Girls soccer: St. Viator once again ends Lakes’ season, upsets top seed

Even though she is a freshman, St. Viator’s Judith Saji never flinched.

The Lions’ goalkeeper overcame tons of adversity in double overtime. She then faced even more during penalty kicks.

And when it was over, Saji stood her ground as the fourth-seeded Lions stunned top-seed Lakes with a 3-2 decision decided by penalty kicks at the Class 2A sectional semifinals in Deerfield.

This is the fourth time in the last five years that St. Viator had eliminated Lakes in the playoffs. The Lions (12-11-1) will play for the sectional title Friday at 4:30 p.m. against Crystal Lake Central.

Saji was tall against 20 scoring attempts by Lakes (14-3), including three corner kicks in the final overtime session and a free kick in the final 10 seconds of the game.

Then after Lakes scored on their first two penalty kicks, she made a key stop. The Lions, who had evened the score at 2-2 in penalty kicks, took the lead for good as Lily Konopka tallied.

After a Lakes missed shot, Kalin McCrea drilled in a shot to send Viator back to the sectional finals for the first time since 2021.

“It is a tough position, but I know my teammates have my back no matter what,” said Saji, who had 7 saves. “I watched film. I think it an important part. I saw some film on them taking PKs during the season. They were good PKs but I knew them already, so I think that helped.”

McCrea, who is a sophomore, was able to send the game into overtime with her goal in the 65th minute. She knocked in a rebound off a shot by Frankie Drake after a sweet deep feed by Emma Mikrut.

“Every time we have a free kick my goal is just to get in there and try to get my head on it,” McCrea said. “This time I just made it.”

Lakes got the only goal in the first half. Leah Rojas scored an unassisted goal on a shot into the upper right corner.

The Lions, which had lost to Lakes exactly two weeks ago 1-0, were able to tie it in the 52nd minute on a goal by Ava Sciafini.

Lakes regained the lead five minutes later. Hannah Rojas took a pass from Heidi Mueller to put the Eagles up 2-1. Viator was then able to fight back to tie the game on McCrea’s goal.

“They always bring their ‘A’ game when we play them,” St. Viator coach Byron DeLeon said. “It helped that we played them this year because we know how they play. We wanted to keep the ball away from the side that No. 4 (Ella Sager) plays on. She is a very strong player. And we scored both our goals on the other side.”

Lakes coach Kevin Kullby said he was very proud of the effort his team had Tuesday and all season.

“It is unfortunate because we played really well at times tonight,” Kullby said. “Give their goalie credit, she came up with some big plays. It was great season for us.”