If you don’t know, my name is Sara Petrone, and I am a senior on the team from New Lenox, Ill. I am a history major with a minor in American Sign Language, and this year I will be your insider to all things Lanther Soccer!
It’s crazy to believe it has already been over a month since the team has returned to campus for another year of panther soccer! Preseason flew by with many days of what felt like never ending two a days, but your Lady Panthers worked hard and we all survived with help from teammates and dreams of a winning season! From the start of preseason, we were able to show off with two exhibition wins, but the real test came on August 17th during our home opener against Northern Illinois.
Before we kicked off the season, the team gathered for their own friendly competition in preparations for the following game day. The third annual hyrdo games were in full effect in Milwaukee!! Events involved the consumption of a large amount of water that would make any athletic trainer happy. Our team broke into five groups representing various countries around the world. Team Ireland came out with the big win of the night, but everyone was a winner at heart. I have attached some pictures, so you can enjoy our team spirit as much as the team did!
After the fun of the hydro games, it was time to ring in the season with a win! Going into the game Friday, we knew what needed to be done. Win! The game started, and we had no problem kicking off with a bang. In the 11th minute, Lolo started the scoring, then Haley Johnson found the net herself shortly after, and finally a goal by Kelli Swenson to end the scoring for the night. A great 3-0 start to our season!
The following week, we took on Eastern Illinois, and to no surprise your panthers were back at it winning! Another 3-0 win with goals by Erin, McKaela, and Chandler! With two wins, the team was ready to take on crosstown rival Marquette, but the weather had other plans. After two hours waiting in the locker room listening to the musical stylings of Gaby Z, playing hang man, and battling in many games of ninja, both teams agreed to reschedule the game for September 17th.
We moved forward and started to focus on our next battles ahead. Another two-game weekend at home was in front of us with Robert Morris on Friday and DePaul on Sunday. After a week of tough practices, the team came out to win again this weekend! Friday, the beautiful goal scored by McKenna off the cross from Schill gave us the edge to a 1-0 win, and it pumped the team to come into Sunday with an attitude to win again. As Sunday approached, your Lanthers were on the prowl for a win not only to put up more points, but an opportunity to tie the Horizon League’s all-time win streak (23-0-1).
From the kick off, we knew it was going to be our most challenging game yet. DePaul put up a good fight in the first half ending with no score, but this would not last long because in the 50th minute Haley Johnson put us on the board with a header off of Erin’s corner. This did not stop DePaul who came back and tied it up five minutes later, but your girls dug deep and Schill found the net again with less than 20 minutes left in the game. We were able to hold off the Blue Demons to come out with another winning result which allowed us to tie the Horizon League’s win streak of a record of 20-0-4.
This weekend we look ahead to extend our streak as we hit the road to Western Illinois and Iowa State! Come back next week to see how your Lanthers played and what crazy shenanigans happened on our first road trip of the year!!
See you all next week for another shot … with Petrone!
