Junior midfielder Natalie Zodrow is making quite an impression in her first season of high school soccer with Lockport.
While the goals and assists are great, Zodrow confirmed the connections she is making with her teammates are even better.
“It’s such a great environment,” said Zodrow, a Milwaukee recruit. “Compared to club, it’s so different because you’re with each other every day. We’re such good friends. It’s great.”
That chemistry with her teammates was on display Tuesday night.
Zodrow scored a goal and added an assist for visiting Lockport in a huge 4-2 victory over Lincoln-Way East in a key SouthWest Suburban Blue game in Frankfort.
TCU recruit Bella Diorio, Heather Canny and Karolina Skubisz also scored goals for the Porters (12-2-1, 2-0), while Raven Rogers had two assists.
Brooklyn Mortell and Bre Herlihy each had a goal for Lincoln-Way East (12-3, 1-1).
Zodrow led Lockport’s resurgence after the Griffins rallied from a 2-0 deficit to force a 2-2 tie in the second half.
“Natalie’s just a workhorse,” Lockport coach Todd Elkei said. “She never complains. She’s constantly asking what she can do to get better. We’re working with her on being more confident going forward.
“Her defense, there’s no question how good she is. But when she gets fully confident and a little more offensive-minded to become that total complete player, she’ll be unstoppable. She’s tremendous.”
Zodrow, who has eight goals and 11 assists, has played soccer since she was 4 years old. Before high school, she knew it was her sport.
“I used to play softball,” Zodrow said. “When soccer was getting a little bit more serious, I had to pick one or the other. Soccer is so much more fun, I think. I just had more of a feel for it.”
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Zodrow and junior defender Brinlee McNabb are both committed to Milwaukee.
“We talk about how it’s going to be and how excited we are that we’re going to get to play together for this long,” Zodrow said. “It’s really cool.”
Heating up, Zodrow assisted on Diorio’s goal less than three minutes into the game and Canny gave Lockport a 2-0 lead, but the Griffins battled back.
Mortell scored just 75 seconds after Canny to cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 12th minute and Herlihy tied it with 27:28 left in the second half by poking in a free kick from Cami Butler off a deflection.
“When we went down 2-0, a lot of times you can quit in that situation,” Lincoln-Way East coach Mike Murphy said. “I thought we did a good job responding. We started putting some pressure on them.
“You have to give Lockport credit. They’re a very good team. They have five Division I recruits, and I thought we did a good job trying to contain those girls.”
It was an unlikely hero, however, who turned things back in Lockport’s favor as Skubisz scored her second goal of the season off Rogers’ assist with 18:40 to play.
“I was honestly surprised,” Skubisz said. “I usually play outside back, but (assistant coach Chris) Beal thought it was a good idea to put me up front, so we should thank for him for that opportunity.
“I had so much adrenaline going, I didn’t think even think of anything. I just ran through the middle and shot.”
Just 41 seconds later, Zodrow scored to make it 4-2.
“After (Skubisz’s) goal, our momentum was high, our spirits were high and our confidence was up there,” Zodrow said. “We just went back hard again.”
Zodrow is always going hard, which is leading to positive results.
“I just try my best and do my thing and it’ll happen, I guess,” Zodrow said.
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
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