Back in 1965, when soccer was as much a part of the American fabric as the home computer, a little-known Harvard math instructor was making a name for himself as an entertainer.
Tom Lehrer performed in clubs, on records and occasionally appeared on television. One of his compositions was titled “New Math,” and it proceeded to take the audience through a simple subtraction problem: 342 minus 173. Lehrer then made a seemingly simple math concept complicated. But, he pointed out, it was more important to “understand what you’re doing rather than getting the correct answer.”
Kristie Simon not only has an understanding of what she’s doing, she and Lyons Township are getting all the right answers in girls soccer–and just at the right time. The state playoffs get into full swing this weekend, with the second-ranked Lions attempting, like everyone else, to reach the state finals and ruin St. Charles’ adding machine. The Saints are going for a fifth consecutive title.
Lyons is the No. 1 seed in the Willowbrook sectional and begins tournament play by hosting the winner of the Cristo Rey-Proviso West game at 6 p.m. Saturday.
At the start of the season, Simon and junior Jenna Johnson came up with a new math of their own.
“We wanted to score 60 goals between us,” Simon said. “It didn’t matter who got the most goals. We thought we’d be a good team and that this would help us win.”
That simple addition problem has been solved. Simon and Johnson each scored twice in a 5-0 victory over York Tuesday to give them exactly 60 goals. Simon finished the regular season with 36, while Johnson finished with 24 after Thursday’s regular-season finale against Loyola was washed away. Simon has 89 goals in her career.
The beauty of the equation for Lyons is that it’s all adding up to one of the area’s best records–19-1-2–and the No. 2 ranking. Unranked at the start of the season, the Lions got off to a 10-0 start including a 1-0 victory over then-No. 6 Maine South. Then LT–as the locals and longtime prep followers call the school–tied Naperville North and beat Fremd and Waubonsie Valley before losing 4-0 to St. Charles in the title game of the 16-team Naperville Invitational.
That the numbers seem to be adding up for the West Suburban Silver power should be no surprise. Simon ranked fourth in a senior class of 780 and is taking five advanced-placement courses–calculus, statistics, physics, English and Spanish. For the numbers-conscious, she scored a 30 on her ACT and 1330 on the SAT and will enter the School of Engineering at Bucknell.
Oddly enough, Simon had to choose between competing in the Naperville Invitational finals or the Math Olympics–the state math games. Both were on April 29. Simon usually competes in the math championships, but said she couldn’t miss the opportunity to play for the title of the prestigious tournament.
“She’s one of our top recruits and is expected to make an immediate impact,” said Bucknell coach Chrissy Findlay, whose Patriot League team was 8-8-1 in 1999. “She’s a hard-working student-athlete.”
Just like the combination of sisters Kate and Beth Walse, who led Lyons to a second-place finish in 1997, the 1-2 punch of Johnson and Simon has cleaned up.
“I don’t care,” Johnson said about her teammate’s lead in goals. “As long as we’re putting the ball in the back of the net and hear that `swoosh.'”
The 5-foot-6-inch, 130-pound Johnson is a different type of player than the 5-5, 120-pound Simon.
“It’s almost like salt and pepper,” Lyons coach Jim Johns said. “One [Simon] is extremely quick and has great composure when shooting. The other [Johnson] is powerful and strong on the ball.”
Johnson also has come a long way since her freshman year.
“I was a little delinquent back then. I got a yellow card every game,” Johnson said. “I was very immature.” “I don’t think we could be where we are if we didn’t get along,” Simon said.
That’s true for the whole team. The girls get together for pasta parties and “date night.” That’s right–date night.
“Everyone has to go,” Johnson said. “And if someone doesn’t have a date, we get one for them.”
The date the team has at the top of its list is June 3. That’s when Lyons hopes to be in the state title game at Naperville Central’s stadium.
Until then, there will be a few more math classes and quizzes for Simon. All she wants a chance at is the final exam–on the field.
