Conant makes a winning memory in comeback against Batavia

Conant surely wanted to forget the first 29 minutes of Friday's Class 3A girls soccer regional championship matchup against Batavia.

The Bulldogs seemed a step ahead most of the way, grabbing a quick 2-0 lead and keeping the Cougars on their heels.

"I was thinking at that point that I didn't want this to be our last game," said Conant forward Emily Mazurek. "We didn't want to lose like this, not on this field, where I guess we'd lost a couple of times before (in the playoffs) like this."

So instead of giving in, Mazurek and her teammates turned a forgettable evening into a night to remember.

In the span of 8 minutes and 19 seconds, Mazurek scored three times to put the Cougars up at halftime.

Conant, the No. 4 sectional seed, hung on with some sparkling play on the back line - particularly from senior Katie Lomas - to defeat Batavia 3-2 and win the Hoffman Estates regional title.

Conant advances to Schaumburg sectional semifinal play against top seed St. Charles East on Wednesday.

"We weren't playing like we usually play," said Mazurek, a sophomore who scored 3 goals for the first time in her high school career. "But I could sense we were building up to better things and once we scored that first goal, we didn't stop."

"I actually thought we had a good start, even though we were behind," said Conant coach Jason Franco. "But we played a little cautious in the first 10 minutes or so.

"We made a change and put Mazurek up top. She's powerful and she was able to get free and finish."

Fifth-seeded Batavia started the game as the aggressor and took what appeared to be a commanding lead after quick goals from Megan McEachern and Karina Rosales.

"We had a mixup on their first goal," said Franco, "but their second goal (from a tough angle by Rosales) was a great one."

The Bulldogs tried to keep the pressure on, but the momentum turned late in the first half.

"I think we just got comfortable with a 2-goal lead," said Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco. "We stopped playing physical and we stopped connecting our passes, and they were able to beat us over the top with some long balls."

Mazurek's first tally came with 10:52 remaining before halftime when she found the back of the net after a nifty assist from Leah Celarek.

Two minutes later the sophomore scored again, this time corralling a chip pass just outside the box and rocketing the ball past the Batavia goalkeeper.

The game-winner came in the 38th minute when Mazurek took another extraordinary pass from Celarek and outdueled the Bulldogs' keeper to score.

"We had a bad stretch to start the game," said Lomas. "We knew we had to fight back."

Batavia began to put everyone forward midway through the second half, and then it was Conant goalkeeper Haley Anderson's time to shine.

Anderson somehow stopped a point-blank Batavia attempt in the 73rd minute to keep her team up by 1.

"That's the toughest part of the game," said Lomas of Batavia's late all-out attack. "You've just got to keep battling."

Batavia had one final chance with 30 seconds left when Rosales ran down on a long ball in the corner and put a perfect cross into the box, but Anderson was there to grab it before any damage could be done.

Conant then put the ball forward as the clock ran out and the Cougars bench erupted.

"I thought the first goal we scored was the most important," said Lomas. "It was a great feed from Leah and it gave us energy for the rest of the game."

"I just thought it was important for us to come out tonight and prove just how good we are," added Mazurek. "We deserve to be playing the top teams like (number 1 seed) St. Charles East."