Sandburg, Lincoln-Way Central play to draw

Updated: April 22, 2011 2:00PM

Though both teams had some frustrating near misses, Sandburg and Lincoln-Way Central each walked away fairly pleased after Wednesday's 0-0 draw in a SouthWest Suburban crossover in New Lenox.

"I'm happy for our kids," Knights coach Dan Radz said. "They played extremely well. I've got to give shoutouts to Meghan Killinger, Jenna Proctor, Alyssa Leggero and Katie Sieloff who did a great job on defense shutting down a good striking group."

Becca Petrone made two saves to record her first shutout for Central (2-4-4) while Sandburg (7-0-1) did not allow a shot on goal in its seventh shutout of the season.

Both teams just missed on several chances in the first half. After a back-and-forth first couple minutes, the Eagles controlled play for much of the period.

The Eagles' best chance came off a Meghan Carmody cross that resulted in a scramble in front of the net. Amanda Kester had the ball on her foot with an open net but her shot went off the bottom of the crossbar and bounced out.

Petrone made a nice save on a strong Carly Katalinic strike from 30 yards out with 15:31 and Sandburg's Shannon Stearns fired just high moments later.

Central created some strong chances late in the half. Rachel Post fired a shot just high and Kim Rietveld had her strike towards an open net blocked.

Both defenses controlled the second half, but Petrone was tested 10 minutes in. Angie Diamantopoulos sent a perfect pass to Paige Bendell who had a step on her defender and got in alone on Petrone, who came out of the net and got her hands on the shot to deflect it away.

"I wasn't too sure about it," Petrone said. "I thought it was going to go over my head, but luckily I got my hands up in time. This game boosts our confidence a lot. I thought we'd lose 2-0 or something like that."

Sandburg, which allowed its first goal of the season its previous game – a 2-1 win over Andrew on April 7 – got its usual solid play from its backline.

"I thought the standout tonight for uswas Kyleen Kenny," Sandburg coach Desi Vuillaume said. "I wouldn't say I'm satisfied with a tie. Our intensity just wasn't there in the first half."

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