Sanscrainte saves a win for Stevenson against Wheaton Academy
Lizzy Sanscrainte found out first-hand how it feels to get piled on by the rest of the Stevenson girls soccer team on Thursday afternoon.
Sanscrainte, the Patriots' goalkeeper, made some outstanding saves with 10 total.
The biggest one came in the fifth round of extra kicks, when Sanscrainte dove high to her left and pushed away a potential game-winning shot from Wheaton Academy's Kristen Wittmus.
"I actually enjoyed it a lot," said Sanscrainte, who found her way out of the pile in one piece. "I just tried to take few steps out and tried to get set. I just reacted with my left hand. I was really pumped up for the next one that went wide.
"We've never practiced kicks this year, but I've done this before."
Stevenson won on its next kick in the sixth round with a successful finish from Emily Niedermayer and a miss from Wheaton Academy.
"I just wanted to hit low in the corner," said Niedermayer, who had a teammate, Jackie Wynn, give a tip before the kick. "I knew (Warriors keeper Emily Mulder) would come out and hesitate. I wanted to aim for the corner and I hit a kick like a pass."
The Patriots got past visiting No. 12 Wheaton Academy 2-1 (5-4 on kicks) as part of the Pepsi Showdown in Lincolnshire.
Unseeded Stevenson next plays in the round of 16 against No 6 Homewood-Floosmoor at 3 p.m. Saturday at Olympic Park in Schaumburg.
"It's not an enormous win, but it keeps us on the winner's side of the bracket," said Stevenson coach Mark Schartner, whose team is now 3-1. "It's just good stuff for us. We handled ourselves well against a real good team.
"(Wheaton Academy) had an outstanding sweeper (Christi Dithrich) in the back. All their backs gave us trouble."
Stevenson sweeper Taylor Connington tore her ACL over spring break and will surgery on Friday. Senior Alex Low had stepped into the sweeper spot over the last three games, and during that span the Patriots have only allowed 1 goal.
The Warriors (2-2) got on the board in the 21st mintue. Dithrich delivered a long free kick; Rachel Nasralla took control and beat the Patriots' defense and Sanscrainte.
The Patriots tied the game at 1-1 late in the first half when Katie Krejska scored off a touch pass from Missy Loretto.
Warriors keeper Mulder made 11 saves which included a save of her own during the kicks.
Still, Wheaton Academy, the reigning Class 2A champion and a much smaller school with an enrollment around 600, has nothing but positive things to take out of the match against Stevenson (4,800 enrollment).
"When the game goes to penalty kicks in tournament, you have a winner," Wheaton Academy coach Scott Marksberry said. "Any other time during the season, that game ends as a draw. Both teams probably go away feeling pretty good about it."
"There's no element of disappointment. I thought in the overtime we ran out of gas with a couple of injuries. But in the run of the game, I thought we possessed the ball well and had some great combinations .
"Stevenson was a good team and for a school our size, it was good to come out and compete."