Girls soccer: Timothy Christian shut out in Class 1A semifinals, will play for third place

Timothy Christian knew it had to get off to a strong start against Father McGivney of downstate Glen Carbon during Thursday’s Class 1A semifinal at North Central College in Naperville.

When Griffins senior midfielder Sophia Rossetto picked up a loose ball and turned it into a 32-yard shot that she deposited into the back of the net just 1:32 into the action, that was exactly what Trojans coach Nate Drye was worried about.

That early goal proved to be too much to overcome, and the Trojans never recovered in a 4-0 loss.

They’ll return to action bright and early on Friday, facing Johnsburg in the third-place game at 9:30 a.m.

“It was obviously not the way we wanted to start,” Drye said. “I know it was on our half way more than we would’ve liked, but we kept our defensive shape and stayed in the game. They are so explosive and so fast, and they have so many players, and it sounds stupid but they can kick the ball so hard. They are just a constant threat.”

Despite that the Trojans were looking to go into halftime only trailing by the single score, but in the final minute Rossetto found Emerson Isringhausen with 44.1 seconds remaining and the junior midfielder, and daughter of former MLB reliever Jason Isringhausen, made it 2-0.

“That was another incredible shot,” Drye said. “If you would’ve asked me before the game if I would take going down 1-0, I would’ve taken that. That’s house money playing. But to get that second goal in that fashion. And we got stretched and we had to keep our shape, but when you’re trailing and not going to get a lot of opportunities, you have to commit people forward and we kind of did and they hit us on the counter and she hit that shot from no angle at full speed, a laser into the top 90 of the net. When you do that you just turn and walk away and say nice shot.”

Drye was pleased with how his team settled down in the second half.

“We started connecting and passing the ball more, but we got worn down and then they got us on a couple counters,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you lose 2-0 or 10-0, we’re going to try to win. So we committed people forward.”

Father McGivney (23-2-3) increased its lead to 4-0 in the second half with goals from senior forward Natalie Beck and freshman midfielder Kinley Dettmers.

“Once they scored we went a long stretch without them scoring and our goalkeeper Emily White played great,” Drye said. “The defense was solid and our two mids, Mia (Schilf) and Ella (Becvar) played really well and broke up play. (Father McGivney) was just better. They’ve got a lot of players and so much speed and skill. They are a handful.”