Girls soccer: St. Charles East eliminates Conant in PKs
For 100 grueling, scoreless minutes, the Conant girls soccer team withstood everything the high-powered St. Charles East offense could throw at the Cougars.
Then came penalty kicks, where the Saints excelled to win the Class 3A Schaumburg sectional semifinal Tuesday night.
St. Charles East bested the Cougars 3-2 in the PK shootout to advance to play rival St. Charles North for the sectional title at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
"This was big," said Saints coach Vince DiNuzzo. "I felt like we did enough to win in regulation, we created a lot of chances but we just couldn't get a goal."
The game, played in a howling wind that intensified as the evening wore on, featured a strong attack from St. Charles East, especially forward Elle McCaslin; brilliant goalkeeping from Olivia Messerges of Conant; and great back line play by both teams.
Conant played without all-state standout Stephanie Mazurek (out with injury).
"Our kids gave an outstanding effort," said Cougars coach Jason Franco. "They fought, harder than I could have ever imagined."
The Saints had the upper hand through most of regulation, but stellar play the Cougars' defense, led by Juliana Madonia, kept St. Charles East off the scoreboard.
East had a great chance near the end of the second overtime, but a determined effort from Conant's Delaney Hoye prevented a Saints' breakaway.
Then came PKs and East keeper Grace Griffin made a big save on the Cougars' first attempt.
"Coach DiNuzzo always says (about penalty kicks) 'get the first one, get the first one,' "said Griffin. " I was pretty confident."
The PKs were tied up at 2-2 when Griffin made another save to put her team in line for the victory, then senior Renee Unterberg sent the final shot into the back of the net and the Saints' celebration began.
Alondra Carranza was solid all evening for St. Charles East, while midfielder Gracie Rodriguez played a stellar contest for the tough-luck Cougars.
"This was a total team effort," added Franco. "If you're going to go down, this is the way to do it - fighting."