A freshman soccer player at Von Steuben showed her mettle, helping the Panthers reach the top of the Public League Premier division.
Her name, naturally, is Amanda Steele.
She scored two goals in the first half Friday, then played a perfect second half as the team’s goalkeeper in a 2-1 victory over Lincoln Park at River Park on the city’s North Side.
Von Steuben finished with an 11-0 conference record (17-1 overall with a game Saturday at Niles West) and is the likely No. 1 seed when the Public League playoffs begin next week.
More Top Picks Best Balance Bikes For Tall Toddlers
Coach James Edstrom “thought it would be a good idea to put me in [goal] in the second half because we got ahead,” said Steele, who has 22 goals and 11 assists. “So if I could just shut them out, it would work.”
It worked just fine for Steele. She came up with five saves, including a diving stop in the 53rd minute on a shot by Rachel Dickson.
Steele got things going almost immediately. She shot the ball from 20 yards and Lincoln Park found itself down 1-0 with less than a minute gone in the game.
“How can you give up a goal in the first 30 seconds?” asked Lincoln Park coach Bob Minetz, whose team is 10-1, 13-4.
The Lions’ Jessica Vaughn got that goal back in the 19th minute with an assist from Dickson. But Steele ended the first half the way she started it, scoring in the 39th minutes as Eva Laase picked up the assist. Von Steuben’s starting goalkeeper, Ruby Martinez, made five saves in the first half, including a one-handed leaping stop on Vaughn in the 35th minute. But Martinez injured her arm, so Edstrom turned to Steele.
It wasn’t that difficult a decision. Steele has played in the goal for her club team in Northbrook the last four years.
“I told our girls it was nice to win the conference,” Edstrom said. “But our goal is to win the city playoffs.”
That victory would secure the Public League’s last automatic berth in the Class AA state quarterfinals before the new policy of playing in the IHSA sectionals starts next school year.
— Alan Sutton
Downers Grove South 1, Barrington 1: Lindsey Schemenaur scored for No. 4 Downers South (15-4-2). Suzanne Hewitt scored for Barrington.
Deerfield 1, Glenbrook North 0: Kirby Wells scored for Deerfield (12-4-3, 6-1-0) in the Central Suburban North.
Francis Parker 5, Willows 2: Maeve Whelan-Wuest scored twice for the Colonels (12-1, 11-0) in the Independent School League.
Oak Forest 6, Eisenhower 0: Liz Ruberry scored four goals and Amanda Kalivoda made six saves as the Bengals (13-3) rolled.
St. Charles North tournament: Geneva (14-2-2) edged Glenbard South 1-0 behind Katy Lindenmuth’s goal.