LT's Girls' Soccer Team Loses 3-2 to York in WSC Silver Title Game

For the second consecutive season, Lyons Township met heartbreak in a game that decided the West Suburban Conference Silver Division champion in girls’ soccer.

And it was York that broke the Lions’ hearts again.

“They beat us to a lot of balls in the air tonight,” Lions’ coach Bill Lanspeary said after his side’s 3-2 loss in double overtime in Elmhurst. “And uncharacteristically, we got into a little bit of a kick-ball match instead of trying to play soccer, and that’s not our strength. We also looked like we had some tired legs out there.”

Lyons Township (16-4-1, 5-1 in WSS play) led twice in the contest, first at 1-0 in the game’s 5th minute. Lions senior Kelsey Holbert took a few touches across the top of the penalty area before sending Coco Corrigan through, and Corrigan buried the shot to the far post.

York’s Christina Ordonez tied the game just four minutes before halftime, running onto a ball sent over the top, cutting back to her right and planting a perfect shot from 20 yards out to the upper ninety.

The Lions went up 2-1 on an own-goal by York at 61 minutes, but Ordonez played the hero again with another untouchable shot from distance, which caromed in off the post with only two minutes left in the game.

“She just got a loose ball. We had a little bit of a giveaway there and she pounced on it,” Lanspeary said. “Her first goal was upper ninety and the second was off the post. She’s dangerous.”

York (16-4-1, 6-0) won the game on a goal scored by Angela Bianchi in the game’s second overtime, on a through-ball from Mary Kate Cicinelli. “I knew I only had one split second to get through,” Bianchi said. “The keeper was coming out to the left so I kicked it to the right.”

“It’s obviously a happy moment for me and the team, and the program,” York coach Krzysztof Halupka said. “It’s all the hard work the girls put into it and at the end of the game we were able to find some chances.”

Lions goalkeeper Maggie Orlowski was knocked to the artificial turf in Elmhurst twice in the game and stayed down for a few minutes each time. But the junior got back up both times and played like a warrior for Lanspeary.

The Lions’ coach also lauded Ari Kowalski for her effort in chasing Ordonez around the pitch, and wrote the loss off to his girls’ inability to match the Dukes’ physical intensity.

“Their strength is speed up top and physical play,” Lanspeary said of York. “They got called for a ton of fouls tonight but still, they won everything in the air. We need to be ready for that kind of physical play and match it, and tonight we didn’t.”

Lyons Township hosts Glenbard East in its final regular-season game on Thursday, and both teams will wear pink and raise money for breast cancer awareness.