Girls soccer: Cary-Grove overcomes conditions, Hononegah

The volume of shots on goal doesn't always matter. Cary-Grove put just 3 shots on the net against Rockton Hononegah but the Trojans made them count.

Maddie Jannusch scored early and Jenna Stayart added an insurance goal late as the Trojans beat the Indians, 2-0, to advance to the final of the Class 3A Rockford Guilford sectional.

Cary-Grove will face Barrington at 5 p.m. Friday for the sectional title.

Jannusch scored on the game's first shot, about 10 minutes in. Kailyn Sheehan set her up in great position with a corner kick right in front of the net, and Jannusch headed it in.

"I saw it go right across the goal and I thought, that was a beautiful ball, I need to get there," Jannusch said. "So I tried my best to get there and I was in the right place at the right time."

The Trojans had some chances thereafter but couldn't put another shot on goal until the final minute as the wind wreaked havoc with passes and shots alike.

Cary-Grove finally got some breathing room in the final 30 seconds when Stayart knifed through the defense and came in alone on Hononegah keeper Anjelica Ortiz. Ortiz stopped the initial shot, but the rebound popped right back to Stayart, who put it in.

"I think we had a lot of chances and, especially in the first half, we just couldn't finish," Stayart said. "In the second half, we did a really nice job of pressuring down here, it was just really hard to get the ball across the goal with the wind, but it was really nice to finally score another goal and finish it off."

Avery Nielsen had a couple of nice runs up the right side in the late going but, with the wind acting like an extra defender on almost every play, couldn't connect on the crosses.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Makenna Sheehan and the Trojans defense kept the Indians at bay. She adeptly handled the tricky conditions.

"Some of the shots they would take from the top were just so hard to judge," she said. "And then the ball would take a bounce and you didn't know which way it would fly to."

Sheehan appeared to have a shot by Hononegah's Abby Hawes lined up perfectly, but the ball just kept sailing. Sheehan had to punch it at the last second as it bounced harmlessly off the football crossbar.

In the second half, she made a sliding stop on a breakaway by Lauren Wagner.

"I just saw (Sheehan) stepping up and doing a job she's very proud of," said Cary-Grove coach Ray Krystal. "She's a very good-quality goalkeeper, and making saves like that shows her abilities."