Girls soccer: St. Francis comes up short in 2A state semifinals

Morton struck twice midway through the second half to ease into the Class 2A state final following its 4-1 victory over St. Francis Friday afternoon at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on the campus of North Central College.

The Spartans (12-5-0) will play for third place Saturday morning against Lemont (22-2-1) who lost to Crystal Lake Central in the first semifinal contest.

"I thought we came out really well, and outplayed a Morton team that obviously is very talented. But after that first goal we kind of put our heads down, which led to their second goal before the half," said Spartans coach Jim Winslow.

"(But) I felt really good about things after Megan's (Maertens) goal just after the break, but their depth was key, and, for us, we just didn't have enough to get back in (it) after they scored their next two goals."

The Spartans, who drew into the tournament against a high-flying Morton Potters (26-1-1) team that arrived on an 11-game win streak, and with 24 shutouts on its resume, had all of the play in the first 20 minutes.

Thanks to Harley Duraski, Caroline Kiesler, and Maicie Schweiner, the Spartans would control the middle of the park, while not allowing the Potters attack to create any quality chances.

Ava Thompson, Ashley Klein, and Duraski all had a go on frame for the Spartans, but as it happens so often in this sport, it would be the Potters who found the opener despite only having the ball for a short time.

Izzy Ripka's 25-yard blast went just inside the post in the 25th minute, and shortly thereafter, junior Claire Ceresa doubled the Potters advantage with her 37th goal of the season.

"We came out very strong, and in my opinion, were outplaying Morton right up until their first goal," said St. Francis captain Maicie Schweiner, who will attend the University of Tennessee in the fall, where she will pursue a degree in kinesiology, with the goal of becoming a surgeon.

"We talked about how important it was to get that first goal after the half, and when we did, I was feeling really good about our chances of turning this game around in our favor, but when we were unable to do so, they took over with their two quick goals," added Schweiner.

The Spartans, who were without their top goal scorer, Lorraine Surina (21 goals) to an injury, pulled one back when a sublime finish by Maertens, on an assist from Kiesler made it 2-1 at 48 minutes.

Some nice combination play from Molly Marks forced a save from Potters keeper Adly Hilt on an effort from Maertens would be the best opportunity of the half for the Spartans, who would concede twice at 60, and 65 minutes.

"It was tough not having Lorraine (Surina) out there in our attack, but the girls played hard, and with a lot of heart, and energy, but again, we lost to a very good team from Morton," said Winslow, who led the Spartans to a state title in 2018, the second in program history after 2012.