Cary-Grove stuns Rockford Boylan in sectional semifinal
ROCKFORD - Cary-Grove defender Beth Hughes had no idea if she was going to get a foot on the ball.
The sophomore sprinted from across the goal box to try and get a foot, leg or any other body part on Abby Reed's wide-open shot on goal.
Hughes managed to slide in the nick of time and stop Reed's attempt, which would have given Rockford Boylan a 3-2 lead in the second half of Tuesday's Class 3A Boylan sectional girls soccer semifinal.
Hughes' effort on defense led to Taylor Mahoney's game-winning goal 15 seconds later, putting Cary-Grove in a sectional championship game for the first time since 1998 with the 3-2 victory at Titan Stadium.
"I was just hustling as fast as I could," Hughes said. "It was a nice shot. I could have kicked it in."
Cary-Grove (15-7-1) will await the winner of tonight's Barrington vs. Huntley sectional semifinal to see who it will face on Saturday for the sectional title. The Huntley-Barrington game was originally scheduled to follow the Cary-Grove game Tuesday, but was moved until today at 6 p.m. due to weather delays.
The slow rolling field - the game was delayed 1 hour and 40 minutes due to thunderstorms and lightning - bought Hughes some extra time to get to Reed's kick.
The play was set up when Boylan's Brea Edwards drew Trojans' goalkeeper Paige Lincicum (5 saves) out of the box. Edwards quickly dished the ball out to a wide-open Reed on the right side of the net.
But Reed's shot sank in the soggy field.
As soon as the ball was cleared, Mahoney drove the ball down the field and set up a line-drive shot past Boylan goalkeeper Kiley Beck to give the Trojans the 3-2 lead with 10:20 left in the game.
"It's sheer effort," Trojans' coach Raymond Krystal said of Hughes' play. "It's that type of game. Each team made adjustments, it was who's going to find that finish."
Sophomore Korey Kronforst finished the first half.
The sophomore had a goal and an assist within a 19-second span in the final 3 minutes of the first half to give C-G a 2-1 lead at halftime. Kronforst dished a pass to Allie Simon, who then crossed the ball from left to right on the ground to tie the game at 1-1 with 2:26 left in the first half. Then just 19 seconds later Kronforst dribbled the ball down and drilled a shot from the top of the goal box straight past Beck (4 saves).
"When Allie Simon got that goal it was a big intensity charge," Kronforst said. "Then I came back. Whenever there is a big play, our intensity level goes up."
Boylan (19-3) got goals in each half from Moriah Schwarz. The junior gave Boylan a 1-0 lead in the first half and then tied the game at 2 in the second.