Late goal lifts Larkin to regional triumph
Crash the net and good things happen.
Adhering to that rule helped No. 16 Larkin defeat No. 19 Glenbard North 1-0 in the waning seconds of the Class 3A Larkin girls soccer regional play-in game at Memorial Field in Elgin Friday.
After a Glenbard North player was red-carded with 21.5 seconds to play in a scoreless match, Larkin senior Kelli Johnson sent a direct kick from just inside midfield through traffic and the ball squirted toward the Panthers' goalkeeper.
Wet from a day's worth of heavy rains, the ball slipped out of the keeper's grasp, and freshman forward Wendy Guadarrama scored on a turnaround shot with 13.8 seconds left to lift the Royals (6-13-2) to the victory over Glenbard North (2-18).
Larkin advances to face No. 3 seed Bartlett in a regional semifinal on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
"I was like 'Oh my gosh,'" Guadarrama said of seeing the suddenly loose ball at her feet. "I didn't even think. I just grabbed the ball, turned around, kicked it and it went in. This feels awesome. It's great. I'm shaking I'm so excited."
Guadarrama was following the always-crash-the-net rule her coach stresses.
"That's what we've been trying to instill in the girls - a play is never finished," Larkin coach Ken Hall said. "You go hard and if she drops it, you've got a good opportunity on the rebound. It worked out for us there at the end."
The referee said after the match the ejection was issued because his linesman witnessed a Glenbard North player "strike a player after a hard foul." The Panthers objected to the red card.
"It's a horrible way to lose, especially on a horrible decision like that," Glenbard North coach David Stansfield said. "It was not right. To be consistent, give both girls a yellow card and use some common sense and then it's done. But to card our player with a straight red was not right.
"I couldn't ask any more than our players gave. They played extremely well. In a sense it's been one of the stories of our season. We created more chances than we've made in several games. They gave 100 percent again. I'm really proud of them."
Glenbard North outshot the Royals 13-5, but Larkin keeper Anna Goodlove thwarted every attempt, including a prime opportunity 13 minutes into the match. Senior Brittney Taylor split two Larkin defenders and launched a shot, but Goodlove deflected the attempt with a diving, two-handed save.
The rebound came to Panthers senior Sarah Malatt, but Goodlove recovered and slid to smother a second attempt.
"I didn't think about it too much," Goodlove said. "That's what you have to do. You just have to go and get it done, and I got it done. When I think about it too much it doesn't come to me."
"We've struggled a bit with our record this year, but she's clearly been our best player all year long," Hall said of Goodlove. "She showed it tonight. She made some great saves to keep us in it in the beginning, and everything was real solid after that."
Jacobs 2, Prairie Ridge 1: Molly Leopold and Kristen Smith scored goals for Jacobs as the Golden Eagles (11-10-2) won the play-in game of the Class 3A Crystal Lake South regional. Becca Reitz had PR's goal. Alyssa Barnard made 10 saves in goal for Jacobs and Kylie Humm stopped 7 shots for the Wolves. Jacobs advances to play top seed Huntley at 4 p.m. Monday.