Girls soccer: St. Edward downs Westminster Christian in 1A regional
Once St. Edward found the net, the goals just kept coming.
The Green Wave scored three times in a 9-minute span to overcome a halftime deficit and get past the host team 4-1 in the semifinals of the Class 1A Westminster Christian girls soccer regional in Elgin Thursday.
Madison Knott and Yssa Sto. Domingo scored 2 goals apiece and Kathleen Ellsworth had a pair of assists as the Green Wave (7-13-1) advanced to Friday's regional final against Harvest Christian.
St. Edward played much of the first half in Westminster's end but couldn't put the ball on frame, consistently missing wide or high. Meanwhile, the Warriors grabbed the lead when Mattea Huerta sliced through the defense and found herself wide open in front of the net. She scored from point-blank range to give the hosts the lead.
After the break, the Wave came out with a different attitude, and it didn't take long to get on the scoreboard. Knott's first goal tied the score in the 45th minute.
As one of the Wave's few seniors, Gabriella Tripiccio took it on herself to get her teammates fired up.
"I decided enough's enough," said Tripiccio. "It's my senior year, I want to keep playing, I'm not done yet. I came from a State team my sophomore year, I wasn't ready to keep going downhill. I want to keep going back up, back to the State, so I decided to yell at some of the girls, get them fired up."
Sto. Domingo then scored her first 2 career goals 24 seconds apart to put the Wave ahead for good.
She first raced up the left side and beat the Westminster keeper from about 10 yards out. Madalynn Duffy assisted. The second goal was nearly a carbon copy, with Sto. Domingo knifing through the defense and firing in a shot on the ground that trickled through the goalkeeper's hands.
"(Coach Tim) Brieger told me that my speed is my advantage, and so I got tired of always being yelled at," said Sto. Domingo. "So I took what Gabby said and I just applied it to the game. It was just my speed."
Knott added an insurance goal in the closing minutes.
Wave keeper Anissa Gomez was rarely tested in the second half, facing just 3 shots total, while the Wave produced 9 shots.
"We weren't working together," said Brieger of his team's first-half struggles. "For awhile there, everybody was trying to be the hero, but then at the same time not being confident. And Madison and Madalynn weren't working together. They were working as two separate forwards. They finally started clicking together, playing everything off each other."
It was an abrupt end to the season for Westminster (5-9-2).
"Three quick goals, and that was tough," said Warrior coach Erik Schwartz. "We couldn't rebound after it. We struggled to really just move the ball out of our end. But what I really love about our girls is we fought, fought, fought, fought, fought to the end. We didn't stop, and that's a testimony to their character."