Maine South catches Lake Park flat-footed

At 3-1-2 Lake Park's girls soccer team is having a fine season. The Lancers just ran into one solid soccer team on Wednesday.

State-ranked Maine South scored a pair of quick early goals in Roselle and added a third before halftime in an eventual 3-0 win.

"We've been working really well as a team, but it didn't show today," said Lancers senior Devin Johnston. "The effort wasn't there in the first half."

"We needed to play the ball quicker today. The past couple games we've been able to hold onto it, but (Maine South) put that quick pressure on us."

So far this year the Lancers won their Early Bird Invite tournament, which included a 1-0 win over a tough team in Mundelein, and they posted a 1-0 win over a scrappy Glenbard West squad.

Maine South (4-1-1) presented the Lancers' biggest test yet.

"I thought we came out a little timid, and it hurt us," said Lake Park coach John Gouriotis. "We've outworked our opponents this year, but we only did that at times today. We'll chalk today up to a learning experience."

Maine South scored in the sixth and eighth minutes before the Lancers picked up their play and began applying moving the ball into their attacking third. Johnston hammered a ball on net from 16 yards out before halftime, but the Hawks' keeper was on the spot.

Johnston blistered another ball off the crossbar in the second half, and the Maine South shutout came to fruition.

"We just have to keep it positive and keep everyone motivated," Johnston said. "If we play our hardest, we'll do well. We just didn't do that enough today."