Triad defense grounds Burlington Central
Downstate Knights 1-0 victors over Class AA newcomer
By Steve Nemeth
NAPERVILLE -- Historically, when downstate schools St. Jacob, Marine and McCray-Dewey merged, Triad was the winning submission from a name contest.
Located in downstate Troy, it sounds somewhat like a missile defense system.
Burlington Central entered Friday’s Class 2A Girls Soccer State Finals averaging 4.5 goals per match. Triad shut the Rockets down and the 1-0 victory gave the Knights a chance for their second state crown.
It’s been a historic year of firsts for Central (24-3-2) with a first piece of sectional, supersectional and state hardware in girls soccer.
Triad (21-6-0) can potentially stand in the way of some more history Saturday when the Knights face Wheaton Academy in the 1 p.m. finale. The Warriors (21-5-0)
hope to become only the second school in IHSA history to win back-to-back state titles in different classes.
Just a year ago, Rochester achieved that feat following up a Class A championship in 2015 by being elevated to Class AA and winning it all again. Ironically, Wheaton Academy’s loss in a AA sectional led to the school dropping down to Class A in 2016 with the Warriors claiming that title. The IHSA “success adjustment” policy boosted Wheaton back to AA for this year.
The Warriors advanced via a 1-0 win based on a 7-6 advantage in the third set of PKs. The roller-coaster emotional ride pushed the Triad-Burlington Central semi started an hour late.
Just for trivia fans, the Knights are the team responsible for ending Rochester’s hope of a title repeat.
Burlington Central and Lemont squared off in the 11 a.m. third place match Saturday.
Saying defense was a key in this semifinal was an understatement -- Triad had to make an early goal stand up. Just 5:07 into the match, the ball basically popped out to the left wing where the Knights’ Erynn Little decided to take a chance from 23 yards and sailed it into the back of the net.
“There were four defenders in front of me sort of in a square and the goalie was somewhat in the middle and I saw an opening and took it,” Little said of only her third goal of the year. “Never really thought about it becoming a game-winning goal. I was just very happy to finish.”
“That was just a great shot,” Triad coach Matt Bettlach insisted. “She put it in the corner. My assistant said scoring that early was both good and bad. On the one hand we had the lead, on the other a lot of game to be played. I really credit Morgan (Bohnenstiehl) for keeping the defense organized and not giving them much, plus (goalie) Mercedes (King) was there to clean things up.”
Although Burlington Central avoided panic and regrouped enough to produce a 4-2 edge in shots on goal despite trailing 9-8 in overall attempts, the equalizer never came. Instead the Rockets failed to score for the first time in 14 matches. Back on April 21, Central lost 1-0 to Barrington, which will spend Saturday evening playing for the Class 3A crown.
Twelve games prior to that, the Rockets lost their season opener 2-0 to Naperville Central, the only other of seven 3A opponents to defeat Central.
“We had some nerves at the beginning, but overall we just didn’t play our game,” Megan Majewski admitted. “I thought if we scored one, we’d even get a second.”
That was the kind of confidence that powered the Rockets to two goals in the last three minutes of a 2-1 sectional title win over nemesis Sycamore.
“We just didn’t finish,” Jordan King added. “The whole game, up until the last few seconds, I believed we were in it.”
Central coach Jess Arneson kept hoping her squad would find its offensive stride.
“We just didn’t quite get it moving our way. We needed to be more dynamic in our attack,” Arneson said. “For some reason we didn’t fight as hard today, hopefully that means we’ll do all the more tomorrow.”
Arneson acknowledged that Triad’s sweeper-based defense was a little unusual, but otherwise thought the two sides were evenly matched.
“We are similar in many respects, but defensively we did that in order to take away their diagonal runs,” Bettlach noted.
Bottom line, the Knights picked up their 20th shutout, their fifth straight in the post-season, and a third-consecutive 1-0 victory.
“Inside I was freaking out at the start, but I tried to keep it cool,” the Knights’ keeper King said. “My defense helps me so much. We really have a great backline, and I know they play smart. So the aim is to not let them down. As for the shutouts coming in, it’s nice to know I’m capable, but I don’t think about that.”
Triad was subject to the mental imaging of victory by Heather Seger, one of the Knights’ assistant coaches who is not only an alum, but was a senior co-captain on the 2011 crew that won a state banner.
“I told them about my memories of that year, the trophy, the police escort back into town,” Seger noted. “It brings back a lot of memories for me. I’ve been talking about it for six years.”
With the temperature in Naperville climbing to 84, the contest included IHSA-mandated water breaks during a stoppage near the middle of each half. The views split along the outcome.
