Lancers capture second straight big victory over Blazers

 

 

By Chris Walker

Megan Lindbert and Jessica Berkhire didn’t take the field for Lake Park last spring due to ACL injuries.

Emily Adelman and Jacey Kent didn’t play for the Lancers last season either. The two were busy getting ready for graduation last spring as they were gearing up to receive their eighth grade diplomas.

Those four are all playing significant roles for the Lancers this season though and they did plenty in Thursday’s 9-1 thrashing of Addison Trail in Addison.

The match was originally scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at Lake Park but was moved to 6 p.m. at Addison Trail to utilize the artificial surface.

Heavy rains the past few days had taken its toll on Lake Park’s field, plus the two teams had just played six days earlier at Lake Park with the Lancers also rolling to victory in that one, 9-1.

Déjà vu?

“Obviously having just played them and beaten them, 9-1, we knew what to expect and what we needed to do today,” Lake Park sophomore Samantha Sommerio said. “We never play down to another team’s level. We play hard against every team like they’re the best team.”

The Lancers were undoubtedly the far better team on Thursday as the Blazers spent the evening chasing rather than defending. Lake Park scored five times in the opening 20 minutes of the first half to take a 5-1 lead.

“We’re kind of excited for games like this,” senior Rachel Garippo said. “I don’t want to say we’re 10 times better than them, but we know we can do better against them. So we went out and prepared and trained as if it was a higher level game.”

Lindbert, a Kent State recruit, is coming off an ACL injury. Berkshire had a similar injury. Lindbert scored twice for the Lancers.

“It’s so nice to have her back and with the experience she’s had, she also brings a calm to the team that we missed,” Lancers coach Chris Fruehling said. “She brings tremendous leadership and if we need her to take a little bit onto the team when we’re off in a certain area she will.

“It’s great to have someone in an intense situation that had the poise and confidence that she has, which helps our other players step up.”

Of course, in the 9-1 victory the Lancers didn’t have any intense situations. If anyone was in such a quagmire, it had to be Addison Trail goalie Susy Ochoa who was impossibly busy.

Last spring, sophomore Lexi Ruffolo was asked to do a lot in Lindbert’s absence. Ruffolo certainly delivered with 9 goals and 8 assists, but she’s an even better player this season thanks to last year’s experience as well as the return of a player like Lindbert and others.

“She had a wonderful freshmen year and a great experience,” Fruehling said. “She was able to take that base and bring it into this year.”

Ruffolo had a memorable game against the Blazers on Thursday, scoring a career-best 4 goals.

“She’s come into this season with a lot of poise and confidence and I was really happy for her tonight,” Fruehling said. “She’s a tremendous competitor and a great person. She’s the one that will always work 110 percent and for her to be able to finish the ones she had tonight was great. It was a great night for her.”

Lake Park (6-4-1) led 7-1 at halftime and was able to treat the second half like more of a practice than as a game.

“We tried to speed things up a little bit with our touches so you can have three touches and then distribute right away,” Fruehling said.

“We wanted to look for combination plays and were looking to go for an ‘x’ amount of time without the ball being deflected or stolen. This way we are able to bring focus to the girls on working on some things that need work.”

Ruffolo’s final goal of the night came with 32:10 on the clock in the second half and allowed the officials to enforce the mercy rule and shave 16 minutes off the running clock. Lindbert’s second goal of the evening came with just a few ticks on the clock to make it a 9-1 final.

Controlling possession all evening allowed the Lancers to make things look simple and Adelman had a lot to do with it. She hasn’t been intimidated about playing the key role of a central midfielder despite being a freshman.

“She’s a tremendous player and came to us with real good experience,” Fruehling said. “To be able to step in as a central mid and have all those expectations that come with it says a lot. She’s handled it like a professional. She has tremendous vision, gives 100 percent and plays above her years.”

Jacey Kent has also made the transition to varsity as a freshman an easy one, but she also has the bonus of having junior Jillian Kent, her sister, on the team and spent the past couple years soaking in Lake Park soccer through her.

“I came to all of (Jillian’s) games last year,” Jacey Kent said. “It’s been a lot of fun so far. We’ve gotten off to a good start and we’re continuing to improve.”

Although many of her teammates possess driver’s licenses and will be at universities next fall, it hasn’t affected Jacey’s relationship with her older teammates. Only one thing matters on the field – playing soccer.

“I’ve known a lot of the girls from playing travel (soocer) so I’ve know a lot of them for a long time,” Jacey said. “It’s been great to play with them again and to get to know a lot of them better. It’s going to be fun to see what we can do the rest of the year.”

Sophomore Caitlyn Ryba and junior Lauren Bolnius also scored for the winners. Senior Devin Fruzyna had the lone goal for the Blazers.