Even though the start of the 2010 season is still nine months away, the tone has already been set for Lyons Township.

The Lions’ 2009 campaign ended on May 26 following a 3-2 loss to Hinsdale Central in a Class 3A sectional semifinal at St. Ignatius in Chicago.

LT led 2-0 in the first half, only to watch the Red Devils come back and score the game winner with about 10 minutes left in regulation.

The sting of the loss was visible to head coach Bill Lanspeary following the contest, leaving him to conclude there will be a fire smoldering until next March rolls around.

“In past years when we’ve lost the girls have been very sad,” Lanspeary said. “This year there was certainly sadness, but it was almost — it’s hard to describe — that there was this edge to get back out there and give it another shot, which bodes well for next year.”

It’s a good bet the Lions, who finished 12-9-2, will be back in the mix. They graduate just five players, with the majority of the team returning — led by all-state junior midfielder Katie Nasenbenny, junior all-sectional player Steph Condon in back and sophomore all-sectional forward Kelsey Holbert.

“They see how close we were this year in a lot of games and how many good players we have coming back,” Lanspeary said. “And the sophomore team did fantastic, so we could do some good things next year.”

In the loss to Hinsdale Central, Nasenbenny snuck a goal inside the near post on a corner kick 10 minutes into the match and sophomore Lauren Moberg buried a left-footed shot 10 minutes later for a 2-0 lead.

Lanspeary said the pace of the game shifted when Red Devil standout Toni Kokenis, who did not start, entered the game. The Red Devils scored with six minutes left in the opening half, tied it 2-2 10 minutes into the second half and netted the game winner off a rebound with 10 minutes to go.

“When (Kokenis) came in it elevated everyone else’s game,” Lanspeary said. “They got a big push up front and put a lot of pressure on us.
“We were disappointed, but I thought we played really well, and played really tough in back considering the amount of pressure we were under.”

The Lions graduate five seniors in all-West Suburban Silver midfielder Lindsay Brandt, midfielders Olya Cholewick, Emma Holbert and Jen DiOrio and defender Colleen O’Brien.

Besides Nasenbenny, Condon and Kelsey Holbert, the Lions will also return all-conference junior defender Hope Spangler, sophomore goalkeeper Renata Butikas and freshman Sarah Mazur, sophomore Elise Gordon and Emma Meyering and juniors Lauren Grissim, Isabelle Richmond, Emily Meingast and Liv Coughlin.

“We lost some frustrating games early on and were right there with a lot of the teams we were losing to,” Lanspeary said. “We finally settled in on some things and put together a nice winning streak down the stretch.”