Leyden absorbs defeat against Willowbrook
First-half goals from Willowbrook senior captain Louisa Reese and freshman Jess Budig were enough to fend off a brave comeback from Leyden as the Warriors prevailed 2-1 in the rain in a West Suburban Gold matchup Tuesday at the Eagles’ West campus.
The Warriors (6-11-2, 2-2-0) went ahead at nine minutes when Reese bent her free kick around the Eagles’ wall and into the far corner from 30 yards.
This first score of the match culminated a nice opening quarter-hour for coach Pete Mongomery’s side, which had gone scoreless in 5 of its last 7 matches.
“We really came out and played very well in the rain and slippery conditions, especially in the first half when we were getting through balls into (their) end as well as possessing through our midfield and then up top to our forwards,” said Montgomery.
The trio of Lauren Carroll, Lindsey Petersen and Budig took turns testing the backline trio of Avelina Bautista, Rachel Valdez and Giselle Segura right from the opening whistle.
“We gave (Willowbrook) too much space in that first half,” said Leyden coach Rob Fowler, whose club dropped to 4-11-0 overall and 1-3-0 in the division. “We conceded those two dead-ball opportunities, and we didn’t defend those very well either.”
Despite the hard rain, the play from both sides was entertaining throughout the first 40 minutes and into the second period. At that point, the Eagles pushed numbers forward in hopes of cutting the Warriors’ lead in half after Budig doubled Willowbrook’s lead at 34 minutes.
“Leyden came out and played a very good second half, and put a lot of pressure on us, forcing us to do some things we didn’t do in the first half,” said Montgomery.
The Eagles were finally able to get talented striker Ashley Torres the ball more frequently, and the junior attacked and created for chances for others, notably Bianca Medina, Jenny Ortega and Caitie Donegan.
Torres put Renee Dionisio through near the top of the box, but the Warriors backline quickly closed down the sophomore to clear a potentially dangerous situation. Minutes after, Donegan had a go but went wide with her attempt.
Dionisio brought the Eagles closer when a ball from the far side filtered freely to the outside. The opportunistic striker went past keeper Shanti Lindeberg, who had no chance on the hard smash which seemed to pick up speed on the slick surface.
Leyden was able to stay in the Willowbrook end for most of the second half. But as has frequently been the case for the young Eagles, they could not get the another one in before the final whistle sounded.
“One of the things we’re dealing with, besides so much youth and inexperience, is we lack that cold-hearted finisher,” said Fowler. “If we had one, our record would likely be so much better than it is right now. But we are getting better with each week, and that’s the best thing about this team.”