Columbia 4, Immaculate Conception 0

Sure, Columbia's attack was too much for Immaculate Conception to handle and yes, the Knights couldn't muster a legitimate scoring chance Friday.

Neither fact detracts from the upside of the 2008 season for the Knights -- a trip to the Class A state finals in only the fourth year of the girls soccer program's existence.

"We don't have any starting seniors," said Knights coach Brian Frank. "Not a whole lot of people gave us a whole lot of credit, but I kept telling people all year that we could do it."

After winning its first sectional title Monday, the Knights (10-10-3) took on a team in Columbia (13-5-2) on Friday that had a good core of skilled players and a fairly cohesive attack.

The result was a 4-0 loss at North Central College in Naperville, with the Eagles taking a 1-0 lead on a Marissa Juenger goal in the first half, and then getting a hat trick in the second from Taylor Byrd.

Knights sophomore goalkeeper Kelly Mulligan did everything she could under persistent pressure throughout the second half, making 10 saves on the day.

"If it wasn't for her, I think we would have lost by a lot more," said Knights junior Catherine Guido.

"Kelly has done a wonderful job this year," Frank said of the first-year keeper. "We've been working with her after practice, and I'm very proud of how far she has come."

The Knights postseason run included wins over Westmont and Indian Creek, which set up Monday's 2-1 sectional title win over Lisle.

The regular season also helped the Knights find more belief in themselves.

"We have a tough conference," said Knights junior Danielle Remy. "But this year a few of the schools that killed us last year, we were able to hold them to tighter games.

"That was hopeful for us, because we saw how much we improved from last year."

Playing on the state's biggest stage for the first time takes some acclimation, and the Knights had to fight off some early jitters.

"We were nervous at the start because this is the farthest we've ever gone," Guido said. "We didn't want to disappoint the school or ourselves, and in the second half we came out stronger.

"But our offense -- we couldn't really put it together."

Knights freshman Natalie D'Agostino led all scorers this year with 26 goals, while Guido had 10 goals and 10 assists and Remy notched 6 goals and 10 assists.

The trio accounted for 42 of 46 goals scored this year. Abigale West also chipped in 3 goals and 5 assists, and all four players will return next season.

"Everyone's coming back and we're getting a couple more freshmen with a lot of talent," Remy said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to keep building the program."