Girls soccer: Hononegah ends Crystal Lake South's season
Crystal Lake South has had a year of tremendous experiences, unfortunately for the Gators, the underdog Rockton Hononegah had one advantage.
Tuesday's Class 3A Huntley girls soccer sectional semifinal was South's first shootout and it was the third for Hononegah. Throughout regulation plus the two 10-minute overtime sessions, the Gators were seemingly on the verge of victory several times.
The same applied to the shootout until it reached sudden victory status with the sixth shooter. That's when Julia Barenbaum shared the hero role with diminutive goalie Alyssa Darling as they gave the Indians a 3-2 shootout edge for the 1-0 victory. The loss lassoed the Gators' historic year and the school record 19 wins is now followed by two losses and one draw.
The win guaranteed Hononegah - the No. 2 seed among nine schools in the upper portion of the Huntley sectional - a winning record by improving to 11-9.
While South - the No. 1 seed in the upper portion - won the Fox Valley Conference title, it'll be up to Huntley to carry the league banner versus Hononegah in Friday's 5 p.m. championship. The Red Raiders defeated the Trojans 1-0 in Tuesday's second semifinal.
"It's a shame to go out like this, but I would never trade this year or this group for anything," CLS senior tri-captain Jessica Schoenfeldt said. "Like the season, this was a roller-coaster ride with ups and downs. There was definitely frustration building and not getting a goal was really aggravating. Unfortunately this was one time our finishing was not on."
South compiled a 28-5 advantage for overall attempts and an 18-1 edge in shots on goal during regulation. The Gators boosted those tallies going 9-0 (attempts) and 6-0 (shots on goal) through the extra 20 minutes.
Abigail Wiegand began the shootout with a strike to the right while Hononegah overshot the goal. However, Indians' goalie Darling then made a block prior to Gator keeper Annika Sevcik getting a stop.
Schoenfeldt nailed South's third attempt inside the left post before Hononegah scoring leader Brynn Jacobi did the same. Leading 2-1, the Gators' fourth shot was snuffed and the fifth attempt was wide left. The latter could have potentially ended it because Hononegah's fourth shooter was thwarted by Sevcik.
That brought everything down to the Indians' last attempt and Darling stepped to the spot and converted for a 2-2 draw to extend the shootout.
Darling managed a block on Taylor Bittenbender's attempt and then Barenbaum tallied the decisive conversion.
"Having been in shootouts before gave us a little more confidence we could handle this one," Barenbaum said. "Watching my teammates' shots and how well their keeper handled the ones in the air, I was determined to keep it low and hard."
Sevcik got a hand on the ball, but it wasn't enough to deflect it wide and Hononegah can now aim for more history. After opening the year with five straight losses, the Indians got a first win over Northern Illinois 10 Conference powerhouse Boylan thanks to a shootout. Another shootout was one of two follow-up losses in a 1-7 start. Then came a seven-match win streak before two more losses in a Wisconsin tourney.
Hononegah then won a regional plaque for the first time since 2011 and advances to a sectional final for the first time since 2008.
"The confidence from those previous shootouts could be seen in that we didn't drop our heads despite South having at least two opportunities to win," coach Jay Bigwood said.
"Hononegah had a great defensive effort," South coach Jay Mueller said. "We got a little bit frustrated as the match went on and you could see their confidence increase. We controlled the whole game but just couldn't capitalize.
"It's hard to be disappointed with the overall season, but tonight stings. Last year was the first time we won conference plus a regional, so doing it back-to-back is another accomplishment," Mueller added.
"Breaking the school record for wins proves it's been a great year," the Gators' Courtney Sengstock said. "We were obviously hoping for a longer postseason, but the manner in which this team worked together is something we can all be proud of."