Girls soccer: Huntley off to supersectional again
Revenge is supposedly a dish best served cold, but it's sweeter in postseason play especially when a sectional championship is on the line.
At least that's the way Huntley's Ally Sunter feels after the Red Raiders posted a 2-1 victory Saturday over Crystal Lake South to receive the Class 3A Streamwood girls soccer sectional plaque at Millennium Field.
"After they beat us in the (Fox Valley) conference showdown, seeing them celebrate on our field was pretty tough to watch," the senior midfielder recalled. "Obviously we wanted another sectional victory when the postseason started, but beating them does make it a little more enjoyable."
Since that loss, Huntley (21-3-2) now has gone nine matches without a loss (8-0-1) heading into Tuesday's 6 p.m. Elite Eight contest against supersectional host Barrington. It will be Huntley's third straight supersectional appearance.
For South's Gators (16-6-1), having their 10-match unbeaten (9-0-1) string cut was even more bitter knowing they contributed to their own demise.
The scoreless deadlock was broken after 29:45 when Huntley's Tayah Owens headed a ball toward the far post and whether it would have gone in on its own or not became moot when a South defender's attempt to clear the ball put it in the net for an own goal.
Back on April 29, Huntley standout Taryn Jakubowski scored in the 72nd minute to avoid a shutout as South won that match 3-1. Saturday the Creighton signee scored just 1:05 after halftime to put the Red Raiders up 2-0.
"Even though some say 2-0 is the most dangerous lead in soccer, I'd still rather be up two because I'm confident my teammates will not allow someone to get three goals on us," Jakubowski noted with some irony since South is the only team to have done so against Huntley in the last three seasons. "Ally gave me a great ball to work with and seeing the goalie closing down the near post I was able to slot it far side."
That marked Jakubowski's 29th goal of the year and 11th match-winning strike.
"Either we find (Taryn) or she finds the ball but her ability to hold the ball and create space to work from is unmatched," Huntley coach Kris Grabner said. "At the same time we decide three stars for every game, and we use those to determine our MVP for the season. After the match I named eight players to (longtime assistant) Matt (Lewandowski) who could be one of the three stars; it was that kind of team effort today. Just about everyone we put out there stepped up during this match.
"Brady (Ceh), Tori (Padal), Madison (Doty), and especially Erin (Gaitsch) keeping (Brandie Minogue) from attacking on the left," Grabner noted. "We said defense would be key in that we needed to shut down (Jessica) Schoenfeldt and we at least limited her. She's a great player, especially in the air."
Almost single-handedly picking up the offense for the Gators was defender Jenna Ross. The junior already committed to Loyola cracked a 39-yard cannon shot from the left side and the direct free kick found the upper right 90 with 25:19 still to be played.
"I knew we had the wind and being down two, there was nothing to lose," Ross said of her third goal for the year.
However, three of her next free kicks created drama requiring Red Raider goalie Paige Renkosik to either make a save or a defensive catch. Signed by South Carolina's Limestone College, Renkosik was kept particularly busy over the last seven minutes. With 5:42 remaining, South's Samantha Sisto put a ball on frame that required a highlight-reel worthy tip save.
"With the wind behind them I definitely had to judge the ball correctly each time they sent it in," Renkosik admitted. "Beating them is a little more special but getting a third straight sectional should help our confidence that much more. We've been there before so Tuesday we just need to take down another top team."
"Give a ton of credit to Huntley," South coach Jay Mueller said. "They fought harder because we had beaten them, but we also did fight to the end. I'm most pleased with how we came together as a team after losing three straight in the PepsiCo (tournament). Since that time we showed great chemistry and everyone knew they had each other's backs. So much of that stemmed from our seniors: Brandie (Minogue), Katherine (Siavelis), Jennifer (Luken) and Samantha (Sisto)."