Elk Grove ousts Lake Park in 3 overtimes

It may have taken more than 100 minutes to get it, but Michelle Calmeyn finally rewarded a persistent Elk Grove offense in the third overtime Wednesday in West Chicago for a marathon-like 2-1 victory.

"We were getting tired, but we knew we had to step up and finish and get the victory to move on," Calmeyn said.

Calmeyn buried her own rebound in the fifth minute of the third overtime after a series of great moves put her at the Lancers' doorstep. Her initial blast was denied by Lake Park goaltender Amanda Siciak, but Calmeyn followed her shot and put it past a sprawling Siciak to seal the victory with her second goal of the game.

After a seesaw first 30 minutes of the game, Elk Grove (12-6-3) took a 1-0 lead on Calmeyn's first tally on a great feed from midfielder Kelly Naughton at the 12-minute mark. However, Lake Park (8-8-4) responded with a push of its own in the final 10 minutes of the half that culminated with a goal with just over a minute remaining by midfielder Megan Lindbert to send the game to a 1-1 tie at the half.

The second half saw increased pressure by Elk Grove as it carried the play but just couldn't deposit the ball in the back of the net.

"Give Lake Park a ton of credit for defending all those corner kicks," Elk Grove coach Dan Klaus said. "They were winning everything we tried to get out of the back and they were first to it 90 percent of the time."

Lake Park also found it difficult to get into its offensive rhythm for much of the afternoon as the Grens bottled up the Lancers.

"It comes down to an opportunity, and we were just one short today," Lake Park coach Chris Fruehling said. "We wanted to see if we could go to the outsides and then try to attack from there. I thought Elk Grove did a great job of getting back defensively and gobbling up the chances we had."

All the sustained pressure from Elk Grove seemed to wear down Lake Park as the fresher legs prevailed after the Grens' offensive leader clinched the game with her sweet moves.

"She's had some big goals and assists this year," Klaus said of Calmeyn. "She can do it with style points or she can just grind it out. A lot of teams know where it's going to come from but she's still getting it done."

On the other side was a Lake Park team that came up just a little short, but the closeness of the score didn't take away from the disappointment of a season-ending loss.

"We worked really hard all year and at practice this week, we really wanted it," midfielder Daniella DiGioia said. "It's just really disappointing."