IC snowed under in semis by Notre Dame
Lady Knights overwhelmed by tournament favorites
By Dave Surico
NAPERVILLE -- IC Catholic Prep ran into the soccer version of an avalanche in the Class A state semifinals Friday night at North Central College.
The Lady Knights met prohibitive favorite Notre Dame, of Quincy, which played like it had been put in the small school field by an IHSA clerical error. The Lady Raiders scored four times in a five-minute stretch that bookended the intermission and rolled to a state-record 9-0 win.
IC understood it had drawn the toughest assignment of the semifinals.
"(We) knew what could be coming," said coach Tom Schergen.
"That's a good soccer team. I'd be very surprised if they don't have their way (in the final) tomorrow night too. I bet they could compete well in AA and 3A with some of the athletes they have out on the field.
"The 3A teams we saw, they would probably beat those teams. There are no weaknesses there. That's the other thing. We were hoping we'd be able to find something we could exploit it a little bit. They're solid -- the 10 girls on the field and even the keeper. They're all solid."
IC, the smallest school in the Final Four, got an inkling of what was ahead when apparent goals from Notre Dame were erased due to offside calls in the third and fourth minutes.
The Lady Knights were forced to defend from the outset, and goalkeeper Rochelle Spizzirri was kept busy all over the 18-yard box.
The junior made a brilliant sliding save 10 yards off her line in the seventh minute and stayed on her toes while Notre Dame tried to exploit the Lady Knights high offside trap.
IC made few forays into its offensive third. Sophie Zanoni's give-and-go try with Grace Fuller looked promising, but fell short of producing a shot or cross.
Almost immediately afterward, Notre Dame broke the ice on Erin Barnes breakway goal in the 12th minute off an Olivia Dreyer assist.
The floodgates stayed closed however as IC fought off the Lady Raiders, who struggled to find the correct pace on numerous almost-dangerous through-balls.
Spirrizzi came up big again when she ran outside the 18 and jumped to deflect a ball off her chest and away from McKenzie Foley. The Notre Dame senior forward got to the loose, bouncing ball but her off-balance shot went over the net in the 28th minute.
Notre Dame started its goal binge and doubled its lead on a high shot from Dreyer that Spirrizzi got her hands on but couldn't stop in the 33rd minute. Hannah Peters' pass freed Dreyer for a goal from 17 yards and 3-0 lead in the 38th minute.
One minute later IC's junior keeper prevented a goal but received a yellow card after she collided with a Notre Dame attacker 20 yards off her line.
Sophomore backup Gabby Smola came in to make a diving save to her right at the post on Dreyer's 20-yard free kick. Spirrizzi returned for the ensuing corner kick.
Dreyer played the ball short to Foley, who walked in from the left and produced a professional finish in a tight space between Spirrizzi and the near post in the 40th minute.
Foley earned the Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match honor for her consistent and skilled play.
The flurry took the steam out of IC.
"Fifteen minutes left (in the first half down) 1-0 we think we're in pretty good shape. We're right where we want to be," said Schergen. "When you give up three goals like that, right before half, that's deflating.
"And I think you saw that as our girls came out in the second half. They couldn't pick that gear up again like they had at the beginning of the game, and it turned ugly after that."
IC Catholic Prep kept a proper perspective after the game. The Lady Knights, who feature only two club players on its roster of 25, were in a tough spot against Notre Dame's soccer specialists.
"We're not going to think too much about this game. We're not going to allow one little loss outshine an entire great season," Knights senior forward Tessa Langan said.
"It's a huge deal for us. Coming into the game, honestly we were happy either way."
Senior defender Tess Reardon's spirits were up after the game.
"We just feel lucky, especially for us as seniors," she said. "We're lucky we have a great team that wants to work really hard.
"Just making it here for our senior year, it's just kind of been an ode to all the hard work we've put in. It's sort of rewarding to just be here."
Notre Dame's evening of work tied the record for goals in the 2-game tournament finals after second half tallies from Foley, Dreyer, Peters, Katelyn Nelson and Sierra Sturhahn.
