L.C. avenges girls soccer regional loss

ST. JOHN | The company line at Lake Central is to say that each game is its own.

But when talking with the Indians, sometimes a little more than that gets through.

"We focus mainly on ourselves, but it feels really good (to beat Highland)," Hillary Campbell said. "It was one of the girls' main focuses."

L.C. (3-3) lost a nail-biting regional game to the Trojans last season 1-0. It avenged that loss Saturday with a big 3-1 win over Highland.

Coach Lori Smith credited the victory to her team's ability to break down the Trojan trap defense.

"We've got to be problem solvers. Sometimes girls think 'Hey, what are we going to do? They're throwing something different at us,'" she said. "We talked about it at halftime and they actually executed it and that's what we need to do."

Campbell gave the Indians the lead for good with just over 21 minutes remaining. The senior forward and Kara Polus played an extended give-and-go, passing the ball back and forth, before Campbell was free at the top of the box. She sent a bullet into the bottom right corner.

"I was going to shoot it right away, but I composed myself and took an extra touch and put it upper 90," Campbell said. "I hurt my hip and was afraid I wasn't going to play at all. To get my first goal of the season, it felt really good."

Lauren Doreski scored the first goal of the match for Lake Central when she had the ball fall into her lap during a mix-up inside the box in the 22nd minute. Doreski easily beat Trojan goalie Karly Wolfe to the right side of the net.

Only 28 seconds later, L.C. was called for a handball inside its own goal box. On the subsequent penalty kick, Highland (2-2) evened up the score when Nikki Goodeve put the ball in the top left corner and out of the reach of keeper Megan Bereda.

"It's hard to be the goalie when everyone puts the blame on you when the goal goes in," Bereda said. "We had a P.K., unlucky handball. It happens. We moved over it and we won 3-1."

Doreski received another chance in the 27th minute when she dribbled through the defense and had only the goalie to beat. But Wolfe made a great save on a shot rocketed just under the crossbar. Highland coach Gordon Walker played the first half with one forward and an extra defender, but brought another player up for the final 40 minutes. It may have been the difference in the game.

"That's not the style we play (to bring another player to the front). We like to play a possession game," Walker said. "Lake Central put on a good press and I think we took a good stride here today against a good team."

Wolfe came up with another big save diving to her right to kick the ball out of trouble in the 51st minute when Campbell had a shot from point-blank range.

"(Wolfe) always does a good job. She keeps us in a lot of games," Walker said. "But if you give them extra space, they're going to shoot. That's the downside of playing extra forwards."

Ceci Urquiza tallied the final score for Lake Central in the 72nd minute.