Girls soccer: Lisle gets its revenge, wins Class 1A sectional title

The Lisle girls soccer team was enjoying a terrific season heading into Saturday morning’s Class 1A sectional championship game.

Especially on the back line.

The Lions used an extremely stingy defense to storm to a 14-3-1 record heading into their match against Illinois Central Eight rival Herscher, conceding only seven goals all season while posting 13 shutouts.

One team they hadn’t been able to solve, however, was the Tigers. Herscher had given Lisle its worst loss of the season, 3-0, on April 30.

That all changed under hazy skies on the Benedictine University pitch in the title contest.

Lisle completely shut down Herscher, a team that had scored 116 goals on the year, to win 1-0 and take the crown.

Senior Rena Riley and the rest of the Lions defense were outstanding in the 10 a.m. start. Lisle defender/forward Sophia Gustafson said she was dedicating the win to the Lions senior class.

That group, according to the current Lisle roster, includes Riley, Haley Duban, Kirstie Mitchell, Emma Ryan, Elizabeth Solano, Kayley Hand, Jessenia Cabrias and manager Aalyah Oaxaca.

Gustafson, a sophomore, said Riley has been a mentor to her.

“This is amazing,” Gustafson said of the victory, “and Rena has been one of my biggest teachers on this team. It’s great to win this with her.”

Next up for the Lions will be Timothy Christian in a supersectional matchup Monday at 5 p.m. at Dominican University. The Trojans advanced to the Elite Eight by defeating Parker 4-1.

Another huge factor in the Lisle triumph was the performance of goalkeeper Claire Gurgone. The freshman made 8 saves, 5 in the second half, and more than a couple were spectacular.

“I kept my composure today, and our defense was able to do it,” said Gurgone. “It was all about the momentum we got from scoring the first goal of the game.”

Herscher, which finished with a mark of 21-3, had two top flight early chances in the first 20 minutes of play, but Gurgone shut down the shots by Sophie Venckauskas and Danica Woods with solid stops.

Lisle broke through in the 34th minute on a header from three yards from sophomore Liliana Rocha. The ball just curled in between the far post and the outstretched arm of Tigers keeper Adalynn Wilkins.

“Honestly it was about being in the right place at the right time,” said Rocha. “My teammates were able to bring it in with a nice cross, so I just had to get it done.”

That sent Lisle to intermission with a one-goal advantage and a ton of confidence.

“At halftime we talked about not being satisfied with one goal, we wanted to get another one,” Gurgone said. “We weren’t able to, but we kept calm.”

Herscher came out firing in the second stanza and had five shots on goal, but none got past Gurgone. Her best save came in the 63rd minute when she somehow blocked away a point-blank screamer from Tigers junior Gianna High.

Then came the chaotic final 10 minutes of the match, which were spent almost exclusively in the final third for Herscher as they pressed for the equalizer.

But despite the onslaught, the Tigers weren’t able to find the back of the net.

“I was very anxious (down the stretch),” said Gustafson. “I was up and down, I really didn’t know how to feel.”

Netminder Gurgone felt pretty much the same way, and credited her defensive teammates with making her job easier.

“It was really intense,” said the frosh keeper of the late game surge by Herscher. “Our defense has played so good the last two games, and really the whole season.”