Hersey outlasts weather, Conant

It was worth the wait.

After sitting through a two-hour delay and postponement Wednesday — and another 90 minutes Thursday night — Hersey outlasted Mother Nature and Conant to capture the 22nd annual Mid-Suburban League Cup with a 2-1 win in Arlington Heights.

The victory gives the Huskies (14-5-1) their second girls soccer conference crown in history and first since 2008 when Brad Abel’s club defeated Fremd 2-0.

“We knew we didn’t want to play from behind to such a high-powered attacking team like Conant, so it was just so big when we scored first, then really worked as hard as we could to defend, and execute the game plan that we put together, and all I can say at this moment is (I am) so proud of all of them,” said Abel, who has brought his program to four consecutive appearances in the MSL Cup.

“It’s almost expected that a Hersey team will go to the Cup every year, and I can tell you that each one that we’ve gone to feels great, but maybe tonight feels a little bit better than the others,” said senior Maeva Waterman, who in her fourth and final championship match, proved to be a key figure in the Huskies victory.

“That was probably Maeva’s best match of the season,” began Abel. “She provided so much energy up top, and she likely helped create nearly every corner and set piece that we had, which helped keep the pressure on Conant (15-4-0) in its own end.”

“Three times we’ve gone a goal down this year, and on all three occasions, it was off of a dead ball opportunity that we’ve conceded,” offered the Cougars’ superb junior, Courtney Raetzman, who would help spark the visitors to life when they owned most of the possession in the final third, but, as a team, lacked the killer touch at the end to finish things off.

The early exchanges in this match were naturally cautious, with the home-side wary of Raetzman and her superb running mate up top, Kaitlin Chiero, with the Huskies/ backline reluctant to commit themselves from going forward — instead staying organized, and careful not to allow either Cougars’ star to turn.

“The plan was to keep both of them from turning, especially Raetzman, and I thought as the game went on, we continued to get better (defending) as a group all along the back,” said junior defender, Olivia Stasiuk, who was named MSL East player of the year when the league honored the all-conference team during festivities at intermission.

As they have continually down the stretch, the Huskies would find a way to get into the back of the net from a corner, and once again, it was the duo of Laura Gierman and Eileen Zydek who would be center stage.

Gierman, who provided one well-aimed corner after another all night long, sent an inward swinger to the back post, where Zydek would rise up and thump a header over the endline at eight minutes.

Conant would start to come into the game almost immediately, and appeared to have a chance to equalize when Chiero was hauled down inside the box in the 11th minute.

However, the Cougars bench howled in disbelief when the Huskies were thrown a lifeline as the center official didn’t budge in his call to play-on. The 1-0 lead stayed that way until 20 minutes, when lightning came through the area and shut down the match for close to 90 minutes.

Clear skies and humid temperatures would greet the two sides afterwards, and it was Conant that would start brighter than its opponent, with Sammi van de Linde having a go at Huskies keeper Erin Reiff. A nifty back heel flick from Raetzman from a Drew Wentzel feed the best the visitors could muster before the break.

“I can remember only 1-2 really good chances for Conant tonight, and one of them was their goal later on, so we did pretty much what we set out to do against them defensively,” said Stasiuk.

Conant head coach Jason Franco would try a few different looks in hopes of prying open the Huskies in their own end. He used three up top, and pushed his outside midfielders forward more consistently, but the home-side was winning balls in the middle, and staying compact when his club possessed deep — to frustrate and deny anything going forward.

“That’s what they do better than anyone else, and we knew it coming in, but it’s tough to play from behind when you’re against a team that is composed and drops numbers they way they do,” said Franco.

The Huskies would double their lead when Megan Boyle converted her spot-kick at 64 minutes after Stefanie Mueller was brought down inside the box on another Gierman corner. But the Cougars, to their credit, did not curl up and fade away.

“That was a legit PK, but if that was a PK, then Chiero’s should have been as well,” said Franco, who was quick to credit Hersey for its victory, despite the earlier call.

Raetzman would force Reiff to save her well-paced cracker at 68 minutes, then Chrissy Rosales and Hailey Andress provided the helper for an Ayssa Altosino shot on frame in the 73rd minute.

Van de Linde’s deft touch on a loose ball from 12 yards went past a diving Reiff at 75 minutes, but the Huskies stayed air-tight until the end, and would lift the Cup just moments after the final whistle.

“There were a lot of heroes tonight, and once again, it was a real team effort that led to this championship,” said Abel.