Mazurek's magic continues as Conant tops St. Charles East
Coming off its recent 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Batavia in the regional finals, Conant's girls soccer team hoped to carry its momentum from that game into its matchup with No. 1 seed St. Charles East on Wednesday in the Class 3A Schaumburg sectional semifinals.
Doing the carrying was forward Emily Mazurek.
The sophomore, who'd scored a hat trick against Batavia once Conant had dug itself an early 2-0 hole, continued her inspired postseason play by netting the game-winning goal with 28 minutes left in regulation to propel the No. 4-seeded Cougars over the Saints 1-0.
"We knew for our game against Batavia that we just wanted a shot against the top seed to show everyone we could play with the top seeds," said Mazurek. "And we proved that today."
St. Charles East had a golden opportunity to forge ahead early in the first half, but forward Darcy Cunningham was stonewalled on a break away by Conant senior keeper Haley Anderson (7 saves).
Still, the Saints (21-2-1) continued to stay on the attack and seemingly lived in the Cougars' zone for the bulk of the half. But they could not manage to score and had to settle for a 0-0 tie at intermission.
The game remained that way 12 minutes into the second until Conant senior forward Sidney O'Keefe connected with a streaking Mazurek, who poked it past Saints junior goalie Alison Chesterfield for the lead.
"She (Mazurek) was hurt early in the year and still managed to come back and score 16 goals for us," said Conant coach Jason Franco. "She's a difference-maker. She's fast, physical and looks more confident now … she's had a heck of a last couple games."
For St. Charles, it was an early exit that coach Paul Jennison had not envisioned after his Saints advanced all the way to the state championship game last year before falling to eventual winner New Trier.
"Things just ended far too abruptly today," said Jennison "And I'm absolutely devastated for these girls because I believe we've been the best team in the state all year … 21 wins is unprecedented. But when all is said and done, we're going home and that's the toughest lesson to learn."
Conant (15-6-1) advances to the sectional finals where it will face St. Charles North at 3 p.m. Saturday.