advertisement

Wheaton Academy overcomes St. Francis

Sports can be about dominant play. Sports can also be about moments.

On Tuesday at the Class 2A Benedictine University girls soccer supersectional, it was about moments. Wheaton Academy moments.

St. Francis showed consistent, strong offensive pressure against the Warriors defense for most of the game. But two goals with less than 14 minutes to play gave Wheaton Academy a 2-0 victory and its second trip to the state finals in the last three seasons.

It was the third straight year that the Warriors beat the Spartans in the postseason. Wheaton Academy beat St. Francis 2-1 on May 2 during Suburban Christian Conference play.

The victors (15-6) were third in 2A last year and won the state title in 2009. The Warriors’ state semifinal foe is Troy Triad, a 3-0 winner of the University of Illinois-Springield supersectional over Champaign Centennial, at 1 p.m. Friday at Naperville Central.

The first moment for Wheaton Academy that was crucial came with 21:18 left in the contest, when Ally Witt went off for a yellow card. Wheaton Academy coach Scott Marksberry said the referee told him the card came for what the ref considered deceiving an opponent.

“At that point of the game, St. Francis had the better of the possession. Ally doesn’t get many yellow cards. But after that she had a fire, a chip on her shoulder. She was scrappy and tough to defend,” Marksberry said.

Witt put her team on the scoreboard with 13:29 left. She got off a 9-yard shot as she collided with St. Francis goalkeeper Jenna Ditusa. As the ball rolled into the net, one last St. Francis defender tried in vain to reach it.

“I looked up and saw the ball rolling. I saw a person going near it and I’m saying, ‘Please keep rolling in,’” she said, laughing.

That play gave Witt a sore hip, and she needed help off the field.

Crystal Thomas and Kerrin Clancy helped on that play, and Thomas assisted later on as Witt got back into the game and scored with 5:17 remaining. She got a breakaway with a clear view of Ditusa and kept it out of her reach and into the net.

Goalkeeper Kristen Morency earned the shutout with 8 saves. Her best came with 11:20 left before halftime when the Spartans’ Taylor Bucaro let loose with a 40-yard free kick that Morency leaped to get a hand on, forcing it to hit the crossbar and deflect over.

“We had more shots, more opportunities,” Spartans coach Jim Winslow said. “That last 10 minutes was pure survival. We were trying to get a tying goal.”

St. Francis finishes the season 18-7-2 but with its first sectional title.

“We did a better job in the first 20-25 minutes of playing in front of them. We didn’t take advantage of that in the second half. We did it once or twice,” Winslow said.

And now it’s on to state again for Wheaton Academy.

“Before this game, it was all our focus. Now we can focus on state and see what we can accomplish,” Morency said.

  Sarah Rahman, left, of St. Francis and Lizzie Berquist, right, of Wheaton Academy in the Class 2A Benedictine supersectional girls soccer match Tuesday in Lisle. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.comAlly Witt of Wheaton Academy, right, makes her way down the field as Sydney Fox of St. Francis, left, defends in the Class 2A Benedictine supersectional girls soccer match Tuesday in Lisle.
  Wheaton Academy celebrate a goal by Ally Witt, left, against St. Francis in the Class 2A Benedictine supersectional girls soccer match Tuesday in Lisle. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com