Wildkits, Scouts play to draw in opener

Updated: March 23, 2011 3:50PM

Evanston found itself in a fortunate spot at halftime of Monday's season opener and Tasha Shepard's debut as head coach.

Despite almost no scoring chances, the Wildkits went into the break down only one goal to visiting Lake Forest.

Evanston took advantage and earned a 1-all tie with the Scouts after Anna Sippel's goal with 8:44 to go. The junior forward, who played all 80 minutes, collected Dominique Dawson's cross from the corner and punched it in to at least salvage a draw. The game ended 1-1.

"It was a good pass, and I was where I was supposed to be," said Sippel, now in her third varsity season.

Shepard breathed relief once the buzzer sounded, knowing her team escaped the Scouts.

"It's better than a loss," the 2001 Evanston graduate said. "We started off real slow, and the momentum definitely was in Lake Forest's favor in the first half. But we started to get it together. We kept better possession in the second half, and I liked our intensity."

Meanwhile, Scouts coach Ty Stuckslager wasn't pleased with his team's performance.

Lake Forest got on the board first on Haleigh McPeek's goal midway through the opening half, but the Scouts missed out on several more opportunities. They possessed the ball in Evanston's half of the field for nearly the entire 40 minutes.

"We took things too lightly in the first half," the coach said. "We couldn't finish it. A lot of the girls are placing blame without looking in the mirror.

"We should have put them away, but we got away from our game plan."

Lake Forest the missed out on a chance one minute into the second half when a cross in front of the net sailed through and to the corner.

Both clubs are coming off average 2010 seasons and looking for their first regional titles since 2009.

Lake Forest is back in action Wednesday when the Scouts play Hersey as part of Carmel's quad. Evanston goes up against Glenbrook South on Thursday. The Titans finished fourth in the state a year ago.

"Anna Sippel did a spectacular job," Shepard said of the returning starter, one of only four for the Wildkits. "She worked her tail off.

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