“I thought we’d get more chances than we did, but I also believed we were getting a little tired,” Little confessed. “Those breaks were okay by me, it was really hot on that turf.”
“I could’ve gone without them,” Central’s Jordan King said. “It’s soccer, playing in the heat isn’t a surprise.”
“The first half one came on a throw-in,” Majewski recalled. “I thought we had momentum on our side at that point.”
With the first semifinal adding 20 minutes of overtime to the regulation 80, plus the extension of the shootout to 24 attempts total, both Central and Triad had to stretch and warm-up a couple times. In between they sought shade at the end of Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium’s track oval. For the Rockets it was a couple of trees, for the Knights it meant utilizing the shade of the scoreboard and a banner underneath.
Did they have any plans to arrive early and sit there again prior to the championship.
“Maybe. I’m very superstitious,” Bettlach said. “Everything we ate last night and so on, we just might do the same again.”
Starting lineups
Triad
GK Mercedes King
D Maddie Keller
D Kalie Gibbs
D Eryn Fanning
D Morgan Bohnenstiehl
D Sydney Beach
M Jordyn Besserman
M Jody Ellis
M Erynn Little
F Meaghan Smith
F Sam Bassler
Burlington Central
GK Erin Rafferty
D Alyssa Mariani
D Kirsten Wyse
D Taylor Abbott
D McKenzie Freeman
M Jessica Clouser
M Sydney Pryor
M Elizabeth Gousios
F Kyrsten Pellikan
F Jordan King
F Anna McMahon
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Erynn Little, sr., MF, Triad
Referees: Marius Folta, John Anderson, Alejandro Alvarez
Game summary
Triad 1, Burlington Central 0
1st 2nd --- F Records
Triad 1 0 --- 1 21-6-0
Burlington Central 0 0 --- 0 24-3-2
Scoring:
T --- Little 23-yard left wing blast inside right post (unassisted), 5:07 gone
Shots
T 6 – 3 --- 9
BC 3 – 5 --- 8
Shots on goal
T 2 – 0 --- 2
BC 2 – 2 --- 4
Corner kicks
T 3 – 2 --- 5
BC 0 – 0 --- 0
Saves (goalie)
T (King) 2 – 2 --- 4
BC (Rafferty) 1 – 0 --- 1
Downstate Knights 1-0 victors over Class AA newcomer
By Steve Nemeth
NAPERVILLE -- Historically, when downstate schools St. Jacob, Marine and McCray-Dewey merged, Triad was the winning submission from a name contest.
Located in downstate Troy, it sounds somewhat like a missile defense system.
Burlington Central entered Friday’s Class 2A Girls Soccer State Finals averaging 4.5 goals per match. Triad shut the Rockets down and the 1-0 victory gave the Knights a chance for their second state crown.
It’s been a historic year of firsts for Central (24-3-2) with a first piece of sectional, supersectional and state hardware in girls soccer.
Triad (21-6-0) can potentially stand in the way of some more history Saturday when the Knights face Wheaton Academy in the 1 p.m. finale. The Warriors (21-5-0)
hope to become only the second school in IHSA history to win back-to-back state titles in different classes.
Just a year ago, Rochester achieved that feat following up a Class A championship in 2015 by being elevated to Class AA and winning it all again. Ironically, Wheaton Academy’s loss in a AA sectional led to the school dropping down to Class A in 2016 with the Warriors claiming that title. The IHSA “success adjustment” policy boosted Wheaton back to AA for this year.
The Warriors advanced via a 1-0 win based on a 7-6 advantage in the third set of PKs. The roller-coaster emotional ride pushed the Triad-Burlington Central semi started an hour late.
Just for trivia fans, the Knights are the team responsible for ending Rochester’s hope of a title repeat.
Burlington Central and Lemont squared off in the 11 a.m. third place match Saturday.
Saying defense was a key in this semifinal was an understatement -- Triad had to make an early goal stand up. Just 5:07 into the match, the ball basically popped out to the left wing where the Knights’ Erynn Little decided to take a chance from 23 yards and sailed it into the back of the net.
“There were four defenders in front of me sort of in a square and the goalie was somewhat in the middle and I saw an opening and took it,” Little said of only her third goal of the year. “Never really thought about it becoming a game-winning goal. I was just very happy to finish.”
“That was just a great shot,” Triad coach Matt Bettlach insisted. “She put it in the corner. My assistant said scoring that early was both good and bad. On the one hand we had the lead, on the other a lot of game to be played. I really credit Morgan (Bohnenstiehl) for keeping the defense organized and not giving them much, plus (goalie) Mercedes (King) was there to clean things up.”
