Wheaton Academy advances
Its play against Wheaton Academy was much better in Friday's rematch, but the result was all too familiar for St. Francis.
Despite again giving up an early goal to fall behind, Wheaton Academy controlled the action and came back for a 4-1 victory in the Class 2A Wheaton Academy sectional final.
The Warriors (19-3-2) will meet Lakes (16-7-1) at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Barrington supersectional. A win there sends the Warriors to the Final Four at North Central College next weekend.
"They came out playing a great game tonight," Warriors coach Scott Marksberry said of the Spartans. "They were a different team than the first time we played against them (a 3-0 Wheaton Academy win two weeks ago)."
The Spartans (22-4) looked much different early, taking a 1-0 lead at the 10-minute mark on an Ellie Sterner goal.
Wheaton Academy evened the score in the 14th minute when senior Jenn Lee cleaned up a loose ball in the St. Francis penalty area.
"They're just a little too strong," St. Francis coach Tim Dailey said. "They're much quicker than we are, much faster, more skilled and it just paid off. I mean, 1-1 at halftime, we thought it was a nice half for us, even though they had a lot of the play.
The Warriors took the lead for good in the 47th minute on a Becca Long blast from 23 yards.
"The coaches have been telling me to shoot more, because apparently I don't take enough shots," Long said. "
"What Becca does for our team, it's hard to find with other players," Marksberry said. "I often say she's the engine of our team. She's kind of the heartbeat of our team. She keeps us rolling the whole time. What Leah (Fortune) does people can't match, but what Becca does for our team is unbelievable."
The senior got her second goal of the night on a 56th minute penalty kick after Fortune was taken down in the penalty area. While Fortune recovered from her tumble, Long got the nod to take the PK.
"I haven't seen Becca miss one ever," Marksberry said.
Ally Witt scored the game's final goal.
"(The Warriors) should have won, they deserved to win, but we're really pleased with how our kids played tonight," Dailey said. "A huge improvement over two weeks ago."