Lions tie 1-1 at Carmel in ESCC showdown
By Gary Larsen

 

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Nothing ever comes easy in the East Suburban Catholic Conference.

Fenwick won the ESC crown outright last year, while Benet and Saint Viator shared the title the year before that. Carmel and Joliet Catholic shared the crown in 2009 and the Corsairs won it outright in 2008.

This year’s ESC race is again settling in for a wild finish. Carmel beat Benet 2-1 on April 4 and welcomed Saint Viator to Mundelein on Friday night for a game that never fails to be injected with a little extra emotion.

“It’s a little different with Viator because they’re somewhat closer to us, and some of us have been playing against their girls since fourth or fifth grade, in basketball and soccer,” Carmel senior Sarah McHugh said. “So it’s not even necessarily playing against their school, but against their girls in general that’s motivating.”

The Corsairs and Lions went into the game with 2-0 ESC records and the visiting Lions were a little more than three minutes away from a 1-0 win, after getting a first-half goal from Chloe Luthringhausen, who haunted Carmel’s outside defenders for 80 minutes.

“Give it to Chloe and let her go, because she’s got the speed to beat you,” Lions coach Mike Taylor said. “We tried to do that all day because why stop something that’s working? The midfield just has to get used to the new system we put in for the first time today, but I thought we played well.”

Victory slipped from Lions’ hands when the Corsairs’ Meegan Johnston took a throw-in deep on Viator’s end and teammate Ashley Orth elevated and flicked it into the area, where Bri Carlson stepped onto it and scored from 8 yards out at the near post.

“It was a perfect flick, right there, and I just volleyed into the top corner,” Carlson said. “I came from the PK spot towards the near post and Ashley sent just a perfect flick in.”

Two scoreless, five-minute overtime periods ensued after regulation ended, and the tie lent potentially huge ramifications to Saint Viator’s May 8 game at Benet. Carmel (6-2-1, 2-0-1 in ESCC play) won 2-1 over Benet (7-3, 2-1) on April 4, and only Nazareth remains unbeaten in ESC play, though the Roadrunners have yet to play Viator (5-2-1, 2-0-1), Benet, or Carmel this season.

None of the three will take any other ESC teams lightly, but the Benet-Viator game could play a pivotal role in deciding the conference title.

“I was checking on it and (Saint Viator) plays Benet in one of the last games of the season,” Carlson said. “So now we’re pretty much pulling for Benet.”

Saint Viator keeper Morgan Hess came up big near the post twice early in the contest, first sliding and sticking her leg out to deflect a Carlson shot in close and then saving on Orth before halftime.

Luthringhausen, Megan McCollum, and Maria Petrillo began to wreak havoc on the outside, and Luthringhausen raced up the left side and turned the corner at 31 minutes, firing a shot that went in off a Carmel defender for her fourth goal of the season.

“She’s got a motor, and we just don’t have anybody that could stay with her,” Carmel coach John Halloran said of Luthringhausen.

The Lions established solid possession in the second half and Taylor like what he saw. “We were coming down on the outsides and causing havoc. They knew what we were going to do but we kept on doing it,” Taylor said. “We tried a new system today for the first time to emphasize some of the girls we’ve got and they played it well.”

“We played a formation that’s new to us, but we came into this game with a lot of confidence,” Luthringhausen said. “(Taylor) wants us to keep the ball more and work it around the back, and we came out strong. We’re getting much better. This was a big game for us and we played well today. The conference if very important to us and we wanted to come out strong. It’s just too bad we let in that late goal.”

Carmel’s backline of McHugh, Maggie Karich, Shannon Jung, and Caitlin Jung stood up in the face of Viator’s dangerous attack, as the Corsairs fought to find an equalizing goal.

“I think we just didn’t give up on the game. It’s always a big game for us and always important, and we didn’t want to come out of here with a loss,” McHugh said. “A tie is better than a loss in our minds and we still have a chance to win the conference.”

“Some ties feel like a win and some feel like a loss,” Halloran said. “But to me, this one feels like a tie. We left too many chances on the field. We had a set piece and two or three other really good looks, and I don’t know that they had that many good looks. Their goal was an own-goal by us. They had more possession but we didn’t allow them to create a lot.”

Carmel’s Orth had dangerous chances on her foot at the end of each overtime that went for naught, but her coach appreciated the day’s work she put in.

“Ashley had a really good game,” Halloran said. “She had that chance with about eight seconds left in the first overtime and that would have been a really good thing for her because I thought she played a very good game tonight. To get the winner would have been fitting for her.”

Taylor’s girls left the field disappointed with the tie but encouraged with the way they performed on Friday.

“Carmel is a good team and they come at you. We missed Renee Murphy today, who’s out for two weeks with a jammed knee, and her experience and size on the outside would have helped up tremendously,” Taylor said. “But we got little (Maria) Petrillo back and she’s not in shape yet, Erin Malone in the back is starting to help us solidify things, so I’m pleased. I’m disappointed in the result but at least we don’t walk away with a loss.”