Johnson’s OT goal sends St. Edward to state
Junior defender Callie Johnson had never scored a goal in three varsity seasons for the St. Edward girls soccer team.
Her first — the goal she headed into the back of the net Tuesday, courtesy of a perfect corner kick from freshman Monica Ramirez — will be forever etched not only in the annals of St. Edward soccer history but in those of the city of Elgin.
Johnson’s header with 6:17 left in the second overtime of the Class 1A Hinckley-Big Rock sectional title match lifted St. Edward to a 2-1 victory over Rockford Lutheran. The win advances the Green Wave to Friday’s 7:30 p.m. state semifinal at North Central College in Naperville. They will face Alton Marquette, which defeated Columbia 4-1 to win the Edwardsville sectional.
St. Edward (14-7-3) is guaranteed no worse than a fourth-place finish in Class 1A, which means the Green Wave will return to Elgin this weekend with the first soccer state trophy in the city’s history, girls or boys.
“It’s the most amazing feeling,” Johnson said. “Not only for it to be my first goal ever but for it to be that kind of a goal. Oh, man. I can’t even believe this just happened. It feels like a dream.”
The goal was pure redemption for Johnson, who was moved up to the midfield by coach Tim Brieger and used to push the pace. She had a chance to end the game with 2:10 left in regulation. She took possession of a loose ball deep in the penalty area, eluded one defender and found herself one-on-one with oncoming Rockford Lutheran goalkeeper Olivia Cain. The shot off Johnson’s left foot, however, trickled just wide of the left post.
It was the second close-call in as many minutes for Cain, who made the save of the postseason a moment earlier when she smothered a point-blank rebound attempt by St. Edward’s Jordyn Madden.
“One of the most outstanding stops I’ve ever seen,” Cain’s counterpart Paige Gannon of St. Edward said. “She kept them in the game.”
“Jordyn had the rebound point blank right into the goalie’s gut, and for that goalie to make that save is phenomenal,” Brieger echoed. “I gave (Cain) a hug afterward because Jordyn should have had it. Heck, Callie should have had it right after that.
“Callie came off the field with her head down and said, ‘Oh my gosh, Brieger, I’m so sorry.’ I told her you just have to go back in and you have to do it again.”
Johnson did just that, thanks to Ramirez’s picture-perfect corner. The diminutive freshman measured the strong crosswind for a moment before she struck a floater that seemed to hang in the wind as it approached the gaggle of players camped in front of Cain’s net. However, the Rockford Lutheran keeper didn’t move from her line to challenge for the ball in the air.
Johnson took a few steps toward the floating ball as it approached, jockeyed for position between two defenders, jumped and angled the ball just inside the near post for the sudden-death game winner, which set off a raucous celebration for the Green Wave and their faithful.
“I wanted to get the ball a little further (away from the net) because the goalie could have jumped and gotten it,” said Ramirez, whose sister Bianca was a member of the St. Edward 2008 Class A Elite Eight team. “I saw it hanging up there and the wind pushed it. Then I just saw it shoot into the back of the net. It was unbelievable. Probably about the best feeling you’ll ever have.”
The victory goes down as a comeback for St. Edward, which fell behind 1-0 less than two minutes into the game. Rockford Lutheran’s Katrina Muther was taken down as she tried to turn the corner on a St. Edward defender near the end line. The result was a penalty kick for senior Paige Deppe, who buried the ball in the top-right shelf past St. Edward goalkeeper Paige Gannon, who stopped the other 4 shots she faced.
St. Edward tied the game with 18:04 left in the first half. Ramirez booted a free kick from just outside the box toward the left post. A diving Cain made the save to her left, but the rebound squirted to freshman forward Allison Kruk. She buried the chance with a defender draped on her to knot the match.
After that, both teams made runs, played tough defense, made critical saves when necessary and fought endlessly for possession in the midfield.
“Game of the century,” Brieger said. “I told their coach after the game that both teams deserve to go downstate. These were two teams with never-say-die attitudes. Both teams are exhausted. It’s a shame that only one of us gets to go.”