Okamoto, Buffalo Grove stop Stevenson
Second-seeded Buffalo Grove continued its hair-raising ride in the playoffs on Tuesday night when two first-half goals and a sensational spot kick save from senior keeper Katie Okamoto held off fifth-seeded Stevenson in a 2-1 victory at Chic Anderson Stadium in Palatine.
The Bison (15-5-1) will face Glenbrook South on Friday night in the Palatine sectional championship after the Titans (19-4-4) rolled past the host Pirates 6-2 in the first of two semifinals.
Okamoto was the star for the Bison in the second half, as the senior guessed right and stopped Olivia Whalen’s conversion attempt to maintain a 1-goal advantage and set-up a frantic final 25 minutes which saw both sides get numerous scoring chances until the final whistle signaled the end of a thrilling 80-minute contest.
“We knew this game wouldn’t be anything like the first one,” said Okamoto, in reference to the Bison’s 5-0 victory over the Patriots (16-6-2) in the final weeks of the regular season. “Carolynn (Wieland) and I play club with a bunch of the girls from Stevenson, and we know how talented they are and how much they wanted to come out tonight and win after that first game.
“But we hung in there as a team, even though Stevenson really came after us after scoring that first (PK) to get them closer to us. Even though we have so many young players, I thought we did a great job against a very good team in Stevenson.”
The Bison had been without their top scorer from a year ago in Wieland, and the all-area veteran’s return to action last week in the regional final with Fremd helped provide the club with another threat up top.
The senior made her presence felt just moments after her introduction at 10 minutes when she collected the ball near the end line and, after holding and waiting for something to happen, she flashed a wonderful ball across the 6-yard box where Colleen Zickert redirected past Pats keeper Cori Calcaterra.
About 20 minutes later Wieland was at it again, this time finding freshmen Sara Busse, who scored in the manner as Zickert to double the Bison lead.
“It’s never a good thing to go down a goal, let alone two, at this time of the year, but when we cut into their lead so quickly after the break you could feel the momentum shifting in our favor,” said Patriots junior Jenna Weiner, who along with Emily Whalen played through injuries. “But we could never find the second one.”
The Patriots found hope just minutes into the second period when Kara Ballard was hauled down just inside the box, which allowed Erin Bailey to fire in her spot kick to make it 2-1.
“Stevenson really came after us following their first goal, and we hung in there and battled and defended as best we could, even when at times they had us on our heels,” said BG coach Pat Dudle.
The moment of truth came at 55 minutes when Pats all-state candidate Kaitlyn Krejsa ran up the left side and into the box, where she was taken down, sending her teammate Whalen to the spot. Okamoto dove to toward the right stick and denied the shot.
“I just watched her hips, and I knew she was going to my right,” said Okamoto, who last year turned away a PK attempt to help the Bison upset Glenbrook South in a regional opener.
The Patriots threw extra numbers forward at the hour mark. An offsides flag in the 70th minute ended one threat; shortly after that, Krejsa steered her shot from in close wide.
Stevenson’s loss ended a five-game winning streak.
“This team won 16 games this season with a very difficult and competitive schedule,” said Stevenson coach Mark Schartner, “and it’s a great bunch of kids who have been really playing their best soccer of the season during the past couple weeks of the season.”