There could be more records on the horizon for Notre Dame. One more goal gives it the all-class record for scoring. And a fourth state championship would make the Lady Raiders the winningest program of the three-class era. New Trier may have a chance to tie them if the Trevians win their fourth-consecutive Class 3A title next weekend.
However, Notre Dame coach Mark Longo was not happy about how his 505th-career victory began.
"I thought the first 30 minutes we struggled," he said. "We came out and got the two goals, both offsides, and that kind of gets in your head. I think we tried to get too cute, and we tried to send too many through-balls where there was too much pace on the ball, and it kept rolling through to the goalie.
"And finally we got one to Erin where there was a nice touch through that she could run on. The second goal we got a little bit lucky on and settled down a little bit.
"The last 10 minutes of that first half, if we play like that all the time we're pretty good. But until we got that third goal we stuggled up until that point."
The Lady Raiders were ready for their semifinals opponent.
"I talked with (coach) Jeff (Brooke) at Wheaton Academy. ... We had a little report on them and some comparison scores. We knew that if we would show up and play the way we were capable of that we would probably have a nice game.
"Our good teams, through the years, have always been teams that can score. And that makes life easy when you can ... keep it up on your offensive end, because you know they can't score there, and we're going to get a lot of opportunities doing that."
IC Catholic Prep played Johnsburg, a 3-2 loser to University (Normal) in the first semifinal, in the third place game Saturday.
Starting lineups
IC Catholic Prep
GK Rochelle Spizziri
D Liz Maloney
D Tess Reardon
D Kaitlyn Grady
D Annie Guinan
M Bella Leslie
M Abi Wagner
M Tess Langan
M Grace Fuller
F Sophie Zanoni
F Olivia Hurt
Notre Dame (Quincy)
GK Delaney Walker
D Taylor Keck
D Lucy Stella
D Maddie Dickerman
D Molly Penn
M Anna Stokes
M Erin Barnes
M Maddie Peters
M Olivia Dreyer
F McKenzie Foley
F Madison Lynn Meyer
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: McKenzie Foley, sr., F, Notre Dame (Quincy)
Officials: Paul Marconi (center); John Choules; Rabindra Narayan; 4th, David Holbrook
Lady Knights overwhelmed by tournament favorites
By Dave Surico
NAPERVILLE -- IC Catholic Prep ran into the soccer version of an avalanche in the Class A state semifinals Friday night at North Central College.
The Lady Knights met prohibitive favorite Notre Dame, of Quincy, which played like it had been put in the small school field by an IHSA clerical error. The Lady Raiders scored four times in a five-minute stretch that bookended the intermission and rolled to a state-record 9-0 win.
IC understood it had drawn the toughest assignment of the semifinals.
"(We) knew what could be coming," said coach Tom Schergen.
"That's a good soccer team. I'd be very surprised if they don't have their way (in the final) tomorrow night too. I bet they could compete well in AA and 3A with some of the athletes they have out on the field.
"The 3A teams we saw, they would probably beat those teams. There are no weaknesses there. That's the other thing. We were hoping we'd be able to find something we could exploit it a little bit. They're solid -- the 10 girls on the field and even the keeper. They're all solid."
IC, the smallest school in the Final Four, got an inkling of what was ahead when apparent goals from Notre Dame were erased due to offside calls in the third and fourth minutes.
The Lady Knights were forced to defend from the outset, and goalkeeper Rochelle Spizzirri was kept busy all over the 18-yard box.
The junior made a brilliant sliding save 10 yards off her line in the seventh minute and stayed on her toes while Notre Dame tried to exploit the Lady Knights high offside trap.
IC made few forays into its offensive third. Sophie Zanoni's give-and-go try with Grace Fuller looked promising, but fell short of producing a shot or cross.
Almost immediately afterward, Notre Dame broke the ice on Erin Barnes breakway goal in the 12th minute off an Olivia Dreyer assist.
The floodgates stayed closed however as IC fought off the Lady Raiders, who struggled to find the correct pace on numerous almost-dangerous through-balls.
Spirrizzi came up big again when she ran outside the 18 and jumped to deflect a ball off her chest and away from McKenzie Foley. The Notre Dame senior forward got to the loose, bouncing ball but her off-balance shot went over the net in the 28th minute.
