Skala, St. Viator make single goal stand over Prospect
Taylor Skala's second-half strike at 57 minutes was enough to catapult No. 10 St. Viator (12-8-3) into the championship match at the Glenbrook South regional Friday after a 1-0 victory over No. 7 Prospect.
The Lions will meet the host second-seeded Titans at 4 p.m. with the hope of avenging an earlier 6-0 defeat in pool play during the Barrington tournament.
With leading scorer Katelyn Hammerlund, Lauren Cozzi, and Skala causing all sorts of problems for the Knights (12-8-2) during the first quarter hour, it wasn't long before all of the play stayed in the Knights' end.
That stalled the Prospect attack and rarely created chances for MSL East player of the year Rachel Lenke and teammate Susie Lello up top.
"It was tough for us to get going in a first half which saw St. Viator have the run of play during most of that time," said Prospect coach Tom Froats.
But the Knights had the best scoring chance when Becky Santiago and Julie Schmoldt hooked up down the right side - only to see Lions keeper Stephanie Shanahan save Schmoldt's shot from 12 yards.
As good as the Lions were in the opening minutes of the second-half, their inability to be sharp in close kept them off the scoreboard until Skala struck for the eventual game-winner with the help of Hammerlund.
A win along the far touchline to keep the Lions in possession initiated the goal, which allowed Hammerlund to provide a superb cross field ball to the left side and to an unmarked Skala.
With the composure of a surgeon, Skala struck a strong shot to the left of keeper Bridget McDermott, who had little chance to stop it.
"All season long (Katelyn) and I have been the freshman-sophomore scoring duo, and today we were once again," said second-year striker Skala, who has combined with Hammerlund for nearly 30 goals.
Moments after Skala's goal, McDermott made a brilliant save on Hammerlund at the tail-end of a center channel run to keep the Knights in the match.
"The truth is, if (their) keeper doesn't make that great save, we probably can breathe a little easier," said Lions coach Sam Donnelly.
A nerve-racking final 10 minutes for the Lions finally ended with a victory, but not without the Knights throwing everything forward in search of the equalizer.
It almost came, as Danielle Brucci, Lenke and Lello all had a go from inside the 18.
"We tried to keep our players fresh with more substitutions than normal (for) us because of the heat, and that seemed to work today," Donnelly said. "Now we have a chance to face Glenbrook South one more time, and I know the girls have been hoping for that opportunity."