In Lehman's terms, Carmel blanks Warren
For the last two years, Lauren Lehman watched her Carmel Catholic girls soccer team from the bench after enduring anterior cruciate ligament surgeries on both of her knees.
Lehman finally got her opportunity to play Tuesday and made it a day to remember, scoring 2 goals in the Corsairs' 5-0 win over Warren in Mundelein.
Kassidy Brown and Jackie Janssen each added a goal and 2 assists, while Alex Hauser also scored in the nonconference game.
"It's been a couple long years for me," Lehman said. "It's been a great experience and I love playing varsity soccer. It's nothing I've ever experienced before."
Lehman suffered ACL injuries before her freshman and sophomore years. First it was the left knee and the following year the right one.
Lehman scored Carmel's first goal Tuesday after taking a drop pass from Janssen in the 35th minute.
"I just go out there with no regrets and leave it on the field," Lehman said. "I hope for the best and I've got a great team to back me up. Getting the first goal was just pure joy."
Carmel scored just one goal in the first half, but put things together after that.
"I expected Warren to be tough after last year," Carmel coach John Halloran said. "Our younger players stepped up and handled the pressure in the first half. I think our seniors kept everybody composed throughout the game."
Brown put the Corsairs ahead 2-0 in the 44th minute, delivering a cross that deflected off a Warren defender and into the goal.
Lehman picked up her second goal 12 minutes later, finishing a cross from Brown.
"It was good day for Lehman," Halloran said. "For her to get 2 (goals) in her debut was special for her and us, too."
Maddie Allen earned her first shutout in goal, making 6 stops.
"We made silly mistakes and we didn't work as hard as I thought we would," Warren coach Jeff Knouse said of his team's first game. "Carmel took advantage our mistakes and put them away. The first half was better than the second half. We'll get back to work and get working on it."