Soccer: Lazenby, Saviano pace St. Charles East in 2-0 win over Geneva
Sidney Lazenby had to time her jump perfectly as her mind blanked in the heat of the moment.
Pure instinct and athletic intuition then took over for the St. Charles East sophomore goalie.
Geneva sophomore Leyna Yonehara just pounded a high-arcing shot to the upper left-hand corner of the net in what appeared to be destined for a score with 8:47 remaining in the second half of St. Charles East's ultimate 2-0 victory over Geneva on Tuesday.
Lazenby was able to anticipate the flight path while drifting to her right, and just nicked a piece of the ball to keep it from falling behind her.
"It was a great shot, first off," Lazenby said. "I'm not sure who shot it, but it was a great shot. Honestly, my mind kind of goes blank during those saves. My body carries me. It kind of just does it [reacts]. It's kind of like all my saves: It's complete instinct at this point. I guess I've been playing so long that I've learned that instinct to just jump and hope I save it."
In a second half where Geneva (10-4, 1-2) certainly turned up the offensive intensity, the acrobatic save was a sigh of relief for the Saints, who preserved their undefeated record at 15-0 and 4-0 in DuKane Conference play.
Lazenby had eight total saves. Out of a number of fruitful Vikings chances, another standout play was when Vikings junior Morgan Rudowicz skipped ahead an opportunistic ball to Rilee Hasegawa on a rush with 16:40 remaining in the second half, which forced Lazenby to make an aggressive save on the run.
It's the collective moments Lazenby strings together that showcases the Saints' coaching staff high confidence in her.
"This is what we've seen over a two year span now in practice," Saints coach Vince DiNuzzo said. "Her stellar saves, acrobatic stuff, instincts taking over and today was a perfect example of that. She was calm and composed. She didn't have much to do that was dangerous, but when she was called upon, she rose to the occasion. Not a lot of kids are making that save [on Yonehara's attempt]."
The Saints were able to string together two first half goals on the Vikings. The first came on a gorgeous assist from Grace Williams to center the ball on Alli Saviano's foot with 18:32 in the first half.
Saviano, a midfielder, "is [at her] best when she has [free rein] to create for herself and others, DiNuzzo said.
"Dribbling at players, taking players on [and] facilitating our attack," DiNuzzo said. "When she gets in that final part of the field, we want her to be aggressive and that was something she was able to do today. She split defenders a number of times and creates space for herself and others and putting away the goal was really nice for her confidence."
Saviano, then, found Kara Machala for a score when the Vikings' defense was caught slowly reacting to the run of play. The Vikings' back line appeared to anticipate a ball to go out of bounds in their third of the field, but the Saints corralled it prior to it doing so, and Machala found enough room to make them pay.
"That was an amazing save [by Lazenby]," Geneva coach Megan Owens said. "I feel like this game was a tale of two halves. I feel like we dominated the run of play in the second half. We had so many shots. It's just we dug ourselves in a hole. We made two undisciplined mistakes that [St. Charles East] pounced on. Props to them, that's what good teams do. But, there's really no excuse [despite juggling lineups and position switches].
"At halftime, I said, 'Go out and play your game. I haven't seen our game.' I was very happy with how we responded at halftime; how we got out there [and] how we fought. It was excellent effort in the second half."