Girls soccer: Timothy Christian edges Lisle, earns repeat trip to state

Timothy Christian advanced to its second straight Class 1A state tournament appearance following its 2-1 victory over Lisle in River Forest to win the Dominican University supersectional Monday.

The Trojans (14-5-1) will face Father McGivney Catholic from Glen Carbon (22-2-3) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in a state semifinal contest at North Central College in Naperville.

The Trojans conceded an early goal to the Lions (15-4-1) when sophomore Lily Rocha netted her 25th of the season at six minutes.

However, Nate Drye's club would equalizer in the 27th minute on a Kylee Zielke goal, her 18th of the season. They then found the eventual game-winner just after the intermission with Lydia Kwak scoring in the 49th minute.

The Trojans finished fourth a year ago with a 16-5-2 overall record.

"It certainly helps having players who have been through these moments before, but experience doesn't automatically make you calm," said Drye.

"We had a pretty nervy start in our sectional final, and it took us awhile to settle into the game. (But) teams that can manage the messy part tend to stick around at this time of the year."

This will be the fifth trip to state for the Trojans in program history, while the Lions, who lost a year ago in their sectional semifinal, were looking to return for the first time since 2009, when they finished fourth.