Girls soccer: Reagan Schultz, defense lead Lincoln-Way Central past Shepard

Lincoln-Way Central’s Reagan Schultz makes a move along the sideline against Shepard in the Class 3A Lincoln-Way Central Regional semi-final on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 in New Lenox.

NEW LENOX – Midway through the first half of Tuesday’s Class 3A Lincoln-Way Central Regional semifinal, Central held a 1-0 lead over Shepard.

It wasn’t for lack of trying that the Knights had only one goal. They spent most of the first half in control of the ball, and much of that time was spent in front of the Astros’ net. However, Shepard goalie Katherine LasCola stopped nearly everything, except for a shot by Christine Erdman less than two minutes into the game.

The Knights (17-1-2) kept peppering the goal with shots and, although LasCola ended up with 24 saves, Central came away with a 7-0 win that advanced it to Friday’s championship game against Joliet West, a 2-1 winner over Thornwood on Tuesday.

Central finally broke through and got another goal in the first half by Sydney Zale at the 6:01 mark, followed quickly by a goal with 4:15 left by Reagan Schultz that put the Knights up 3-0, a lead they took into halftime. Schultz later scored in the second half and was the only Central player to score more than once.

“It feels good to get a regional win under our belts,” Schultz said. “We had a lot of shots. We finally were able to get some balls through and connected on some crossers. After shooting a lot, it gave us more confidence when they started going in.

“Coach [Sean Fahey] always preaches playing good defense, and our defense was great today. The other team can’t win if they don’t score.”

Lincoln-Way Central’s Christine Erdman works the ball against Shepard in the Class 3A Lincoln-Way Central Regional semi-final on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 in New Lenox.

Central finished third in Class 3A last season and got off to a good start in seeking a return trip to the state finals.

“We have some experience in the postseason,” Schultz said. “We know what it’s like to win and get to state. We want to go back, because it didn’t feel good losing our first game there last year. We want to get back and bring home a bigger trophy.”

Central got a goal from Jaylin Shustr with 30:28 left in the second half before Madisyn Kenworthy scored with 27:07 left. Less than a minute later, Schultz put in her second goal of the game before Taylor Mowry capped the scoring with 8:39 to play.

Lincoln-Way Central’s Jaylin Sustr works the ball against Shepard in the Class 3A Lincoln-Way Central Regional semi-final on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 in New Lenox.

“We were able to spread out the scoring, which was nice to see,” Fahey said. “We have a couple of girls that are top goal scorers out for us, so it was good to see some other players step up and get a goal.

“In games like this, they tend to come in spurts. Give credit to Shepard’s defense and goalie. We took a lot of shots, and they made a lot of saves. It was a little frustrating, but the key is to see how the girls respond when their shots aren’t going in. They did a good job of sticking with it and not getting down, and we were able to break the ice a little bit.

“The defense did a real good job again. This is a little different style of game than we are used to playing, and there’s some adjusting. The girls were able to find a way to get it done.”

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