Girls soccer: Hersey clinches third straight MSL East title; Naperville Central hands Barrington 1st loss
Hersey would claim its third consecutive MSL East crown after its hard fought 1-0 victory Saturday afternoon over visiting Fremd at Roland Goins Stadium in Arlington Heights.
With its hands wrapped around the division trophy following back-to-back 7-0 victories over Wheeling and Buffalo Grove on Friday night,the Huskies put the squeeze on their closest rivals to advance into the 35th MSL Soccer Cup on May 14 in Arlington Heights.
Junior Gracie Lisota netted the winner in the 72nd minute when she unloaded a 30-yard free kick off of the bar and over the endline.
"I love my teammates, and I am so happy to help give our seniors another division title and a chance to win a conference championship at the Soccer Cup," said Lisota, who earlier in the week moved into second place overall in program history when she scored her 50th goal.
Lisota would pass former Hersey and University of Illinois star Hollie Schurr.
"It feels really good to win the division. We've had a really difficult schedule lately, but we've managed to stay mentally and physically strong during that time," added captain Kiki Craft, who will attend the University of Kentucky in the fall.
With the three points earned with this victory, the Huskies (9-6-2) are now 8-0-1 in league play, good for 25 overall points, thanks to their seventh consecutive win.
While the Huskies are finishing up a four-game stretch in its 12 days, the Vikings (8-5-3, 7-2-0-21 points) have just ended an exhausting 11 days that saw Gwen Zimmerman, Cami Tofilon and their teammates play 8 games, four or which were at the high profile Ed Watson Naperville Invite.
"I am real proud of our effort. We fought through the mental and physical toll these last 11 days to give us a chance to win. (But) when you give a great player like Gracie (Lisota) a chance, she's going to make you pay for it," said Zimmerman.
The Vikings junior was recently called up to play for the U-19 Wales National Team, and would turn in three 90-minute efforts during UEFA qualifying matches.
"We just have to get healthy, and do our best to recover from this tough schedule we just finished, and to remember that last year we had a great run in us in the postseason to a third-place finish at state," added Tofilon.
This MSL contest was fairly even all throughout the first half, with neither side conceding quality chances on frame as the defensive posture from both sides the reason for little success going forward.
The first 10 minutes of the second half were played mostly between the top of both boxes, with the best chance going to the Vikings (8-5-3, 7-2-0) when Lily Mayer played a lovely ball to Zimmerman who fired wide with her angled attempt.
Freshman Lexi Miyares would call Jazz Ocampo into action when she snap-shot from 22 yards, forcing a save from the Vikings keeper in the 50th minute.
The 1v1 battle between Lisota and Erika D'Angelo was a good one to watch, but there would be no way the visitors could stop the Lisota strike eight minutes from time.
"(Fremd) is such a strong side. They played us hard for 80 minutes, and we had our struggles to match their physical play, but as always, it's a strong senior group that we have that carried us through," said Hersey coach Mike Rusniak.
The Huskies will finish up regular season play with Rolling Meadows and Prospect next week, while the Vikings have Conant and Palatine at the annual Kinsella Cup to complete play in the MSL.
Class 2A state power Peoria Notre Dame will be in town for the season finale for both the Irish and Vikings on May 10. PND was third a year ago at the state tournament, earning its fourth state trophy in program history.
Naperville invite:
The 25th Ed Watson Naperville Invite final will played on Monday night with tourney host Naperville Central and reigning city champion Lane Tech meeting at 7 p.m.
The Redhawks, No. 1 for the last four weeks in the Daily Herald Top 20 poll, advanced following its 2-0 semifinal victory over Barrington Friday night, sending the Fillies (11-1-2) to their first loss of the season.
The Fillies are closing in on their 13th consecutive MSL West title, and can do so by defeating Palatine on Wednesday.
Callie Tumilty bagged the eventual game-winner in the 8th minute, before Nicole Sacek put the finishing touches on the Redhawks victory at 64 minutes.
"Naperville Central is deep, talented, and has a great player in No. 9 (Tumilty), one of the best I've seen all year," said Fillies coach Ryan Stengren.
This shutout victory is the 11th of the season for the Redhawks, and would extend their winning streak to seven.
Tumilty, Nicole Sacek, Emerson Burke and Rebecca Ruggiero found the net for Troy Adams’ club in its 4-1 quarterfinal victory on Thursday against Lincoln-Way East.
The Redhawks thrice have won this prestigious invite: 1999, 2006 and in 2012 when it beat crosstown rival Naperville North in penalties.
Lane Tech had beaten St. Charles East in its Ed Watson opener, and later Neuqua Valley 1-0 in quarterfinal play, before dashing the hopes of reigning 3A state champion New Trier of a second straight championship.
The Trevians (17-1-2) beat Benet Academy a year ago here.
Of the 24 teams at the tournament, 16 received at least a top four seed for the upcoming postseason. Barrington, Hinsdale Central, Lincoln-Way East, Metea Valley, Minooka and New Trier each was anointed the top seed in its respective sectional.