"Special day" for Ciesla, Neuqua Valley
With mom in crowd, senior's 80th-minute bomb eliminates Naperville N.
By Matt Le Cren
AURORA – Chances are Lauren Ciesla will never again score a goal more dramatic or meaningful than she did in the final minute of Tuesday’s Class 3A Metea Valley Sectional semifinals.
With her ailing mother, Tammy, watching her in person for the first time this season, Ciesla buried a 35-yard free kick with 55.8 seconds to lift Neuqua Valley to a stunning 3-2 victory over top-seeded Naperville North.
It was the second goal of the game for Ciesla, a senior midfielder, and capped a dramatic victory that saw the fifth-seeded Wildcats (16-3-2) twice rally from a goal down to defeat the team that had ousted them from the playoffs in each of the past four seasons.
“I’m so proud of everyone,” Ciesla said. “[The Huskies] have a lot of really great players but we were ready to play them, and I’ve been waiting for this for four years. I think we finally broke the North curse.”
It was anything but easy. Despite the comeback, overtime was looming as neither side had been able to muster a shot in more than six minutes before Ciesla teed up her free kick on the right wing and a stiff wind in her face.
“The plan was to put it on goal, and I think I did a good job of getting it on goal and I’m so speechless right now,” Ciesla said. “I’ve been waiting for that for four years, so I’m at a loss for words.”
Ciesla’s shot sailed over the head of Naperville North keeper Fiona Baenziger and inside the left post.
Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau was confident Ciesla could make something happen, especially after watching her tie the game 1-1 when she sent a 30-yard shot that skimmed the underside of the crossbar with 10:13 left in the first half.
“I knew she could score, but it was intended as an assist,” Moreau said. “It was a really nice ball.
“It wasn’t a floater. It was driven through the wind and if the wind took it to the left we had two runners there. The goalie came way out, and I knew if it went over her head that it was a goal if it was below the post. That’s a hard ball for a female goalkeeper to get to.”
Naperville North coach Steve Goletz was as stunned as everyone else by the result but gave credit where credit was due.
“It was hard to see from our vantage point what happened, but she did it, hit it well and next thing I know it was in the back of the net,” Goletz said. “You look up at the clock and see a minute left and you’re hoping for a miracle. It didn’t happen.”
The Huskies (17-3) got the ball near Neuqua’s box one last time, but Abbie Boswell’s desperation turn-and-fire try from 20 yards out on the left wing sailed high over the net as the final seconds elapsed.
While the Huskies didn’t get the hoped-for miracle, Ciesla can lay claim to receiving a medical one. Her mother, Tammy, has been battling a rare brain condition that affects the nerves in her head, and has undergone two brain surgeries.
But Tammy was well enough to watch the game from the press box and saw her daughter earn Chicagoland MVP of the Match honors and vault Neuqua Valley into Saturday night’s sectional championship game against host Metea Valley, which beat Plainfield North 2-0 in the other semifinal.
“It’s such a special day,” said Ciesla, who has battled through multiple injuries over the past year. “This is the second game my mom has seen me play in a year.
“She had her second brain surgery [in March] so to be able to score that goal and to have her be watching me, it’s the most special thing that I’ve experienced, especially for my senior year.”
Ciesla is one of several Wildcats who have enjoyed standout four-year careers, but they have yet to win a sectional title thanks to Naperville North.
It appeared history would repeat itself as the Huskies twice grabbed the lead on goals by junior Alexis Dandridge, who scored on the first shot of each half.
Dandridge was left unguarded just outside the box on her first goal, which came in the seventh minute. Her second goal came 56 seconds into the second half when she toe-poked a low corner kick from Morgan Krause inside the left post before Neuqua Valley goalie Hannah Parrish could react.
The Huskies, who outshot the Wildcats 16-5, had a couple of opportunities to extend the 2-1 lead. Krause took a pair of 50-yard free kicks that got over the Neuqua defense.
