James Costello - The Pilot News
10/27/2008
VALPARAISO — For the first time, Culver Girls Academy head soccer coach Harry Canellakis had doubts about his players.
They put those doubts to rest in the second half Saturday.
Following a scoreless first half, CGA hit the field with a vengeance, and attacking midfielder Dineo Mmutla scored just more than two minutes in. The Lady Eagles made that lone goal stand up for 38 minutes, and CGA soccer claimed a rare 1-0 Valparaiso Semistate championship victory over Lake Central at Viking Arena to give the girls academy its first semistate crown.
“After the first half, I sort of questioned the integrity of the team for the first time,” said Canellakis. “Just because I thought we were so poor in the first half. I’d never really seen that from this team, and I did think we were a little bit sort of wrapped up in the pressure. So I really just asked the question are we going to fold or aren’t we, and they answered it. They played fantastically well in the second half.
“It’s very special,” he added. “I think the sort of gravity of the event matches the quality of the group. They’re just a fantastic group. We’re in dreamland.”
After losing the battle for possession throughout the first 40 minutes of play, surrendering five Lake Central corner kicks in the process, the Eagles poured on the offensive pressure after the break. Lake Central defender Kayla Hughes cleared a shot by Eagles forward Courtney Hague during a large scrum in the Indians penalty box, and Mmutla chipped a high arching shot off the volley and over Indians goalkeeper Samantha Cook, who was scrambling back into the net as the goal cleared the cross bar.
“There aren’t many high school players that could make that full volley shot,” said Canellakis. “Usually it’s going 30 yards over the cross bar, but she kept her knee over it, kept it down. It was a fantastic take, and it ended up being all we needed.”
CGA maintained its forward pressure until a late three-minute span when Lake Central players began pushing hard with time running out. Eagles sweeper Samantha Hinsey got in front of several scary Indians attempts, and Culver made one last push in the final minute to seal the semistate win.
“I think our best defense is our offense usually, but our offense wasn’t necessarily clicking tonight,” Canellakis said. “So I was more impressed with this blank sheet than any other of the previous ones. We didn’t have a lot of possession up front. Lake Central is excellent, and they put on the pressure. This was a fantastic game for the defense.”
Culver learned a hard lesson about laying back with a one-goal lead in its first semistate match against Penn Saturday morning.
As in the championship match Saturday night, both teams were scoreless at halftime, and CGA stepped up its offensive effort in the second half. Mmutla delivered a pass into the box in the 47th minute, and Penn goalie Sabrina Schuchard was caught off guard when Jasmine Soo beat her to the ball on the would-be keeper. With Schuchard nowhere near the goal, Soo held off Penn’s Leann Kuehn, driving in an empty-netter just as the Kingsmen fullback dove to clear the ball.
After the goal, the Eagles began anchoring back to defend the slim lead, and the result was greater offensive pressure by Penn. The Kingsmen took four corner kicks while CGA had none in the half and got off three shots on goal before Paige Stroinski evened up the score in the 69th minute.
“I think that was a lot of our own doing as far as being on our heels a little bit and wanting to protect the lead,” Canellakis said. “But I think everyone knew it wasn’t going to be a one-nothing game. We haven’t been here very often, and I thought we made a lot of rookie mistakes after we went up a goal.”
It looked like the match might go into overtime when Soo came to the rescue again in the 77th minute. Jenna Iwaniec got tripped during a scuffle between several players in the box, and Canellakis selected Soo for the resulting penalty kick. The junior forward calmly drove the shot home, and CGA held onto the lead for a 2-1 semifinal win over Penn.
“I had a dream last night that Jasmine (Soo) was going to score, and after she scored I told her, ‘Actually, I dreamed that you scored two goals’, and she scored two,” laughed Canellakis. “Jasmine taking the penalty kick at the end was fantastic, and she’s got the exact type of personality for that situation. She’s just cool as steel.”
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