Willows upsets Elgin Academy in regional final
Willows Academy is starting to make a name for itself. The unheralded Eagles upset top-seeded Elgin Academy, 4-3, to win the Class 1A Westminster Christian girls soccer regional in Elgin Tuesday.
The Eagles will play at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Harvard sectional.
Meanwhile, the Hilltoppers' 16 wins was the most in school history. They almost made it 17.
Trailing 4-1, the Hilltoppers scored twice in the final 16:06 to make it close. Lauren Steimle scored with 6:07 left to make it a 1-goal game, but the Hilltoppers couldn't get a shot at the tying goal.
"We probably had half a dozen chances to fold, to give up, and we didn't," said Elgin Academy coach Greg Repede. "We just kept battling to the very end. We're not a real deep team, so there were girls who played 80 minutes today. They played as hard as they could."
Becca Krupowicz, Maggie Walsh, Keelin McNally, and Justine Burgraff each scored once for Willows Academy, which had never won a soccer regional before.
Monica Hinderer was outstanding in goal for the Eagles. She made several acrobatic saves to keep the Hilltoppers off the board while Willows Academy (14-4-2) took a 2-0 halftime lead. She finished with 16 saves.
"I knew that Elgin (Academy) is a really good team, and I knew they weren't going to stop," said Willows coach Amy McMahon. "We had to throw everything at them, including the kitchen sink."
Goals by Krupowicz and Walsh gave the Eagles the early lead. McNally made it 3-0 when she got behind keeper Bianca Swegler, took a pass from Krupowicz and put it in.
The Hilltoppers finally got on the board on Steimle's penalty kick with 35 minutes left.
Burgraff's score on a breakaway appeared to be icing on the cake, making it 4-1 with less than 20 minutes left. But it proved to be critical.
Alyssa Pena scored from 15 yards out to make it 4-2 with 16:06 left.
Swegler stopped two good shots by McNally, and then the Hilltoppers' offense struck again on a pretty goal.
Emma Stone fed Steimle in stride, and she knocked it in from about 10 yards out.
Elgin Academy had some early chances, including a shot that hit the crossbar and caromed down, but Hinderer and the Eagles' defense kept the Hilltoppers off the board.