By JIMMY KISSEE

Winning is something you never get used to. Just ask Chesterton girls soccer coach Kip Walton whose Lady Trojans won their third consecutive regional title last night over Valparaiso 4-2 at Kesling Park in LaPorte.

“This is pretty familiar to us, but it something really good to have,” said Walton. “We definitely are not too used to it, trust me we still really enjoy it.”

The win over the Vikings sets up the rematch against Lake Central in Saturday’s South Bend Semistate. The same two teams battled in the finals each of the past two years.

Before anyone got comfortable, or even poured their first cup of hot chocolate, Chesterton went up 1-0.

Nicole Halls broke free in the box and fired a shot which Valparaiso goalkeeper, Rachel Kuker, could not even react to just 30 seconds into the contest.

“We came out really strong in the first half and I really think that’s what did it for us tonight,” Walton said.

Chesterton’s 1-0 lead did not last long thanks to the spectacular play from Valparaiso’s Ashley Morgan. Morgan sprinted down the left side of the field past the defense, and hooked a left footed shot inside the post and past a diving Ally Ruoff for the goal.

This tied the game at one, at the 23:32 mark in the first half.

Morgan struck again just 2:22 minutes later, when she hauled in a pass, took the ball down the right side past two Trojan defenders and was still able to beat Ruoff for the goal.

This gave the Vikings their only lead at 2-1.

“Morgan was incredible, she has got a lot of speed,” said Walton. “She is definitely one heck of a player.”

The Lady Trojans showed their experience and never panicked.

“These seven seniors have all been here before, they knew what they needed to do win,” said Walton.

The Lady Trojans stuck to the basics and were able to tie the game at two.

Danielle Luther headed in a centering pass from Marianne Shumaker with 13:59 to play in the opening half.

They kept the pressure on until the last second, which paid off when Amanda Harsy gave Chesterton the lead with just 2:22 to play in the opening half.

Harsy dribbled down from midfield past every Viking defender and snuck one in past Kuker. The first half ended with Chesterton up 3-2.

Chesterton knew a one goal lead was not safe.

“At halftime I told the girls this was our game to win or lose and they are going to have to do those things if they wanted to win,” said Walton.

The Lady Trojans came out and did their ‘thing’ right away.

The Lady Trojans opened up the second half in similar fashion to the first, with a goal. A mere 47 seconds into the half, Amanda Harsy saw the defenders converge and dropped the ball of to Marianne Shumaker. Shumaker knew exactly what to do with it as she fired it past Kuker, which put the Trojans up 4-2.

Chesterton would never look back from there as they went on to take the match 4-2.

“I can’t be more proud of these girls,” said Walton. “They fought back when they were down, I could not ask for any more from them.”

Posted 10/23/2002