Rosary goes 4 overtimes to win regional crown
Just when Rosary soccer coach Kevin Callahan started to work on his penalty kick lineup, his team found a way to end Friday's Class 2A Rosary regional championship.
Jaclyn Nelson found the back of the net with 5:31 left in the fourth overtime, ending a marathon match and giving the No. 8 seeded Royals a 3-2 upset win over No. 3 Oswego.
Rosary (11-6-3) will play in the Lemont sectional semifinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday against No. 2 seed Joliet Catholic, a 7-0 winner over Mt. Assisi.
"I was actually getting set up for penalty kicks," Callahan said. "I didn't think anything was going to happen. I would call it a fluky play. The thing I like is I had a follower (Nelson), that is something we have been striving to do."
That "fluky play" started when Christine Dickerson sent a ball long down the left side, causing the Oswego keeper to range far out of the net to try to play it. She got just a little touch of the ball, but Sam Duarte got most of it, sending a cross to Nelson, who found herself alone in front of the net to poke the ball in.
"Sam was real aggressive, the goalkeeper came out and Sam just took it from her," Nelson said. "I just happened to be there. I was so excited for our team because we haven't won regionals in awhile."
Rosary's last regional title came in 2005.
"It's just one of those crazy plays, it's not the fault of the goalie, it's not the fault of the defense, it's just one of those things that happens and it fell on our side for a change," Callahan said. "I know how they feel. We've been there before."
Oswego coach Jamie Bartkowiak, whose team ended the season at 10-10-1, agreed with Callahan's assessment of the play. Her Panthers battled back throughout regulation.
Just five minutes into the game, Dickerson crossed to Duarte for the first goal. The Royals led for most of the first half until Oswego's Austin Wilson scored the first of her 2 goals for a 1-1 halftime tie.
Rosary went back up with 33:25 remaining in the second half on Kallie Renfus only to watch Wilson score 31 seconds later to make it 2-2.
That's the way the game stayed through the end of regulation, and also after three 10-minute overtimes. Both teams saw players go down with injuries, while Rosary keeper Sarah Butz made a couple highlight saves to keep the score tied.
"It was a tough game out there," Callahan said. "Maybe the referee was letting things get a little bit rough on both sides. You play 120 minutes of soccer almost you are going to take a beating."
"We worked our butts off and I really think we earned it," Duarte said.
The Royals will be underdogs again Tuesday in the sectional semifinals, but they'll bring the confidence from knowing they just eliminated the third seed.
"At the start of the game we were a little intimidated knowing they are in front of you in ranks," Nelson said. "But you just have to step up and play your hardest and what happens, happens. I really think we earned that game."