Conant strikes fast in 1-0 sectional win over Geneva

Their work done and a 1-0 victory over Geneva secured, Conant's prom-going players had one thing on their mind - hurrying home to prepare for a night of dancing.

So they didn't have much though of gathering around coach Jason Franco to debrief the Class 3A Bartlett sectional title they just achieved in mid-afternoon at Millennium Field.

Franco reminded them that two minutes wasn't going to mess up anything.

And yet two minutes was all it took to mess up Geneva's plans for the contest and to win the game. The game-winning move came just over one minute into the contest when Brenna Fitzpatrick sent a short pass from the left wing on the ground into space in the penalty area. Alyssa Stylski met the ball and hit it back toward the left post, wrong-footing the Geneva defense and goalie. The ball rolled in at that post - and Conant (18-1-4) had all the scoring they needed on this day.

"We knew we had to come out in the first 10 minutes and punch one in early," Stylski said. "Hopefully, we'd get their heads down and get one in early."

Geneva (11-8-3), which conquered top seed St. Charles North in the semifinals, struggled to make inroads against Conant for much of the match.

"I'm really proud of the team for being able to make it this far," Geneva senior Emily Hinchman said. "I know Geneva's had a really strong program in the past and I think a lot of people doubted us this year. But I'm really happy to show that we have a lot of talent."

The Cougars proceeded to boss the first half, moving the ball confidently on Millennium Field's artificial turf. In Stylski, Conant had a threat all afternoon. Playing on the right of the Cougars three-player forward line, Stylski frequently got around the defense to the end line and sent the ball back into the penalty area.

"Knowing that we had that was a good start," Stylski said. "We wanted went off from there."

But for all that approach work, Conant was unable to score again. So when Geneva increased its tempo at the start of the second half, the outcome was suddenly in some doubt again.

A sequence of long throw-ins deep in Conant territory led to one potential chance, with the ball bouncing in the penalty area and Madeline Tennant unable to control.

The midpoint of the second half returned to stalemate again, and then Geneva hit the accelerator one final time with a half-hour to play. The driving force was Hinchman, who had one shot blocked and hit another shot over the bar after Megan Spear and Catherine Allon collaborated on the left wing.

The game finished in a wide-open flurry. Stylski threatened with crosses for Conant, Hinchman hit a free kick just over the bar and Spear had another shot cleared.

Sammie VanDelinde had a chance to ensure the victory in the final minute, but put a Stylski pass over the bar from inside the 6-yard box. The whistle blew shortly after and the 1-0 lead held for 78 minutes and left the Cougars as winners - and into the last eight of the girls soccer tournament for the first time in school history. Conant plays Barrington on Tuesday in Barrington for a spot in the state finals.

"This is the first time, I think, that Conant's ever done it, and I'm really glad we can be a part of it," Stylski said.

Geneva's young team got better as the season progressed, especially in its playoff run.

"We started and not everyone knew each other," Hinchman said. "But in the practices and through the games - especially when we had good games - we saw how well we could play as a team. As the season went on, we got more confidence."