East tops JT with jolt of Meehan

Zallis' 2 goals give Griffins regional title

FRANKFORT -- Right when the sun went underneath the clouds Friday, Lincoln-Way East High School senior Casey Meehan ended up shining the most, heading home a goal and assisting on another.

Left open inside the box, the Saint Xavier University-bound forward buried a cross from junior midfielder Taylor Jazo before curving a corner kick to senior sweeper Lauren Zallis -- the Griffins' first 15 minutes showcasing their motto.

Practice like you play.

Play like you practice.

"We've been working on the 10-minute drill and we've been working on our restarts," said Meehan, who finished with the goal and 2 assists to anchor a 4-0 victory over Joliet Township in the championship game of the Class AA Lincoln-Way East Regional. "And, yeah, it did work."

Behind Meehan's 1-goal, 1-assist salvo in the opening 12:46 of the first half, fourth-seeded Lincoln-Way East (11-11-3) worked over fifth-seeded JT (13-9) for its seventh straight regional title in girls soccer. Zallis, the Northern Arizona recruit, netted 2 goals, both on Meehan corners.

Senior midfielder/forward Courtnie Brauer also contributed a goal, freshman forward Kaci Jazo assisted and junior goalkeeper Allison Breakey (6 saves) earned her fifth shutout as East advanced to Monday's 5 p.m. Lincoln-Way Central Sectional semifinals vs. Marian Catholic, a 2-1 upset winner over the top-seeded host Knights.

While sophomore all-state candidate Krissy Dorre started at forward, switched to sweeper with the 2-goal deficit and then created all kinds of havoc for the Steelmen as a center midfielder, the Griffins gained the gusto once Taylor Jazo found the feed for Meehan -- who returned the favor by setting up Zallis for the 2-0 lead.

Practice with a passion.

Play with a passion.

Practice with a purpose.

Play with a purpose.

"My assistants have done a great job of getting the girls to come out with a sense of urgency at the beginning of the game," said East coach Brian Papa, crediting Ryan Decker and Colin Hopper. "We had been lackluster, but the next thing you know, we're getting it together, and the first 20 minutes were as good as we've played all year."

"It's always important to get that first goal, that lead, right away," Zallis said. "Our coaches have been drilling us by simulating the first 10 minutes of a game with a certain goal each time, like five crosses or three shots or two goals. If don't get it, we run, so that's the incentive and it has really jump-started our intensity."

Intensity burned like embers for East, beginning with Taylor Jazo's spin-o-rama on the right flank of the box. Eluding the slide tackle, Jazo wheeled and uncorked a crossing pass that the unmarked Meehan headed down into the vacant space to the right of JT sophomore goalkeeper Kim Vertin (7 saves).

That gave the Griffins a 1-0 lead with 30:14 remaining in the first half. Exactly 3 minutes later, Meehan bent a David Beckham-like corner kick toward Zallis, who zipped in on the far post and converted a nice header into the near-side right corner. At that juncture, East held a 7-0 edge in shots and a 4-0 edge in corners.

"We've been scrimmaging 10 minutes at a time with a goal, then we play another 10 minutes and another 10 minutes," said Meehan, who improved her season totals to 7 goals and 5 assists. "And we've been practicing that with our restarts for the playoffs for about a week now."

"As a whole, I think we were kind of like a deer in the headlights at the start," JT coach Jeff Lundeen confirmed. "We came out a little bit soft. By the time the half came, though, we picked up the intensity and we gave it a big try, but our hats are off to Lincoln-Way East. They were sharp."

Sharpened by the midfield move of Dorre, who Lundeen used at striker to kick off the first half due to the wind advantage, JT peppered the Griffins with a strong shot by freshman defender Morgan Graves and a pair of free kicks by Graves. Dorre delivered a direct kick and several deep, scintillating runs.

Perhaps the best pass of the second half belonged to Dorre, who beautifully brought in a trifecta of defenders -- including excellent freshman shadow Kelly McGovern -- before dishing to junior midfielder/forward Debbie Rios. Her stout shot slipped wide of the right post past the body-long dive of Breakey.

Dynamite. Pure dynamite.

"She's our explosive weapon," Lundeen said of Dorre, who closed with 16 goals and 6 assists. "We've done a great job since the beginning of the season in improving as a team alongside her, but it wasn't enough tonight."

"It's hard when you're already down a couple of goals," Dorre said. "We were trying to work it back up, just keep possession, but we had a hard time doing that because we were so eager to get a goal. We didn't get the ball to the outsides very well and give them that chance to get up and go."

Said Papa: "They have Dorre and she's amazing. You saw what she can do. They put her in the front line with the wind, but we were ready for that. We weren't going to let her run free, and we didn't want her to touch that ball in the first 10, first 15 minutes."

An Elite Eight qualifier in 2004 and 2006, East took care of business during that span. The Griffins located their closure as well in the final 15 minutes, the biggie coming with 11:04 left when Kaci Jazo cranked a crossing pass from the right flank of the box to Brauer, who spun a one-timer into the lower-left corner for the 3-0 lead.

With 34.5 seconds to play, Zallis concluded the scoring between the SouthWest Suburban Conference rivals, heading in her sixth goal from the far post on Meehan's second successful service of a corner -- sending the suddenlty healthy Griffins again to the sectional semifinals.

Euphoria. Pure euphoria.

"I'm extremely excited," Meehan said. "Two goals is like the worst lead in soccer. When that third goal gets put in, it's just kind of done and you know it. And on the corners, Laura's just right there every single time."

"Casey has really stepped up her game for the postseason," Zallis said. "We've been getting those dead balls in practice and it shows how we have a lot of good players coming through there. All five of the ladies we have on the line when we run our plays are capable of doing that, and I was just lucky to be in the right spot."