Girls soccer: Leon scores again as Saints rally to tie St. Viator
All-state forward Mya Leon came to the rescue Thursday afternoon when St. Charles East (6-0-1) needed it most. Her 11th goal of the season helped the Saints earn a hard-fought 1-1 draw with St. Viator.
The sophomore drew the visitors level on the hour when she coolly finished in a crowd on a helper from teammate Lilli Margewich.
“(St. Viator) was a great opponent. They pressured us a lot, won a lot of balls in the midfield, and their keeper was just tremendous,” Leon said.
“We've left several quality opportunities this season, and definitely today, but that performance by their keeper is one of the best I've seen of late,” Saints coach Vince Dinuzzo said of Lions (0-0-2) sophomore keeper Judy Saji.
“(It) easily could have been 3-0 at the half, but their keeper kept them in the game, (then) we found ourselves chasing a goal midway through the second half,” Dinuzzo said.
Both sides were met by a threat of storms, and a roaring cross wind that made every ball in the air an adventure.
St. Viator came out strong off the opening whistle with Maggie Drake, Kalin McCrea, Claire Salatino, and Camilia Fuentes at the heart of the Lions’ attack.
“(They) were a very good opponent, and we knew they might be one of the best teams we would play this season. But I thought there was a lot of fight from everyone, which I was really proud of,” said Drake, who returned from club to play her senior year for St. Viator.
“We have a lot of skill and depth this season, and today it allowed us to compete at a high level against a really great team,” said Lions coach Byron DeLeon.
Safi turned around a close-range effort from Leon, her teammate, Sophia Wollenberg, and Leon twice more before the intermission.
The Lions led on the opener from Fuentes in the 56th minute when her wind-aided floater found its way into the far inside corner.
Margewich took a ball from Tatum Smith and raced to the end line, where she played a near-perfect ball to Leon for the equalizer three minutes after Fuentes scored.
“Tatum got things going when she played a great ball to me. And when I got to the end line, I knew that Mya would be there,” said Margewich.
Next up is for the Saints is another nonconference match Saturday at Larkin. The Lions begin ESCC play Saturday at Joliet Catholic.