St. Francis 3, St. Edward 2
St. Francis had yet to score from a dead ball this season.
Although enjoying a stellar season, getting the ball in the net off of a free or corner kick just hadn't been there.
Unfortunately for St. Edward, St. Francis picked Wednesday to establish its dead ball plays. The Spartans scored 2 of their 3 goals from dead ball plays, including a massive momentum-shifting goal in the second half to take a 3-2 Suburban Catholic Conference girls soccer game in Elgin.
"We did really well with our dead balls," Spartans' coach Tim Dailey said.
It all started with junior midfielder Samm Mammoser. The junior's corner kick allowed Molly Coyle to get the go-ahead goal with 15:50 remaining, just 3 minutes, 8 seconds after St. Edward (6-3-1, 2-2) had tied the game at 2.
Mammoser's pass to Coyle gave St. Francis (9-3, 2-0) the final push to hold off St. Edward. Mammoser used a first-half free kick pass to Crossley Simmons to pick up the Spartans' first goal from a dead ball with 3:27 left in the first half. Simmons's goal tied the game at 1 after the Green Wave had scored in the game's first 10 minutes.
"St. Edward was always there," Mammoser said. "We knew that Montini beat Marian Central last night, so anyone could win the conference. We wanted to win."
The dead ball was not just favoring St. Francis.
Senior midfielder Bianca Ramirez looked like she had the tying goal for the Green Wave with 3:23 left in the game, but Spartans' goalie Kate Dorman made a leaping punch to knock the ball out of the net and preserve the win.
St. Edward was feeling pretty confident after Colleen Kerger tied the game on a free kick with 18:58 left to play. Kerger's kick came seconds after Brittany Brozek had driven the length of the field and made a tough shot on goal.
"We felt like we had the adrenaline rush," said Brozek, who had an assist to sophomore Kristi Kuczora in the first half. "We were evenly matched throughout the whole game. They tied it and we tied it. We felt like we could (win)."
St. Francis took a 2-1 lead when Simmons (unassisted) nailed her second goal of the game just 4 minutes, 41 seconds into the second half.
St. Edward was playing without starting outside midfielders Shelby Shepherd, who injured her knee against Indian Creek, and Maggie Duggan, who was out with an illness. Missing two starters, threw off the Green Wave's rotations.
"We played really well," St. Edward coach Tim Brieger said. "I thought that we had a couple of other shots, but we were really gassed not having the two outside mids."