Girls soccer: St. Viator dumps Burlington Central to earn state trip
Burlington Central had all the momentum.
The Rockets had tied their supersectional matchup against St. Viator and were peppering Lions' goalkeeper Anna Johnston to try to grab the lead.
It only took one play for the Lions to reverse the momentum. Payton McDonnell scored a pretty goal with 9:28 remaining to put St. Viator back on top and send the Lions to state.
McDonnell took a nice center from Michaela Mueller and fired it into the far right side of the net. Although the Rockets created several more scoring chances, McDonnell's goal held up for the 2-1 win in the Class 2A Streamwood soccer supersectional at Millennium Field Tuesday.
The Lions (17-5-3) will play either Waterloo or Normal West at 11 a.m. Friday at North Central College in Naperville. Burlington closes its season at 22-3-0.
"Just getting the pressure and creating some chances got us back up," McDonnell said. "It put the pressure on them instead of our defensive third and our defense held on tight. We bent but didn't break, so it was a great job."
Megan Majewski tied the game for Central in the 49th minute. Johnston stopped her initial attempt from pointblank range. But she couldn't control the rebound and Majewski got to the ball and put it back in.
For the Lions, the win was the next step in a journey that began from the bitter disappointment of losing in the sectional semifinal last year.
"I've got 11 or 12 seniors this year so I said, 'Hey, remember that pain. Remember what it's like to lose,' " said Viator coach Mike Taylor.
The coaches and players shared a bonding experience throughout the summer and the school year, getting together once a month for various activities. They took the last crucial step at a tournament in Iowa early in the season.
"We changed a few things and ever since then we've been playing well," Taylor said.
Brinley McVeigh put the Lions ahead early with a goal from close range in the 8th minute.
After that the momentum began to swing to the Rockets, who finished third in Class 2A last year. They outshot the Lions 3-1 the rest of the first half. That number included a penalty kick that Johnston stopped with a diving save to her right.
That energy continued to propel the Rockets into the second half, as they harassed Johnston with 9 shots in that half. With the one exception, she was equal to the task, making several acrobatic saves.
She made a leaping stop of a shot by Zoey Kollhoff, stopped two more shots by Majewski in rapid succession, and punched away an attempt by Kollhoff with less than 2 minutes left.
Johnston got plenty of help from her defense, led by Samantha DeJulio, as the defenders broke up some runs by the Rockets before they resulted in shots.
Central had one final chance to tie, with Jordan King taking a free kick with 3 seconds left, but it just missed wide left.