Lions can relax after 3-0 win

Lisle's David Fencl opened the gate, and teammate Grant Fitzgerald went charging through it in the Lions' 3-0, Class A sectional quarterfinal win over Serena on Tuesday.

Lisle (16-3) controlled play but didn't get off the schneid until Fencl's goal in the 65th minute on a shot he volleyed from 18 yards out to the back netting. Fitzgerald joined in with a pair of goals that put the game to rest.

"Finally," Fencl said of the goal that broke the drought. "The ball was kind of up in the air and I didn't know if I was going to be able to get to it, but I just went for it."

"David came through, and that was an important goal," said Lisle coach Paul Kohorn. "And I told them that once we got one, we'd get a couple more."

"After we got the third one, one of the guys said, 'Well, we proved him right again.' "

After applying solid pressure through 20 minutes to start the game, Lisle grew a tad impatient to halftime, sending too many balls over the top for Kohorn's taste. Serena rarely threatened, but frustration began to show in Lisle's game.

"The first 20 minutes we were able to play our game and just didn't know why we weren't getting a goal," Fencl said. "Then we tried to do too much in that second 20 minutes. We didn't take our time."

Two minutes after Fencl scored his 15th goal of the season, Fitzgerald posted Nos. 22 and 23 in impressive fashion. After Ryan Donahue sent in a corner kick, the ball went off a defender and out to Fitzgerald, who settled it 9 yards out, faked right, brought it back left and buried it left-footed inside the near post.

"Coach just told us to keep at it," Fitzgerald said. "Once (Fencl's) goal went in, it really got us relaxed. Once the second one came, we felt great."

Fitzgerald dribbled in directly on net, picked his way through a bevy of defenders, and effectively buried Serena (14-7) in the 74th minute, firing from 10 yards out.

"The keeper was a little to the right, so I just played it near post again," Fitzgerald said.

Tuesday's win put third-seeded Lisle in Thursday's semifinal vs. second-seeded Somonauk in the Class A Hinckley-Big Rock sectional. Somonauk won 3-0 over Lisle earlier this year, and the Lions are itching to redeem themselves.

"They're a real physical team, and we just need to keep our heads about us," Fencl said. "We need to play our game."