Girls soccer: Stackhouse's goal helps St. Charles East turn back Rolling Meadows
Rose Stackhouse sent St. Charles East through to Class 4A regional final after the No. 4-seeded Saints survived a big scare Thursday afternoon against No. 13 seed Rolling Meadows.
Stackhouse' late second-half goal gave the Saints a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the upset minded Mustangs (6-11-1) and a spot in Saturday's 3 p.m. final against regional host Conant.
"Playing with this unbelievable wind, and the conditions because of it, was really difficult for all of us," said Stackhouse. "But with everyone knowing this time of the year it's one and done, we did what we needed to do to get the win."
Both team tried to deal with a roaring wind that never stopped from the opening whistle. But it played havoc with any attempt at conventional soccer.
"Our style is to keep the ball on the floor, possess and play through our midfield - it was nearly impossible to do that today, especially with us not having Chantel (Carranza) out there playing," said Stackhouse.
The Saints' first-class midfielder was on the sidelines nursing an injury, leaving the playmaking and distribution responsibilities to Kaitlyn Dziubinski, Claire Rasmussen and Stackhouse for most of the contest.
The Mustangs had the advantage of having the wind at their back, but it was the Saints (9-4-6) who struck first at the end of a counter as Hannah Kolb broke free and finished as keeper Kelsey Nallon came off her line to challenge.
Katherine Perille brought the Mustangs back level with a thundering left-footed strike, which bent past Saints keeper Grace Griffin in the 34th minute.
"I thought we really gave them a run today, and for awhile we had our moments when we enjoyed the run of play in that second half - when they had the wind but we didn't really give them much in their attack," said Rolling Meadows coach Mike Drenth.
Nallon was called into action on three chances on frame in the second period, but the senior was unable to stop the Stackhouse game-winner, which came on the turn at 72 minutes, after Kolb provided the helper.
"We had to get something on goal with the wind at our backs, and when I got the ball and turned, I knew I had to try to put it at the keeper," said Stackhouse.
"It's a tough loss for us," said Drenth, "but I am very proud of the effort and heart the girls showed today, which is something all of them have done all year long. This has been a great bunch of kids to coach and be around, which has made the year a lot of fun for all of us."