St. Edward falls, Elgin Academy wins at Class 1A regional
Willows Academy scored early and late. St. Edward controlled most of the middle of the game, but it wasn't enough as the Eagles pulled out a 2-1 double overtime victory in the semifinals of the Class 1A Westminster Christian girls soccer regional in Elgin.
Willows (13-4-2) will face top-seeded Elgin Academy for the regional title on Tuesday.
Becca Krupowicz put in the game-winner with 20 seconds left in the second overtime.
"Halftime was needed and I just told them that they needed to dig deep," said Willows Academy coach Amy McMahon. "They worked to hard to let this not slip by."
The Eagles took control. Keelin McNally scored just 3 minutes into the game.
But the Green Wave defense, playing without senior sweeper Maggie Duggan, stiffened as the offense started to find its rhythm. Mallory Malone had a couple of scoring opportunities late in the first half.
After the break, freshman midfielder Kim Smith had a breakaway chance, but was stopped by keeper Monica Hinderer.
Smith tied the game for the Wave a few minutes later knocking in a rebound with just under 12 minutes to play in regulation.
After a scoreless first overtime, the Eagles got more aggressive and with time running out in the second extra period Krupowicz controlled a free kick by Maggie Walsh and directed it into the net.
"It just took a funny hop," said St. Edward coach Tim Brieger. "I think when it hit, it went dead and our sweeper and stopper both double clutched on it."
Minutes earlier, Willows had an apparent game-winning goal nullified on an offside call.
The Green Wave (5-18-1) won titles on this field the past two years, but with six underclassmen in the starting lineup they couldn't keep the run going.
Paige Gannon had 6 saves in goal for St. Edward.
Elgin Academy 6, Westminster Christian 1: In the first game at Westminster, Elgin Academy broke open a close game in the second half and defeated the hosts 6-1. The Hilltoppers scored 4 times after the break.
Lauren Steimle had 2 goals and 2 assists for Elgin Academy, Emma Stone had a goal and 3 assists, and Ashley Barnes added a pair of goals for the Hilltoppers (16-8-1).
Westminster's lone goal came on a penalty kick by Sarah Rodgers.
"We just came out excited and I think that's a big thing," said Steimle. "Sometimes we just start out flat and it seemed like everyone came out ready to play today."
Goals by Steimle and Barnes gave the Hilltoppers a 2-0 lead at the break.
Alyssa Pena scored 4 minutes into the second half and Barnes and Steimle followed with goals in the next 6 minutes.
"We thought it was going to be huge whoever got that third goal," said Steimle. "Obviously 3-0 is a big difference from 2-1. Once we got that third goal, that just set off the fireworks."
The Hilltoppers maybe peaking at the right time.
"This is quite possibly the best game we've played all year," said Elgin Academy coach Greg Repede. "We had 13 people play about as well as we can play."