Sports
Boys Soccer: L-W West Celebrates a Historic First
Lincoln-Way West 1, Lincoln-Way East 0: The Warriors blanked the Griffins on Thursday night for the first boys soccer victory against a Lincoln-Way school in program history.
Lincoln-Way West never knew what it felt like to beat a Lincoln-Way school.
Now, the Warriors know.
The Warriors received a goal from Brandon Waterland in the 61st minute and held on for a 1-0 victory over Lincoln-Way East in a Southwest Suburban crossover in Frankfort on Thursday night.
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"I'm just glad that we were able to pull one out against a Lincoln-Way team," Waterland said. "It's taken awhile. I'm glad we were finally able to do it."
Waterland was able to take possession and dribble up the sideline to create the game-winning score.
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"The ball came back and then I saw the opening and played a great ball over the top," he said. "I just ran onto it and finished."
The result was an enormous one for the Lincoln-Way West (3-6-4). Not only was it huge for the brief program's history but for this season as well, as the Warriors won for only the third time this fall.
"I'm just happy for the kids because we've worked so hard this year and we haven't seen the results that they deserve," Lincoln-Way West coach Ryan McAllister said. "We finally got to see it today."
Lincoln-Way East (3-5-4) struggled once again in finding the back of the net. The Griffins were shutout for the third time in their past five matches and are fighting through some adversity.
The Griffins were without senior captain Anthony Cetera (illness), standout junior defender Michael Roth (injury) and received limited minutes from Manny Rios, who received a red card in the second half.
"We're struggling to score goals and we have a lot of guys out and a lot of guys playing out of control," Lincoln-Way East coach Brian Papa said. "I think they're trying too doggone hard, but I keep telling them it's adversity and there's really no excuse to not put the ball on frame."
The Griffins came close to scoring the equalizer with 2:41 remaining, but Jim Ralph's shot from close range was gobbled up by Warriors' keeper Chris Maj.
"Chris has been playing well all year," McAllister said. "Today, he was great. He was confident and made some big saves, and most importantly, he directed the defense and kept them on their toes."
