Huntley gets some inspiration from NFL star

Of the 12 Fox Valley area teams participating in the 2015 Class 2A and 3A IHSA girls soccer postseason tournament only Cary-Grove, Huntley and South Elgin survived the regional gauntlet.

The Red Raiders won their ninth-straight regional; the Storm won their second-straight title and the Trojans won their first since 2013. By Friday's 6 p.m. final, only one will have the opportunity to advance to the Barrington supersectional.

But there is plenty of parity within the Huntley sectional bracket.

In both matchups, one team has at least met with a team in the opposite bracket this season. Harlem and Huntley square off in the first semifinal at 5 p.m. Tuesday, a rematch of last year's Rockford Auburn sectional final that Huntley won in penalty kicks.

South Elgin will face off with Cary-Grove in the nightcap at 7 p.m. The Storm were defeated by Harlem (16-5-2) 3-0 in the Auburn sectional last season but played to a 1-1 tie in the matchup this season on April 29 at Millennium Field.

Cary-Grove played neither South Elgin nor Harlem this season, but lost to Huntley 2-0 in conference action as the teams shared the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division title. But according to Red Raiders coach Kris Grabner, all he's concerned about is Harlem for now, a team that squandered away the NIC-10 conference title but won its own regional.

"They looked really fast front and back, looked very quick across the field," said Grabner, who scouted Harlem in his own tournament this year. "I saw how they moved and how dangerous they can be and it's going to be a (heck of a) game Tuesday night."

Grabner was pleased in his team's 4-1 regional win over Crystal Lake South South Friday, saying it was the best the Raiders have looked since the PepsiCo Challenge in late April. But a surprising development for the Raiders (17-3) occurred Saturday when a Huntley parent was able to provide the team an in-person speech from current Dallas Cowboys strong safety Jeff Heath.

Heath, who signed with Dallas as an undrafted free agent in 2013, just happened to be in town and his relation to soccer is that back in his home state of Michigan, he played club soccer before playing football at Saginaw Valley State.

"He stressed playing together, team cohesiveness and just working at it," Grabner said of Heath. "You're not always going to be the best but if you work hard enough, you can always compete."

For the week, forward Deanna Hecht scored 3 goals and tallied 1 assist while Taryn Jakubowski registered 3 goals. Forward Alyssa Kaufman also had 1 goal and 1 assist. If Huntley can get to the title game, they'll be ready for either opponent.

"That's one if we win our game we'll watch very closely. Knowing (Cary-Grove coach) Ray (Krystal), I know he'll mix some things up," Grabner said. "I'm expecting some good things from South Elgin; I remember them from last year. They seemed to be very well coached, and I can see they've had some results during the season and I'm expecting them to be very solid."

South Elgin (10-10-2) shook off an 0-9-1 stretch with wins over Larkin and Streamwood by a 13-0 tally. Leading scorer Delaney Kelleher returned from injury in the final to score twice and dish 2 assists while Ella Struwing totaled 4 goals and Sydney Shephard added 1 goal and 5 assists in the two regional wins. South Elgin goes into Tuesday rather blind but confident with its battled-tested schedule this year.

"I do know it is going to be a close match," Storm coach Tiffany Disher said. "What I've read about (Cary-Grove), they sound like a similar team to us. I think we just have to go out there and play our game, that's when we're at our best when we're focusing on what we do best and it really shows when we can win the ball out of the air and continue to create opportunities switching fields with our possession."

Winners of four-straight, Cary-Grove (10-5-1) outscored Grant and Round Lake 13-0 in the regional round as well, with forward Genna Sobieszczyk scoring 4 goals and notching 1 assist. Forward Frankie Frericks has 3 goals and 4 assists. The Trojans haven't won a sectional since 1998, the same year they qualified for the state tournament and lost to New Trier.