O'Connor reverts as Buffalo Grove advances
Sara O'Connor has scored goals all season long for Buffalo Grove's girls soccer team.
Friday night, the senior forward got a chance to stop one.
She played goalie for the first time this season and made a diving save on a penalty kick. She then scored a hat trick during a nine-minute span in the first half, as the fourth-seeded Bison blanked No. 11 Mundelein 4-0 in the Class 4A Libertyville regional final. Alyssa Floro had Buffalo Grove's other goal.
Buffalo Grove (14-5-1) will next face top-seeded Barrington in the Glenbrook South sectional semifinals at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The Fillies shut out No. 9 Warren 3-0 for the Fremd regional championship.
O'Connor was asked to play goalie in the 21st minute with the Bison ahead 1-0, after starting keeper Cassie Berman received a yellow card due to a foul in the penalty area.
O'Connor put on her gloves and soon afterward stopped Shannon Carroll's PK to preserve the Bison's one-goal advantage.
"That was one of our discussions, because I had practiced PKs sophomore year," O'Connor said. "I really didn't anticipate going there, but when I saw that Cassie was given a yellow, I figured what other options do we have? I said, 'My gloves are in my bag.' I brought them just in case something happened where somebody else needed them. I really didn't think I was going there."
O'Connor had broken her wrist at the start of the season and hadn't been working in goal because of the injury.
"I really didn't think about it and went in there and did it," O'Connor said. "Usually, I think about what I would do in that situation. I just knew that my right side was better."
When O'Connor returned to her forward spot, she immediately created a scoring chance. She took a loose ball and put it into an open net in the 26th minute. Six minutes later, she buried a free kick outside the box to make it 3-0. She tallied her hat-trick goal on another set piece, as she hit the ball off the post and into the net in the 35th minute.
She has 26 goals this season.
O'Connor's PK save was indeed big, as Mundelein (8-8-6) never responded.
"Obviously, it was the turning point in the game," Mundelein coach Ernie Billittier said. "But Buffalo Grove is a great team, and has great coaches and great players. If you don't take the opportunities that you do create, it's going to be tough to get those back. Good teams will punish you if you give them the opportunities."
Floro scored the opening goal for Buffalo Grove in the third minute off a cross from Georgette Topalis.
"It was very important to get the first goal, especially against Mundelein that has been sound defensively all year long," Buffalo Grove coach Pat Dudle said. "Mundelein plays a great style of soccer, possess the ball very well and defends. We're fortunate to move on."