Abbie Boswell volleyed the first one wide of the post and the second just missed the outstretched foot of Maddie Krejci.
The Wildcats then got the equalizer on another shot into the wind. Freshman Jamie Goralski did the honors with an 18-yard shot from the left edge of the box with 22:32 remaining.
Goralski nearly triggered the go-ahead goal just 45 seconds later, sending a cross from the left endline which was headed wide by Kiley Czerwinski.
After that it was advantage Huskies, who came within inches of retaking the lead. Dandridge saw a 30-yard shot bounce off the inside of the left post and go untouched through the crease with 15:30 to go. Four minutes later, Parrish stopped Krejci’s header on the left post and five minutes after that Krejci nodded another Krause corner kick wide.
“We did fall behind, which was kind of a bummer, but I am really confident in this team,” Ciesla said. “We’re a bunch of hard-working girls, and I knew that none of them were going to give up until we got that last goal. I’m just really proud of everyone.”
Despite the result, so was Goletz.
“It’s a great senior group, and we’re going to miss them,” Goletz said. “They just didn’t do enough today.
“You’re not going to win many games letting in three goals. We haven’t done it very often in this program.
“I just hurt for our kids. It’s the last time we’re going to get to see some special players on the field, not only on the field but off the field. That’s really my first thought as a coach right now.”
Naperville North began the year with some question marks regarding a solid roster that had only two Division I players – Boswell and Allison Svoboda – and morphed into a juggernaut that won 13-straight games and the prestigious Naperville Invitational. The team finished five victories shy of its goal of a third state title in four years.
“It was a great year for the kids,” Goletz said. “They accomplished some phenomenal things, and I’m super proud of them.”
He was also complimentary to the Wildcats.
“We made some uncharacteristic mistakes at times, and that’s part of the game” Goletz said. “We never really got in the flow of the game, and that’s a credit to Joe [Moreau] and Neuqua for disrupting that, making it hard on us.
“I wish them nothing but the best. It’s a great program. We’ve been on the winning side, and now I’m on the losing side of it as a coach for the first time, but I respect the heck out of them.”
Starting lineups
Neuqua Valley
GK: Hannah Parrish
D: Sophia Moreau
D: Dannah Williams
D: Tatiana Espinoza
D: Nicole Mondi
M: Anna Toersloev
M: Lauren Ciesla
M: Veda Tappin
F: Jamie Goralski
F: Alyssa Bombacino
F: Kiley Czerwinski
Naperville North
GK: Fiona Baenziger
D: Ashley Santos
D: Morgan Krause
D: Jen Fortman
D: Emily Wilhelm
M: Maddie Krejci
M: Olivia Stapleton
M: Allison Svoboda
F: Abbie Boswell
F: Shaina Dudas
F: Alexis Dandridge
MVP of the Match: Lauren Ciesla, M, Neuqua Valley.
With mom in crowd, senior's 80th-minute bomb eliminates Naperville N.
By Matt Le Cren
AURORA – Chances are Lauren Ciesla will never again score a goal more dramatic or meaningful than she did in the final minute of Tuesday’s Class 3A Metea Valley Sectional semifinals.
With her ailing mother, Tammy, watching her in person for the first time this season, Ciesla buried a 35-yard free kick with 55.8 seconds to lift Neuqua Valley to a stunning 3-2 victory over top-seeded Naperville North.
It was the second goal of the game for Ciesla, a senior midfielder, and capped a dramatic victory that saw the fifth-seeded Wildcats (16-3-2) twice rally from a goal down to defeat the team that had ousted them from the playoffs in each of the past four seasons.
“I’m so proud of everyone,” Ciesla said. “[The Huskies] have a lot of really great players but we were ready to play them, and I’ve been waiting for this for four years. I think we finally broke the North curse.”
It was anything but easy. Despite the comeback, overtime was looming as neither side had been able to muster a shot in more than six minutes before Ciesla teed up her free kick on the right wing and a stiff wind in her face.
