Glenbrook South scores late for 1-1 end to game against undefeated North

This is why you don't let teams hang around.

With 3 minutes of soccer left, in a game Glenbrook North's offense had dominated yet produced a single goal, Glenbrook South's Lilly O'Rourke scored the equalizer.

From 30 yards out, dead center, the junior midfielder lined a shot just past leaping Spartans keeper Annie Welch into the back left corner of the net. Playing at its own John Davis Stadium, it was Glenbrook South's second scoring chance of the game.

A final, frenzied Glenbrook North push within feet of the goal line ended with Titans defender Ashley Ciss blocking a sharp-angled shot into an otherwise open net with her face.

Two minutes later, Glenbrook South (1-7-2) exulted in a 1-1 Central Suburban League South tie against the unbeaten Spartans in Glenview.

"We only had a couple shots on goal, but we locked in on the final one to tie it up," O'Rourke said of her fourth goal of the season.

"I was pretty wide open and my teammate, I think Dani Stadler, laid it off for me and I just hit it hoping it wasn't going over (the net). I have a history of doing that."

Forcing Glenbrook South goalie Maggie Ryan to scramble and dive or jump to punch shots away in a 10-save performance, Glenbrook North (6-0-2) would have liked to have made quick history of this one.

"This is a team that you've got to put away early. We didn't do that," said Glenbrook North junior Margy Porta, who scored the Spartans' goal in the 58th minute.

"We played too slow for the first half. We've got to play how we did for the first five minutes of the second half the whole time, and we didn't do that. And that's how you lose games in these high school tournaments," she said.

Glenbrook South came out of halftime with spark, yet the first five minutes of the second half were much like the latter 30 of the surprisingly scoreless first half - constant offensive zone pressure by the visitors with chances by Porta, Riley Philbin, Dani Gichner and Lily Denk.

"We knew coming out that they had a really good offensive lineup and so we wanted to be tight on defense with them. So, we definitely were playing more defensive," O'Rourke said.

Glenbrook North sent 8 shots either at or on goal in that first half, creating 4 corner kick opportunities, while Titans senior co-captain Anya Gupta gummed up other doorstep threats.

"We were glad to have our center defender, Anya, back from quarantine," said Ryan, another senior captain. "She really brought a whole other level back to the 'D' and just elevated us and gave us the momentum we needed, I guess.

"We've been really missing her," Ryan said. "She's been gone for two weeks and we really felt that in the back. With her back, she's just brought our whole game back up to where it's supposed to be. Now I think we have the momentum we need going forward."

Ten minutes into the second half, Titans sophomore midfielder Meghan Noe delivered a flash of momentum on a blast similar to O'Rourke's score, deflected wide right by the mobile Welch.

But again it was a plethora of Spartans chances culminating in Philbin's crossing pass from the left for Denk's crack at it, a scrum, and Porta's bounder from 10 yards out for a 1-0 Glenbrook North lead with 22 minutes left.

"Saw the ball, saw the goal, just took a shot and finished it," Porta said of her second goal this spring.

Stopping 6 second-half shots and seeing another 7 attempts, netminder Ryan made full use of her 5-foot, 5-inch frame. She said she felt like hugging O'Rourke after the tying goal.

"We were outmatched today, for sure, but our goalkeeper kept us in the ballgame and Lilly had a nice shot," said Glenbrook South coach Mark Daniels.

"Meghan Noe had a nice shot in the first 10 minutes of the second half, too, that would have snuck underneath the post there. But Maggie had to come up big with some big saves. We're pleased with the effort, and this could be a step in the right direction for us just to play well and get the moxie for a varsity game and see how that works. It's fun."

The outcome was less than fun for Glenbrook North and coach Tony Valsamis.

"I am proud of what we've done this season. We've had many successes. We just need to figure out what to fix and move forward," he said.

"I'm confident with the majority of our girls we can do that, and the next time we play GBS will be a different story, hopefully."