It's Hersey's time to shine

Coach Darren Llewellyn says soccer can be crazy and cruel - which is one reason he enjoys the sport so much.

It was cruel Friday night, to be sure. But not for Llewellyn's Hersey team.

Hersey and visiting Buffalo Grove battled to a scoreless draw, and that outcome clinched a Huskies appearance in Wednesday's Mid-Suburban League Soccer Bowl at Barrington.

The Huskies (16-4-1, 10-0-1) earned their second trip to the league championship matchup in the last three years with 31 points, 3 points clear of the Bison (19-1-2, 9-0-2, 28).

Buffalo Grove could only have advanced to the title game with a victory.

"It's really kind of amazing to be heading to the Soccer Bowl next week," said Llewellyn, who saw his team's defensive excellence match Buffalo Grove's attacking brilliance and guile. "We went through this conference without conceding a goal, and that says a lot about this group, and in particular Morgan Harris and her teammates on defense.

"Obviously, Buffalo Grove is a great team, and clearly one of the best attacking teams in the state. But we kept our composure, stayed organized most of the night, and even though we weren't able to score we still found a way to keep them out of the back of the net to advance."

On paper, it was a match of contrasting styles to be sure.

BG's ability to orchestrate its attack was quickly evident as Kelli Zickert, Skylar Groth, Jessica Kovach, Colleen Zickert and Allie Ingham were each a whirlwind of activity from the middle of the park and forward.

Harris, who was superb all evening, made the first of her 3 goal-saving stops in full extension to her right as she turned around a 10-yard blast from Ingham in the 29th minute.

"That's my job," said Harris, who now has 16 shutouts. "I am fortunate to have a great defense in front of me, and tonight they all played so well against a team with a great attack."

Kayla Knauss, Sara Magnuson, Annie Korff and Megan Brant would bend at times, but they never broke. Their work in the first half, as Buffalo Grove controlled play, helped the Huskies keep hope alive.

Just moments before the Harris save, freshman Gina Miklasz was set free off a wonderful early ball over the top from Lauren Gierman, but the young striker was unable to get a shot on frame.

It was more of the same after the break, with Buffalo Grove spending most of the second period in the Huskies' end. But if it wasn't Harris making a key save, it was the lack of sharp play in the final third that failed the Bison.

BG coach Pat Dudle would make a few adjustments in his attack with the hope of initiating the first goal of the game, including pushing top defender Amanda Kowalski into an outside midfield spot, as well as moving Groth to the outside on the opposite side of the pitch.

"We tried to do some things to get something going," Dudle said. "We possessed so well tonight and created so many chances, but in the end, we just couldn't finish."

Jessica Kovach had a go from 30 yards, but Harris saved. Then the Huskies keeper beat Kelli Zickert to a 50-50 ball from Ingham in the 87th minute.

The stadium went dark just after the first extra session, but when the power was restored, most of the play was between the 18-yard lines, with the Huskies doing their best to turn the ball the other way and hustling to every ball.

Harris rise to the occasion one last time with a sensational reaction save on a well-driven strike from Kowalski in the 98th minute.

"Those of us who were on this team last year all remember the (8) goals we gave up to Buffalo Grove in the first week of the season last spring, and that kind of helped us all as this game got closer," said Gierman. "Morgan was great tonight, and we're back in the Soccer Bowl once again - and that's all that matters tonight."

Prospect 3, Schaumburg 2 (OT): Emily Novak scored in the first OT to help the host Knights and 10 of their seniors prevail in their fianl home game. Novak and Martina Kowalczuk scored in regulation for Prospect, and Lexi Awdziejczyk and Melanie Diebold had goals for Schaumburg.

Conant 3, Fremd 1: The Cougars wrapped up their regular-season MSL slate with a victory as Drew Wentzel, Leah Celarek and Sidney O'Keeffe each had goals.

Palatine 8, Wheeling 0: Carly Mulert had 3 goals for her first career hat trick, Carolyn Soukup scored twice and Rachel Rhodes stopped 3 shots for the victorious Pirates (10-7-2).