Wheaton Academy 2, St. Francis 0
Leah Fortune started Wednesday's Class AA St. Francis girls soccer regional opener with a cast protecting a broken finger on her left hand, and the Wheaton Academy junior left with her right thumb bandaged, matter-of-factly speculating the thumb might be broken.
Again.
Fortune paid the price, but her 65th-minute goal broke a scoreless tie and sent the Warriors into Friday's regional final with a 2-0 win in Wheaton. Sixth-seeded Wheaton Academy will play No. 3 York, an 8-0 victor against Willowbrook.
As physical as the game was -- and neither team seemed to mind it, Fortune included -- it also was a back-and-forth match in which the ball rarely stopped in the midfield and goalkeepers daydreamed at their peril.
"I like that kind of game," St. Francis coach Tim Dailey said of the physical play. "It's part of the game and the officials let us play. I have no problem with any of that. I think that works well. It lets the kids do what they do best, which is play. We saw good skill tonight, we saw a physical game, we saw a lot of running. To me that's what the game is all about."
Ultimately, it was speed and skill that determined the result.
Becca Long sent a long ball out of the midfield to Jenn Lee at the corner of the Spartans' penalty area. Lee played a square ball to Fortune about 15 yards directly in front of the goal. Fortune turned right, then pivoted back to the left before burying a left-footed shot to make the score 1-0.
"Someone was on me the entire game," Fortune said. "I just had the opportunity in the box. Just did a pullback and got her to go the other way and just tucked it far post. It's the only thing I had."
Fortune figured prominently in the second goal also, heading a Christi Ditrich corner kick back toward the St. Francis goal. It deflected off a St. Francis defender and into the net.
"We're very proud of the girls," Dailey said. "I can't be too upset about a player of (Fortune's) caliber doing what she does."
"It was a good game," Wheaton Academy coach Dave Underwood said. "It was a fun game to watch. I tell you what, they're the best 11 seed I've ever seen. They are a good team, and we knew they would be good."
Although Wheaton Academy (14-6-2) had a consistent edge in shots and possession, St. Francis (15-6) never backed down from the Warriors. The Spartans did tire late in the game, however.
"It was more the kids were just physically exhausted," Dailey said of the two late goals. "I think everybody has a lot of endurance at this point in the season, but boy, those kids were running so hard. Both teams. They were all pretty tired."