Girls soccer: St. Francis claims spot in state semifinals
For all the impressive things St. Francis did in its 2-0 Class 2A Hinsdale South supersectional win over Marist, perhaps the crowning achievement was something the Spartans didn't do, which was never allow their opponents a hint of a rally.
Ahead 1-0 at halftime through an Erin Peck goal, St. Francis shut the door, allowed only one long range free kick shot on goal, which was easily caught by Spartans goalkeeper Tammy Syron. But for the rest of that second half, St. Francis' midfield set a barricade midway into their defensive half and only rarely let the RedHawks through.
As a result, when McKenzie Douglass latched onto a loose ball late in the half and scored, the Spartans were well on their way to victory.
"We knew that going into this, it could be our last game," St. Francis senior Molly Doran said. "We knew that if we could win, we could keep playing, and that's what we wanted to do."
The win was St. Francis' 10th in a row and earns the Spartans their second girls soccer trophy. St. Francis coach Jim Winslow guided the school to the 2012 Class 2A title.
St. Francis (17-3) faces Deerfield in the Class 2A semifinals at 11 a.m. Friday. Sycamore and Rochester meet in the other semifinal at 1 p.m. The Spartans have been solid for the last five years, and have lost a pair of supersectionals, including one a year ago to Lemont at Hinsdale South.
"Last year it stung a lot to come out here and to lose 1-0," Dolan said. "We didn't want to feel that again, so we came out with all we had."
Throughout the match St. Francis was first to the ball and showed early in the match an ability to string passes together that Marist never matched. Still, it took 23 minutes to create the move that ended in the opening goal. Kendra Pasquale set off on a long run through the midfield before she fed Peck, who swiveled on the ball and scored.
"We knew that last year, this was where we lost, and this is a new team and we came out knowing we had to win," sophomore Pasquale said. "Everyone gave 110 percent. This team is so unique. We're so close and that calms us on the field. We just push through everything."
Goals in big matches always produce instant momentum swings because there usually aren't many of them. Against Marist, St. Francis instantly settled down. Molly Doran fed Jill Ditusa, who shot wide; Hannah Rittenhouse passed to Peck, whose one-touch effort was wide; Pasquale and Rittenhouse played a two-player passing game with Pasquale firing high.
Against that Marist managed only an Annie Callaghan free kick that went narrowly high and wide of the upper right corner of the net.
"It's great to have the lead, but you've got to keep on working," Pasquale said. "At any time the game can change. But having the 1-0 lead gave us that extra cushion."
The second half was a continuation of that one-way traffic and the Spartans not only scored but hit the crossbar twice. The match-killing second goal came with 12 minutes left when a Pasquale pass broke kindly off a Marist defender for Douglass, who scored her first goal of the season.
In the Spartans' 4-3-3 formation, that midfield of Caitlin Joniak, Claire Hensley and Doran kept the defense from having to defend one-on-one for most of the match, then moved the ball to the forwards.
"We tightened up defensively," Winslow said. "We were a little shaky the last 8-10 minutes of the first half and it took us 10 minutes of the second half to settle in. Once we started finding people up top, we got moving. The midfield is the engine. If they do their jobs, we can be competitive in any game."