Although Burlington Central avoided panic and regrouped enough to produce a 4-2 edge in shots on goal despite trailing 9-8 in overall attempts, the equalizer never came. Instead the Rockets failed to score for the first time in 14 matches. Back on April 21, Central lost 1-0 to Barrington, which will spend Saturday evening playing for the Class 3A crown.
Twelve games prior to that, the Rockets lost their season opener 2-0 to Naperville Central, the only other of seven 3A opponents to defeat Central.
“We had some nerves at the beginning, but overall we just didn’t play our game,” Megan Majewski admitted. “I thought if we scored one, we’d even get a second.”
That was the kind of confidence that powered the Rockets to two goals in the last three minutes of a 2-1 sectional title win over nemesis Sycamore.
“We just didn’t finish,” Jordan King added. “The whole game, up until the last few seconds, I believed we were in it.”
Central coach Jess Arneson kept hoping her squad would find its offensive stride.
“We just didn’t quite get it moving our way. We needed to be more dynamic in our attack,” Arneson said. “For some reason we didn’t fight as hard today, hopefully that means we’ll do all the more tomorrow.”
Arneson acknowledged that Triad’s sweeper-based defense was a little unusual, but otherwise thought the two sides were evenly matched.
“We are similar in many respects, but defensively we did that in order to take away their diagonal runs,” Bettlach noted.
Bottom line, the Knights picked up their 20th shutout, their fifth straight in the post-season, and a third-consecutive 1-0 victory.
“Inside I was freaking out at the start, but I tried to keep it cool,” the Knights’ keeper King said. “My defense helps me so much. We really have a great backline, and I know they play smart. So the aim is to not let them down. As for the shutouts coming in, it’s nice to know I’m capable, but I don’t think about that.”
Triad was subject to the mental imaging of victory by Heather Seger, one of the Knights’ assistant coaches who is not only an alum, but was a senior co-captain on the 2011 crew that won a state banner.
“I told them about my memories of that year, the trophy, the police escort back into town,” Seger noted. “It brings back a lot of memories for me. I’ve been talking about it for six years.”
With the temperature in Naperville climbing to 84, the contest included IHSA-mandated water breaks during a stoppage near the middle of each half. The views split along the outcome.
“I thought we’d get more chances than we did, but I also believed we were getting a little tired,” Little confessed. “Those breaks were okay by me, it was really hot on that turf.”
“I could’ve gone without them,” Central’s Jordan King said. “It’s soccer, playing in the heat isn’t a surprise.”
“The first half one came on a throw-in,” Majewski recalled. “I thought we had momentum on our side at that point.”
With the first semifinal adding 20 minutes of overtime to the regulation 80, plus the extension of the shootout to 24 attempts total, both Central and Triad had to stretch and warm-up a couple times. In between they sought shade at the end of Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium’s track oval. For the Rockets it was a couple of trees, for the Knights it meant utilizing the shade of the scoreboard and a banner underneath.
Did they have any plans to arrive early and sit there again prior to the championship.
“Maybe. I’m very superstitious,” Bettlach said. “Everything we ate last night and so on, we just might do the same again.”
Starting lineups
Triad
GK Mercedes King
D Maddie Keller
D Kalie Gibbs
D Eryn Fanning
D Morgan Bohnenstiehl
D Sydney Beach
M Jordyn Besserman
M Jody Ellis
M Erynn Little
F Meaghan Smith
F Sam Bassler
Burlington Central
GK Erin Rafferty
D Alyssa Mariani
D Kirsten Wyse
D Taylor Abbott
D McKenzie Freeman
M Jessica Clouser
M Sydney Pryor
M Elizabeth Gousios
F Kyrsten Pellikan
F Jordan King
F Anna McMahon
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Erynn Little, sr., MF, Triad
Referees: Marius Folta, John Anderson, Alejandro Alvarez
Game summary
Triad 1, Burlington Central 0
1st 2nd --- F Records
Triad 1 0 --- 1 21-6-0
Burlington Central 0 0 --- 0 24-3-2
Scoring:
T --- Little 23-yard left wing blast inside right post (unassisted), 5:07 gone
Shots
T 6 – 3 --- 9
BC 3 – 5 --- 8
Shots on goal
T 2 – 0 --- 2
BC 2 – 2 --- 4
Corner kicks
T 3 – 2 --- 5
BC 0 – 0 --- 0
Saves (goalie)
T (King) 2 – 2 --- 4
BC (Rafferty) 1 – 0 --- 1