Girls soccer: West Aurora ousts Naperville Central in PKs for first regional title

An inability to finish plagued Naperville Central one more time Friday night, and now the Redhawks' season is finished.

A young West Aurora squad, on the other hand, had just enough offense to prevail 2-1 in penalty kicks after two overtime sessions ended 1-1. The sixth-seeded Blackhawks knocked off the No. 4 Redhawks in a Class 3A regional final at Naperville Central.

After falling behind 1-0 in the second half, a pair of freshmen helped West Aurora (18-3-2) draw even and eventually claim the program's first regional title after the Blackhawks converted a pair of penalty kicks while limiting Naperville Central to just 1 goal on five PKs.

Freshman Audrey Stephens, who scored the equalizer in regulation for the Blackhawks, added what proved to be the game-winner with a penalty kick that put her team on top 2-0. It came after West Aurora goalkeeper Bailey Ziman had opened the do-or-die round of penalty kicks with a pair of diving saves.

"It was very hard to calm down after everything that was happening," said Stephens, one of seven freshmen on the team's roster. "I just had to take a deep breath and take it. Then it felt very good."

Her goal with 18:46 left in the second half also felt good. It came after fellow freshman Olivia McPherson's flip throw caused a commotion in front of the Redhawks net. Riley O'Brien headed the pass to Stephens, who tied the score at 1-1.

"We were just trying to get the next goal," she said after Naperville Central had struck first on a score by Maddie Mills. "We knew we had a lot of time left and we just wanted to calm down and get the goal and just like take our time and try and get another one.

"The flip throw came in and then Riley (O'Brien) headed it in. I just tried to get a touch on it. It came right to me and no one was really marking me so I just tried to get it in."

Neither team scored in the first half but the Redhawks (11-8-4) owned a 7-1 advantage in shots on goal and Meredith McGuire nailed the crossbar less than five minutes into the game.

Naperville Central did finally get on the scoreboard when Mills converted on a well-struck corner from Maggie Hillman 13 minutes into the second half.

But the hosts couldn't maintain the lead or score again until PKs. The shootout saw Ziman make two big stops, two other Redhawks shots go wide, and the fifth and final attempt, with the season on the line, hit the post.

"It's just kind of hard to end on PKs," Mills said. "It was a good game and I think we could have found another goal before the end. I think both teams were playing more defensively in the overtime to make sure the other team didn't score and we didn't really get a chance to get one."

"We just don't have finishers. And when you don't have finishers every game is like this," Redhawks coach Ed Watson added. "We score on the corner, but the rest of our set pieces were wasted. We wasted a lot of opportunities on set pieces."

West Aurora was thrilled to advance.

"Getting those first two (stops) that just skyrocketed my confidence," said Ziman, the Blackhawks' senior keeper, who is looking forward to a sectional shot at No. 1 Naperville North at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Lockport. "My gosh, I am so happy. It's going to be fun."

West Aurora coach Laura Wagley hopes the historic win is only the beginning.

"This is the first one in forever," she said while clinging to the regional plaque. "We're hoping to build off this and turn our program name around."