Miller strikes twice for Lake Park

Mother Nature provided the rain and Lake Park's Ken Miller provided the lightning.

Miller scored twice and assisted on a third goal as the Lancers (4-1) won 3-1 over Glenbard East (1-2-2) in boys soccer fourth-round play of the Lancer Classic in Roselle.

"We had to come out strong, because in our last game against Wheaton North we didn't," Miller said, referring to Tuesday's 2-0 loss. "We're happy to get this win."

"The other night was disappointing, and we were going to play rain or shine tonight," said Lancers coach Norm Hillner, of a game on Thursday that saw steady rain from start to finish.

"We told them to get their game faces ready, and they came out much better tonight."

Before the Rams knew what hit them, the Lancers went up 2-0 by the game's sixth minute. Miller reached the end line on the dribble in the fifth minute and crossed to Dan Messina, who sent it home from 14 yards out.

One minute later Miller took a pass from Mike Lupou and ripped a low shot from 18 yards out that whipped inside the far post.

The Rams, who showed long flashes of solid possession soccer thereafter, were down a pair of goals almost before they got warmed up.

"We played a 65-minute game tonight," said Rams coach Josh Adler. "Our problem has been coming out in the first 10 minutes. We were back on our heels."

"It's been our defending the last two games that has hurt us. We've got to learn to contain that speed a little bit."

It was Miller's speed and quickness on the dribble that put Lake Park up 3-0, 30 seconds before halftime, when he picked his way between a pair of defenders and fired from 16 yards out.

"I think our strength this year is being able to possess more, in back and through the midfield, but we still need to work on coming out with composure," Miller said.

The Rams got a goal in the 53rd minute after a corner kick, when Tyler Ford located a loose ball near the goal mouth and finished on it.

"I just hope that as a young group they're not getting too frustrated," Adler said. "I just want them to learn from their mistakes, because it's a good group."

The Lancers got solid play from Messina, and Adler applauded the play of central defenders Sean Little and Nick Roth on Thursday.