Joliet West edges Lakes
In the previous couple of years, the Lakes girls soccer team was a fairly experienced group.
But that’s history now, as the Eagles have a younger squad on the field.
Ashley Neubeck put her best foot forward on Tuesday, scoring a goal for the Eagles on Tuesday afternoon.
“We’re still learning how each other plays,” Neubeck said. “We need to play more relaxed and find each other.
“We just need to stay together as a team, work together and talk more as a team.”
Neubeck’s goal wasn’t enough for Lakes in a 2-1 loss to visiting Joliet West in a Pepsi Showdown opener in Lake Villa.
Joliet West next visits No. 7 Mundelein at 6 p.m. Thursday night.
The Tigers (1-5-1) scored both their goals in the second half to pull out the come-from-behind victory.
“We’re young and inexperienced,” said Lakes coach Kevin Kullby, whose team is now 1-2. “It’s the lack of game sharpness. We we had more of the play in the first half; (Joliet West) had more of play in the second half. But they got two and we couldn’t get another.
“We had our chances and opportunities to do something better.”
Neubeck put the Eagles ahead 1-0 in the 29th minutes after taking a through ball from Rebecca Hill.
“It was a good ball,” said Neubeck, who scored her second goal of the season. “I just followed it up and got past the defense, then found the open space and scored with my left foot.”
Joliet West got a goal from Jackie Wysocki on a breakaway in the 45th minute, and Shea Pierce got the game-winning goal in the 58th minute.
It was Joliet West’s first win in its first season as a varsity program after splitting off from Joliet Central.
“Coming in with a long trip, you are concerned,” Joliet West coach Jeff Lundeen said. “We’ve been struggling getting the ball into the back of the net. We wanted to change the story and put two in.
“Lakes does a nice job possessing the ball and works the ball around the field. Our girls took a while to adjust to it. We were able to move the ball forward and get some close opportunities.”