Kowalski’s first goal pushes Lyons to finals

Updated: April 30, 2011 12:16AM

Ari Kowalski has done everything a defender can do for Lyons the past two seasons, but no one knew if she could be an offensive force as well.

Turns out she can. The sophomore, who rarely shoots, scored her first career goal when she hammered a 27-yard blast past Waubonsie Valley goalie Jordan Myers with 33:53 left in the second half to give the No. 5 Lions a 1-0 victory Friday in the semifinals of the Naperville Invitational at Naperville Central.

Lyons (14-2-1) will take on top-ranked Neuqua Valley in Saturday’s championship game. Neuqua (16-0) beat Geneva 2-0 in the other semifinal on the strength of second-half goals from Gianna Dal Pozzo and Allie McBride.

“It was so exciting,” Kowalski said. “It’s always exciting when the team scores, but when you get it yourself it’s just that much more exciting. It was a big game-changer.”

That it was. Up until that point, Waubonsie (7-5) had outshot the Lions 8-0 and had squandered several scoring opportunities.

The decisive play started when Kelsey Holbert swung a corner kick out near the top of the penalty area. The Warriors cleared the ball but it went right to Kowalski, who didn’t hesitate to open fire with her left foot. The shot went into the upper right corner of the net.

“You could tell by the way it was coming out to her that she was going to step up and hit it and see what happened,” Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary said. “She got a hold of it and hit a great shot. From our angle you could see that thing going in from the moment it left her foot.”

Kowalski, who is usually the smallest player on the field, didn’t hesitate to take the shot even though she usually passes when she’s in the final third.

“I saw it coming towards me, so I was kind of expecting it,” Kowalski said. “I always feel like I don’t take the shots and then I’m upset with myself, so I decided to just hit it.”

Holbert, for one, wouldn’t mind seeing Kowalski shoot more when the opportunity arises.

“We’re pretty confident with her all over the field,” Holbert said. “I think Ari could play anywhere on the field and be successful. She’s been stepping up a lot this year in the back and today she stepped up up top, too.”

Kowalski also anchored another solid effort by the back line, which did not surrender a shot after losing stopper Elise Gordon to a sprained ankle with 30 minutes left.

Before that, the Warriors saw shots by Kristen Brots and Kristen Dodson just miss wide and two other dangerous chances broken up by Lyons goalie Maggie Orlowski, who made four saves in recording her 13th shutout.

“We came out really slow, not too much energy, but we picked it up in the second half and gave it our all,” Kowalski said.

It was the fourth 1-0 loss for the Warriors and second against the Lions, who won the season opener by the same score on March 17 and have advanced to the finals of the area’s two most prestigious tournaments.

“It’s fantastic,” Lanspeary said. “It’s really a testament to these kids and how hard they work every single game, because it’s been that way all season long.”

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