Girls' soccer Coach of the Year: Triumphs come off the field and on for Angels' coach

BY ALAN NUNN

Thursday, July 12, 2007 2:13 AM CDT

Journal Times Deputy Sports Editor

The joy and surprise was clearly etched on the faces of the St. Catherine's High School girls' soccer team in the moments after beating two-time defending WIAA Division 3 state champion Ozaukee in the state semifinals.

And while Angels coach Ben Lake, the Racine County Coach of the Year, shared their joy, his mind was filled with thoughts of his son, who himself has overcome insurmountable odds.

Spencer Lake, 5, suffers from spastic diplegia, a type of Cerebral Palsy that affects body movement and muscle co-ordination, primarily in the legs. In the last three-plus years, Spencer has gone from not being able to roll over or crawl to using a walker and will attend regular education kindergarten in the fall.

At the moment of what could be the biggest victory of his career, Lake was elated, but not neccesarily surprised because, after all, if Spencer could fight his battle, why couldn't his Angels overcome their own odds?

"Our girls were coming off the field and I heard a few girls saying 'I can't believe we just won that game.' " Ben Lake said. "I could. At that time, I wasn't thinking about the game. I was really thinking about my son. I was thinking about not quitting and what he's done. He has never quit. Thinking where my son was at when he was 1½ to 2 years of age and where he's at now. Totally, I could believe that we could beat that team."

Reaching the state final was the culmination of a late-season run that saw the Angels (15-11-2) finish 8-1-1 before a 3-1 loss to St. Mary Central in their final game.

Lake credits the turnaround, in part, to a midseason shakeup.

"Sometimes soccer gets put on the back burner," Lake said. "I had to say to the girls that we have to get back to our initial commitment. We had to shake some things up. We brought some girls up from the JV for the Union Grove game and they stuck with us. It upset some people, I received some calls about it. But the most important thing there was that I wasn't going to compromise my principles."

With a push from young players such as Libby Pettit, Jennifer Hawes, Carly Laurent and Jessica Dobbs, the Angels rediscovered their focus.

And throughout the season, as he has done during the last five years of his coaching career, Lake discovered parallels between his team and his son.

"At the beginning of the year, we're not doing well and we're kind of back and forth and not playing where we needed to be playing at," Lake said. "I just kept thinking about different things in my life and how things have progressed.

"It's just been so inspirational for me, how far (Spencer) has come. So, when I would come to my training sessions, I definitely had a different vibe with the kids. It's more upbeat, I'm just approaching them differently and I'm so happy and excited just to be there to work with them and getting them to develop further as well."

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