Girls soccer: Huntley wins first outright Fox Valley Conference title since 2015
Back in March, Sophie Bator and her Huntley teammates felt they could accomplish something special this season.
The Red Raiders had built momentum toward the end of last season before eventually losing to Barrington in double-overtime in a sectional semifinal. Yes, Huntley lost some senior leaders to graduation, but as this year’s team came together during tryouts, Bator believed this could be Huntley squad that could make history.
On Tuesday, the dream came true.
The Red Raiders put together a complete performance to beat Burlington Central 6-1 and win the outright Fox Valley Conference championship, the program’s first since 2015.
“I think it’s really a testament to what we’ve worked hard for, the coaching points that we’ve gone through and the little changes we made along the way,” Bator, a senior, said. “Just all the effort that all of these girls have put in this whole year to be the best we can be.”
Huntley (15-1-3, 9-0) put together its best performance in a match it needed to. The Red Raiders had already won at least a share of the FVC title entering the night, but they controlled their own destiny of winning it all with a win Tuesday.
With the wind at their back, Huntley looked determined from the start. The Red Raiders created three corner-kick opportunities and two shots on goal in the first four minutes.
After coming close to scoring, senior Maddie Cummings broke through for Huntley. She faked out the Central defenders by pretending to go out. Instead she drove in unguarded and scored to give her team a 1-0 lead with 33:01 left in the first half.
“I feel like once we get one, we continue to build up,” Cummings said. “So I felt like it got us in the mindset to just keep going and run through them. I feel like we were just outworking them after that too.”
The Red Raiders kept up that same intensity for the rest of the match. Senior Sofia Burns knocked in a rebound with 23:24 left in the first half, while Bator made it 3-0 off a penalty kick with 38:25 left. Senior Brooke Maxedon scored twice in the second half, while junior Maizie Nickle added another.
Huntley finished with 15 shots on goal.
Tuesday was a big response for the Red Raiders after they suffered their first loss of the season to Hononegah on Saturday. Senior Jaci Laramie said she didn’t want to experience the feeling she had after Saturday’s loss ever again.
Huntley responded by putting together one of its better showings of the year.
“We have a really strong offense,” Laramie said. “We’re strong all around. It really shows that we can put in the goals, no matter who we’re going against, and we can defend. We can do everything.”
The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for Central (9-10, 5-4). Freshman Elsa Carlson scored late in the match for the Rockets, who created four shots on goal.
The Rockets have been looking for their identity for much of this season with a young squad. Coach Jessica Arenson was encouraged they could carry the good they learned into the playoffs.
“We’re going to learn some lessons, we’re going to go on our own path,” Arenson said. “We’re going to find our own way, I think. So hopefully we can do that with this team. We can kind of leave this behind us and take what we can from the game.”
The Rockets will start their postseason against Woodstock North at the Class 2A Sycamore regional on Wednesday, May 21. The Red Raiders start their title quest at their own Class 3A regional against Hampshire the same day.
Their strong belief in themselves helped the Red Raiders have a historic regular season. They’re not planning on changing that heading into the playoffs.
“I think we’re just going to try to continue this momentum into the playoffs and kind of keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Bator said. “Keep taking the coaching points that we’ve got and making them reality.”