Girls soccer: Hononegah takes out Huntley in PKs

Talk about getting hot at the right time of the season.

Hononegah, which clipped Fox Valley Conference champion Crystal Lake South 1-0 in a shootout Tuesday night bounced back three days later to defeat host Huntley 3-2 in a shootout to claim the Class 3A Huntley girls soccer sectional championship Friday night.

The game, which lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes, was played in a steady downpour.

Huntley had defeated Hononegah 3-1 in the Huntley Invitational March 29.

Hononegah (10-9-1) plays Barrington in the Barrington supersectional Tuesday at 6 p.m. Barrington defeated Warren 3-0 to win the Warren sectional Friday.

Huntley concludes the 2017 campaign with a 10-8-2 mark.

"We are a much different team from the first time we played Huntley," said Hononegah coach Jay Bigwood. "We have improved greatly and we are playing our best soccer in the playoffs. To beat South and Huntley in the sectionals is quite an accomplishment. We have great team unity and these girls totally deserve this sectional championship."

The Red Raiders seemed in good shape when Brenna Keegan scored off an assist by Hannah Scholer with 8:02 remaining in the contest to give the hosts a 2-1 advantage.

The Indians didn't quit as Claire Miller tallied her second goal of the evening off an assist from Brynn Jacobi with only 1:19 left in the contest to knot the score at 2-2.

After two scoreless 10-minute overtime sessions, the game was decided in the shootout.

Hononegah outscored the Red Raiders 4-2 in the shootout to win the sectional title.

Indian goal keeper Alyssa Darling, who made 2 saves in the shootout, actually scored the game-winning goal blasting a shot past Huntley keeper Abbey Brown.

Other goals in the shootout for the winners were Jacobi, Darling, Lauren Phillips and Erin Murcer. Keegan and Tayah Owens tallied goals in the shootout session for the Red Raiders.

"It seemed right that this game went to a shootout," said Huntley coach Kris Grabner. "Both teams played so hard. I totally respected Hononegah tonight. They have greatly improved since we played them earlier in the season. I can't say enough about this team. We are young and went through some growing pains. The seniors really led us all season and our juniors, sophomores and freshmen got better as the season went on. We got timely goals in the playoffs and our communication in the postseason was excellent."