Girls soccer: Gracey LePage scores twice to lead Crystal Lake South past Sycamore

SYCAMORE – Gracey LePage raced up the left side and connected for a goal in the first half. Sixteen minutes later the Crystal Lake South freshman raced up the right side with the same result.

The two goals were all the offense the Gators got against Sycamore but also were all they needed in a 2-0 win over the Spartans on Thursday.

“We just played a good team and had to compete,” LePage said. “We just knew how to handle the ball when we were up 2-0. We just depended on each other.”

LePage’s first goal for the Gators (2-2) came off a counterattack in the 14th minute when she got past the pulled-up Sycamore defense. The goalie for the Spartans (1-1), Tayla Brannstrom, also was up and tried to slide and disrupt LePage’s run.

But LePage got through, caught up to the ball and tapped it into the wide-open net for a 1-0 lead.

“I’m just calling for the ball down the line,” LePage said. “I just calmed down at the front of the goal and picked a spot to shoot.”

Her next goal came on a one-timer from the right side, a looper that went in the small window over Brannstrom’s head and under the crossbar. That 30th-minute goal staked the Gators to a 2-0 lead.

“It was a little unfortunate on that second one,” Sycamore coach Kevin Bickley said after his team played its second game in as many days. “It looked like she got a ball up in the air, kind of caught her line. But the bounces didn’t seem to go our way.”

Bickley said LePage and Autumn Samples were dangerous attackers up top for the Gators.

And although Samples is a senior, the Gators started five freshmen Thursday.

“It’s hard sometimes when you have a freshman that kind of comes in and is able to contribute like she has,” Crystal Lake South coach Caitlyn Dayton said. “The girls have really embraced her. ... It’s not whether or not a player is a freshman or a senior, it’s who we can get out there to compete.”

Sycamore had opportunities but couldn’t get the shots to connect or the bounces the Spartans needed. In the closing seconds of the first half, Cortni Kruizenga fired a rocket at the Gators’ goal, but it went over the crossbar.

Kruizenga had another rocket in the second half, this one on frame but turned away by goalie Emily Stewart in the 60th minute. The Spartans had one more good look in the 74th minute, a looper off the foot of Izzie Segreti that hit the bottom of the right upright. But the ball ricocheted away from the net and any Sycamore attackers for an easy Crystal Lake South clear.

“We hit the post twice. That could have tied it,” Bickley said. “I thought we competed second half, did some nice things. ... You take those two chances [by Kruizenga] and, it’s hard to say, but maybe they change their style play. Ball bounces our way a little bit, it just didn’t seem to happen.”

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Gators. They lost 3-1 at Schaumburg on Saturday and 5-1 at Belvidere North on Tuesday. Those two teams are a combined 6-1.

“I think that was a good response after two tough matches,” Dayton said. We’ve played some good teams and we started off on a high against a good Grayslake North team, then saw a little bit of competition the next two games and a little bit of a wall we had to break through. So I think the goals we had in the first half definitely set the tone.”