Tough season for St. Francis ends in supersectional

It was not the easiest of girls soccer seasons for St. Francis.

The near-complete dissolution of the Suburban Christian Conference translated into a 10-match regular season.

Then senior standouts Corky Hart and Taylor Van Thournout were lost to season-ending knee injuries early in the spring.

But the Spartans still found a way - with an underclass-dominated starting lineup - to advance to their first Class 2A supersectional since winning the state championship three years ago.

Pitted against Lemont at Hinsdale South in Darien on Tuesday afternoon, quality scoring chances were virtually non-existent.

Lemont sophomore Carli Bermele headed home a gorgeous corner kick from Mairead Ruane with just less than 15 minutes to play to break a scoreless draw.

St. Francis did not have a shot on goal for the remainder of the match and the Indians advanced to their fourth state semifinal since 2009 with the 1-0 victory.

The Spartans ended their season at 10-4-1.

"Especially in the second half," St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said when asked if the first score would be decisive. "You have to give (Lemont) credit. They kept the pace of the game to their liking."

Shots on goal were a rarity in the contest as much of the play was concentrated between the 40-yard lines.

Erin Peck and Kendra Pasquale, both freshmen strikers for the Spartans, had a potentially tiebreaking collaboration early in the second half fail to materialize when Lemont goalkeeper Michelle Jerantowski snared a deep ball.

Lemont (18-4-3) was the beneficiary of far more fouls being called on St. Francis.

As a result, the overwhelming majority of Lemont shots on St. Francis goalkeeper Tammy Syron were via free kicks.

But none of the Indians' salvos came close to denting the Spartans' net.

Unfortunately for St. Francis, however, the team repeatedly failed to gain any traction deep in Lemont territory.

"I don't think our speed was up to par," Syron said.

With the loss of Hart and Van Thournout, Regan Kasprak was the lone senior starter for St. Francis.

"This was the type of game when we really missed (Hart and Van Thornout)," Winslow said. "It was a grind-it-out kind of game where you need that senior leadership. We didn't have any games like this (in the regular season)."

"It was beneficial that (the injuries) happened early in the season and we could adjust," Syron added.

Bermele headed home the match-winner from the right side with 14:56 to play.

"It was a good goal," Kasprak said.

"I knew it would be our one good chance," Bermele said. "We knew if we got off first, we would have that excitement."