For Courtney Curby and the rest of her Lyons soccer teammates, the start of the 2006 campaign couldn’t have started any better than their 3-1 win over St. Ignatius Saturday afternoon in Countryside.
“You always want to start the season with a win, and we hadn’t beat them in a couple years,” said Curby, who along with Katie Rehor and Jaclyn Hanson scored for the Lions. “We have a good lineup this year, and I really think we’re going to prove a lot to people.”
The Wolfpack (4-2), which lost two of the top players in the Chicago area to club this spring, were unable to get anything going offensively.
Thanks to the solid defensive play of Lyons’ Sara Ornelas, Joanna Dreher and Jill Kevorkian, the Lions (1-0) controlled the tempo throughout the 80-minute contest.
St. Ignatius’ Alison Smith, however, scored on a breakaway late to keep Lyons goalie Mary Daly from recording a shutout.
“I thought we could have scored a few more, but I’m happy seeing this was our first outing,” said Lyons coach Alex Hernandez, whose team battled Mother McAuley on Tuesday night. “This result was an indication of our ability.
“I know St. Ignatius is not as strong as they have been in recent years, but we controlled the match. We did a lot of good things, and the girls are only going to get better.”
One player Hernandez and his staff was impressed with was Rehor, who has played a key role in helping the Lions advance to the Class AA state quarterfinals the past three seasons.
The senior finished with 26 goals and four assists last spring, and is eight goals shy of recording No. 50 of her career.
“I really think Katie is going to prove herself to be one of the better players in high school soccer this spring,” Hernandez said. “She is strong, well-skilled and has the ability to run past opponents.”
Lyons will be put to the test again this weekend when it opens the Lemont Cup. Waubonsie Valley, which is considered to be a state contender this spring, is in the Lions’ four-team bracket.
“Waubonsie has an awesome program, and I know they have a lot back,” Hernandez said. “I told the girls last week that there are only a couple teams ranked in front of us that we face during the regular season.
“We have to take advantage of those opportunities and show what we’re made of. Over the next couple of weeks as the season unfolds, I think we’re going to prove ourselves to any doubters out there.”
