Girls soccer: Downers Grove North drops OT battle to Lyons in regional final

Zibby Michaelson remained on her knees as she raised two arms in the air to celebrate her goal.

She felt another emotion, too.

“It was just a huge sigh of relief,” said Michaelson, Lyons’ senior forward and a Mercer recruit. “Anytime I score a goal I throw my hands up and run to my teammates. I didn’t really have the energy to run to my teammates so I wanted for them to run to me. Huge sigh of relief.”

Michaelson and the Lions, turned away for 80 minutes by Downers Grove North senior goalkeeper Kelley Crowley as the sun beat down on the Lyons turf, finally broke through in overtime.

Freshman Abby McKenna and Michaelson scored goals less than four minutes apart in the first overtime. The second-seeded Lions went on to a 2-0 win over fifth-seeded Downers Grove North in the Class 3A Lyons regional final.

Lyons’ 13th straight regional title puts the Lions (16-2-3) into Tuesday’s sectional semifinal at Downers Grove South against another West Suburban Silver rival, Oak Park-River Forest. Lyons beat OPRF 4-1 on May 12.

But it was a grind to get there against a Downers Grove North team that Lyons had beaten 3-0 during the regular season.

“In the beginning it was frustrating. We were tensed up, playoff game, we definitely could have played better through the first 80 minutes,” Michaelson said. “It was hard because their defenders every time they got it cleared it long. Once we got the first goal from Abby it gave us momentum, definitely relieved the tension and we started playing freely.”

McKenna took advantage of a rare moment that Crowley was not standing in front of the goal to break the scoreless tie.

Lyons sophomore Lauren Salvino, right of the box, sent a cross in that Crowley went to the ground to attempt to smother.

But the ball remained free, and McKenna booted a shot into the opening with 8:01 left in the first overtime.

“She kind of played it in, the goalkeeper deflected it off, I deflected it behind me and I tapped it in. There was no one there,” said McKenna, whose goal was her third this season.

“The whole game [Crowley] had her hands up, she was ready and going for everything. The second I saw her down on the field, I was like this is it, I have to get it in, this might be my only chance.”

Michaelson made it 2-0 with 4:16 left, getting behind the Downers Grove North defense and side-stepping Crowley for her 16th goal of the season.

Lyons held a significant advantage in the run of play the final 20 minutes of regulation, and that energy carried into overtime. Michaelson had a shot caught by Crowley with 16 minutes left in regulation, and Crowley corralled Carolina Capizzi‘s header off a Michaelson corner with two minutes left.

Downers Grove North’s best scoring chances came on two free kicks and a corner early in the second half, and Olivia Watland’s free kick in the first half that was caught at the goal.

“Their offense, you could tell they came out with a different mentality late,” Crowley said. “They were not backing down. [Michaelson] did a good job setting the tone.”

The Trojans (6-14-2) likewise came out with a different mentality from the teams’ first meeting, and Crowley was a big reason why.

The Northern Michigan volleyball commit did not make many diving saves, but the 5-foot-10 Crowley kept her poise every time Lyons pressured the goal.

“It’s not going to help me if I get frantic when people are coming at me. I just try to stay as calm as I can,” Crowley said. “When I’m calm I play my best and I can react quickly and read the ball more.

“We just kind of went out with a chip on our shoulder. That was the best I’ve seen our team play all year. It was good to go out with a bang.”

Same for Crowley, too.

The four-year starter in volleyball had never played soccer until this spring, but looked like a seasoned veteran Saturday.

“My friends, they all play, so I was like let’s play. It was similar to volleyball, so it translated,” Crowley said. “I had a great goalie coach, she taught me everything. I came in literally knowing nothing, not knowing the rules. My teammates were supportive and encouraging.”