Lions overcome lousy conditions to defeat Fenwick

By Curt Herron

It's difficult to expect a real sharp performance when many of the steps that players took resulted in them kicking up some mud.

So the bottom line on Lyons Township's sectional semifinal match with Fenwick on Wednesday was about doing whatever was necessary to get a win.

And the Lions did a pretty good job of that amidst less than ideal conditions in the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional at Centennial field.

With the field suffering the effects of having too many matches played on it in wet conditions, it was tough for LT to make much happen against the Friars.

But coach Paul Labbato's squad performed about as well as could be expected and scored a goal in each half to help them capture a 2-0 victory over Fenwick.

Beside the poor condition of the field, LT (22-3) was hampered by the fact that its leading goal scorer and assist man, Elliot Borge, sat out the match with the flu.

Billy McGuinness and Horacio Sanchez scored goals and Brian Heimerdinger added an assist for the Lions, who have won 11 in a row.

The victory advances LT to Saturday's 11:00 championship against the host Red Devils (16-6-2), who own a nine-match winning streak.

While the title match is still scheduled to be played at Centennial field, it may be moved if conditions there are deemed to be unsafe.

Lyons defeated Hinsdale Central 3-0 when the squads met on September 29 in a West Suburban Conference Silver match at LT's Bennett field.

But the score is somewhat misleading since the Red Devils had the better of the play in the early going but were unable to connect.

Hinsdale Central has won all nine of its matches since falling to LT, which includes four straight shutouts and a total of seven.

The Lions will be looking for some revenge against the Red Devils, who have ended their last two seasons with 1-0 wins in sectional play.

Hear Lyons Township coach Paul Labbato interview

Fenwick didn't put a shot on goal during the opening half against keeper Sully Fox while the Lions had plenty of opportunities.

Uriel Cabrera had the first of those, about five minutes into the match, when he sent a header toward Friar keeper Mike Jank.

Then with 30:46 remaining in the opening half, the Lions collected the only score that they would wind up needing in the match.

Following a corner kick by Zach Pearsall, Billy McGuinness connected from close range off of an assist from Brian Heimerdinger.

Less than half a minute later after LT scored its goal, Andrew Aviles was stopped on another attempt from fairly close range.

Prior to the midway point of the first half, Sanchez and Peter Kralovec-Kirchherr were stopped on long shots and Chris Meingast had a liner halted.

LT had another great chance with under 13 minutes left in the first half when Kralovec-Kirchherr headed a ball off the post following Pearsall's corner.

Heimerdinger put one more shot on goal with less than two minutes left before the break but Jank was able to handle the liner.

Although it led 1-0 for most of the opening half, the pressure was on LT's defense to prevent any breakdowns that might allow the Friars to tie things.

But thanks to the efforts of defenders Dan Wielgos, McGuinness and Kralovec-Kirchherr, no such threat came up and the Lions posted their 17th shutout.

Hear Lyons Township's Dan Wielgos interview

It was more of the same during the second 40 minutes as Meingast got things started with a header to Jank and Pearsall later sent in a long free kick.

The Friars (11-9-1), who upset Oak Park-River Forest in the regional finals, put their first good chance together with about 25 minutes to go.

Following a throw in, Mark Finan headed a short attempt to Fox to account for one of the LT keeper's two saves for the afternoon.

Shortly after Meingast and Pearsall were just wide of the net on shot attempts, LT finally was able to connect for another score.

That came with 13:07 left when Sanchez was stopped on a shot from close but he put in the rebound to give his squad a 2-0 advantage.

LT had two more chances as Heimerdinger sent a free kick to the Friar keeper and Pearsall later had a liner deflected away.

Fenwick had another opportunity to score late in the match but Charlie Cafaro's liner was deflected by Fox to preserve the shutout.

On Saturday, the Lions will try to win their first sectional title since 2005 but they know that the Red Devils are determined to not that happen.

Hear Lyons Township's Sully Fox interview

Lions starters vs. Fenwick

Lions 2, Fenwick 0

Lions Schedule

Postseason play