Notre Dame started its goal binge and doubled its lead on a high shot from Dreyer that Spirrizzi got her hands on but couldn't stop in the 33rd minute. Hannah Peters' pass freed Dreyer for a goal from 17 yards and 3-0 lead in the 38th minute.
One minute later IC's junior keeper prevented a goal but received a yellow card after she collided with a Notre Dame attacker 20 yards off her line.
Sophomore backup Gabby Smola came in to make a diving save to her right at the post on Dreyer's 20-yard free kick. Spirrizzi returned for the ensuing corner kick.
Dreyer played the ball short to Foley, who walked in from the left and produced a professional finish in a tight space between Spirrizzi and the near post in the 40th minute.
Foley earned the Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match honor for her consistent and skilled play.
The flurry took the steam out of IC.
"Fifteen minutes left (in the first half down) 1-0 we think we're in pretty good shape. We're right where we want to be," said Schergen. "When you give up three goals like that, right before half, that's deflating.
"And I think you saw that as our girls came out in the second half. They couldn't pick that gear up again like they had at the beginning of the game, and it turned ugly after that."
IC Catholic Prep kept a proper perspective after the game. The Lady Knights, who feature only two club players on its roster of 25, were in a tough spot against Notre Dame's soccer specialists.
"We're not going to think too much about this game. We're not going to allow one little loss outshine an entire great season," Knights senior forward Tessa Langan said.
"It's a huge deal for us. Coming into the game, honestly we were happy either way."
Senior defender Tess Reardon's spirits were up after the game.
"We just feel lucky, especially for us as seniors," she said. "We're lucky we have a great team that wants to work really hard.
"Just making it here for our senior year, it's just kind of been an ode to all the hard work we've put in. It's sort of rewarding to just be here."
Notre Dame's evening of work tied the record for goals in the 2-game tournament finals after second half tallies from Foley, Dreyer, Peters, Katelyn Nelson and Sierra Sturhahn.
There could be more records on the horizon for Notre Dame. One more goal gives it the all-class record for scoring. And a fourth state championship would make the Lady Raiders the winningest program of the three-class era. New Trier may have a chance to tie them if the Trevians win their fourth-consecutive Class 3A title next weekend.
However, Notre Dame coach Mark Longo was not happy about how his 505th-career victory began.
"I thought the first 30 minutes we struggled," he said. "We came out and got the two goals, both offsides, and that kind of gets in your head. I think we tried to get too cute, and we tried to send too many through-balls where there was too much pace on the ball, and it kept rolling through to the goalie.
"And finally we got one to Erin where there was a nice touch through that she could run on. The second goal we got a little bit lucky on and settled down a little bit.
"The last 10 minutes of that first half, if we play like that all the time we're pretty good. But until we got that third goal we stuggled up until that point."
The Lady Raiders were ready for their semifinals opponent.
"I talked with (coach) Jeff (Brooke) at Wheaton Academy. ... We had a little report on them and some comparison scores. We knew that if we would show up and play the way we were capable of that we would probably have a nice game.
"Our good teams, through the years, have always been teams that can score. And that makes life easy when you can ... keep it up on your offensive end, because you know they can't score there, and we're going to get a lot of opportunities doing that."
IC Catholic Prep played Johnsburg, a 3-2 loser to University (Normal) in the first semifinal, in the third place game Saturday.
Starting lineups
IC Catholic Prep
GK Rochelle Spizziri
D Liz Maloney
D Tess Reardon
D Kaitlyn Grady
D Annie Guinan
M Bella Leslie
M Abi Wagner
M Tess Langan
M Grace Fuller
F Sophie Zanoni
F Olivia Hurt
Notre Dame (Quincy)
GK Delaney Walker
D Taylor Keck
D Lucy Stella
D Maddie Dickerman
D Molly Penn
M Anna Stokes
M Erin Barnes
M Maddie Peters
M Olivia Dreyer
F McKenzie Foley
F Madison Lynn Meyer
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: McKenzie Foley, sr., F, Notre Dame (Quincy)
Officials: Paul Marconi (center); John Choules; Rabindra Narayan; 4th, David Holbrook