all accounts, the first half of Monday afternoon's St. Charles East-Lyons boys soccer contest was one that no team would find pleasing.

The second half left one team smiling, and for Saints fans, the unfortunate news was that the Lyons from Lions walked off the Norris Stadium pitch in good spirits.

Surging from a 0-0 halftime, Lyons got its passing game moving and began to put sustained pressure on the St. Charles East goal. The result was a 3-0 nonconference victory.

"We try to play to feet almost at all costs," Lyons coach Paul Labbato said. "When our guys commit to it, we're pretty good and things start to work out for us."

Lyons' goal rush after St. Charles East (0-1-1) nearly scored. Logan Johnson fed Jordan Stallman, whose shot was saved by Glymar Ponce. Seconds later, Christopher Tomek had a flicked shot saved by Ponce.

Then Lyons (2-0) took firm control. For all the passing movement, the first goal came on a brave header by Jake Federlick, who rose high in the penalty area to head home a Mike Schreiber free kick.

That goal came in the 10 th minute of the second half. Fifteen minutes later, Tyler Kuehn ran onto a leading pass and slotted the Lions' second goal.

Matt Solick set up the game's final goal with four minutes to play. Solick played the ball from the left wing to just past the right post. The ball eluded the Saints' defense and fell to Sam Gabrek, whose well-timed run allowed him to score.

As the match wore on, the Saints offense struggled to carve openings in the Lyons defense.

"There's a lot of things we need to improve on right now," St. Charles East coach Jorge Ortiz said. "As a group, we need to play a little more together. Everybody needs to know their role and their responsibility."

That the Saints played with composure early in the match was one positive sign. And the team kept trying to find combinations, even if those final passes were frequently errant.

"The midfield played well in the first half and we were able to create chances," Ortiz said. "Unfortunately we weren't able to finish those off. Then in the second half, I think we wore down a little bit."