Boys soccer: Franklin's late goal sends St. Edward to state
A.J. Franklin has scored his share of goals - 69 and counting - this season for St. Edward's boys soccer team.
However, chances are none were bigger than the one he scored Tuesday night.
Franklin, a 6-foot-3 senior forward, drilled a 25-yard free kick past Francis W. Parker keeper Chase Heyman with 3:33 remaining to help lift the Green Wave (26-1) to a thrilling 2-1 Class 1A supersectional triumph at Benedictine University in Lisle.
St. Edward will take on Monmouth-Roseville in the 7 p.m. state semifinal Friday at Eastside Centre in East Peoria.
The game-winning goal came just 24 seconds after the Colonels (11-9-3) had notched the equalizer on Dylan Jung's penalty kick.
"That is that team," said Green Wave coach Tim Brieger. "A man goes down for us when Eric (Puquirre) got the PK called on him. His teammates all just looked at him and said, 'Eric, it's not your fault - we're doing it.' "
"It stinks because a freshman committed the foul and I felt really bad for him," said Franklin. "Everybody was like, 'what are we going to do now?' "
Franklin answered the call a few moments later when his lethal left-footed blast found the back of the net, something his coach has seen many times before.
"When A.J. lined that kick up, I was standing next to (team members) Peter Cholewa and Marc Stasinski," said Brieger. "I could tell by the way he was standing. I just said, 'it's in,' and I walked away. It was amazing."
Franklin displayed a great deal of experience and patience as he calmly calculated the late free kick.
"That's what coach (Brieger) told me right when we got the foul," said Franklin, who is now 2 goals from tying the single-season state record of 71 set by Gordon Tech's Robert Meschback in 1976.
"He said, 'take your time and line it up right.' That's what I did and it paid off. That was by far the best (goal). It was sensational. It was a great feeling after I hit it. All season, I couldn't shoot a free kick. This time, I just hit it perfectly right into the bottom corner."
"That's the one we'll remember," said Brieger. "That's the shot heard around St. Eds."
St. Edward grabbed an early 1-0 lead on Will Gaston's header of a free kick from Joshua Johansen in the 9th minute.
That score held up until the frenetic final 4 minutes.
"I don't know how and I don't why but we're going to state," said Brieger, who praised senior outside back Adam Davis, Gaston and Johansen for their game-long efforts.
"Adam played the game of his life there in the second half. Josh tweaked his groin a little bit but he played outstanding, and Will just did everything we asked of him."
Sophomore keeper Evan Sajter recorded 7 saves as the Green Wave earned its first state trip.
St. Edward, which lost a 1-0 supersectional decision to Normal U-High last season, is ready to bring home some state hardware.
"I think it's time for redemption," said Franklin. "I think we're going to win it."