Surging Andrew blanks Lincoln-Way Central

Updated: April 27, 2011 10:05PM

As the postseason nears, Andrew is looking like an awfully dangerous soccer team. Wednesday, Lincoln-Way Central had no answer for a Thunderbolts squad at the top of its game.

Lauren Bialas scored two goals and Emily Scott added a goal and an assist as Andrew rolled to a 3-0 SouthWest Suburban Red win in Tinley Park.

“I think this was definitely one of our best games,” Bialas said. “We all connected really well. We’ve improved so much.”

The T-bolts (6-6-2, 3-0) improved to 6-2 in their past eight games with the only losses coming to state powerhouses Neuqua Valley and Conant. They also kept pace with Stagg atop the conference midway through the six-game league slate.

“I’ve always known this team is strong,” Andrew coach Loren Zolk said. “We play such a tough schedule and we’ve had some injuries, but everyone is 100 percent now.”

Andrew struck first 27 minutes, 24 seconds in. Scott took a short corner kick from Iris Casler and fired a shot off the post. Bialas was there to corral the rebound and found the top of the net with her shot.

With 2:24 left in the half, Bialas again found herself in the right spot after a nice play by Scott. Scott saved the ball from going out of bounds, then fired a perfect cross from the sidelines, finding Bialas who headed the ball home to make it 2-0.

“I saw Emily controlling the ball wide and there was an opening in the box, so I just pushed forward and luckily the ball got to me,” Bialas said.

Central (5-8-4, 2-2) had a couple of first-half chances. The most promising came on a great play by Kim Rietveld, who sneaked between two defenders to bring in a long pass but fired her shot just above the net.

Scott made it 3-0 with 15:50 left in the game, dribbling past four defenders and scoring.

“(Scott, Bialas and Claire Murphy) kept us on our heels,” Central coach Dan Radz said. “They were the better team tonight. They can do some damage in their sectional.”

Becca Evans and Kaitlyn Kosary each made one save to combine for the shutout. Becca Petrone had three saves for Central.

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