“The plan was to put it on goal, and I think I did a good job of getting it on goal and I’m so speechless right now,” Ciesla said. “I’ve been waiting for that for four years, so I’m at a loss for words.”
Ciesla’s shot sailed over the head of Naperville North keeper Fiona Baenziger and inside the left post.
Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau was confident Ciesla could make something happen, especially after watching her tie the game 1-1 when she sent a 30-yard shot that skimmed the underside of the crossbar with 10:13 left in the first half.
“I knew she could score, but it was intended as an assist,” Moreau said. “It was a really nice ball.
“It wasn’t a floater. It was driven through the wind and if the wind took it to the left we had two runners there. The goalie came way out, and I knew if it went over her head that it was a goal if it was below the post. That’s a hard ball for a female goalkeeper to get to.”
Naperville North coach Steve Goletz was as stunned as everyone else by the result but gave credit where credit was due.
“It was hard to see from our vantage point what happened, but she did it, hit it well and next thing I know it was in the back of the net,” Goletz said. “You look up at the clock and see a minute left and you’re hoping for a miracle. It didn’t happen.”
The Huskies (17-3) got the ball near Neuqua’s box one last time, but Abbie Boswell’s desperation turn-and-fire try from 20 yards out on the left wing sailed high over the net as the final seconds elapsed.
While the Huskies didn’t get the hoped-for miracle, Ciesla can lay claim to receiving a medical one. Her mother, Tammy, has been battling a rare brain condition that affects the nerves in her head, and has undergone two brain surgeries.
But Tammy was well enough to watch the game from the press box and saw her daughter earn Chicagoland MVP of the Match honors and vault Neuqua Valley into Saturday night’s sectional championship game against host Metea Valley, which beat Plainfield North 2-0 in the other semifinal.
“It’s such a special day,” said Ciesla, who has battled through multiple injuries over the past year. “This is the second game my mom has seen me play in a year.
“She had her second brain surgery [in March] so to be able to score that goal and to have her be watching me, it’s the most special thing that I’ve experienced, especially for my senior year.”
Ciesla is one of several Wildcats who have enjoyed standout four-year careers, but they have yet to win a sectional title thanks to Naperville North.
It appeared history would repeat itself as the Huskies twice grabbed the lead on goals by junior Alexis Dandridge, who scored on the first shot of each half.
Dandridge was left unguarded just outside the box on her first goal, which came in the seventh minute. Her second goal came 56 seconds into the second half when she toe-poked a low corner kick from Morgan Krause inside the left post before Neuqua Valley goalie Hannah Parrish could react.
The Huskies, who outshot the Wildcats 16-5, had a couple of opportunities to extend the 2-1 lead. Krause took a pair of 50-yard free kicks that got over the Neuqua defense.
Abbie Boswell volleyed the first one wide of the post and the second just missed the outstretched foot of Maddie Krejci.
The Wildcats then got the equalizer on another shot into the wind. Freshman Jamie Goralski did the honors with an 18-yard shot from the left edge of the box with 22:32 remaining.
Goralski nearly triggered the go-ahead goal just 45 seconds later, sending a cross from the left endline which was headed wide by Kiley Czerwinski.
After that it was advantage Huskies, who came within inches of retaking the lead. Dandridge saw a 30-yard shot bounce off the inside of the left post and go untouched through the crease with 15:30 to go. Four minutes later, Parrish stopped Krejci’s header on the left post and five minutes after that Krejci nodded another Krause corner kick wide.
“We did fall behind, which was kind of a bummer, but I am really confident in this team,” Ciesla said. “We’re a bunch of hard-working girls, and I knew that none of them were going to give up until we got that last goal. I’m just really proud of everyone.”
Despite the result, so was Goletz.
“It’s a great senior group, and we’re going to miss them,” Goletz said. “They just didn’t do enough today.
“You’re not going to win many games letting in three goals. We haven’t done it very often in this program.
“I just hurt for our kids. It’s the last time we’re going to get to see some special players on the field, not only on the field but off the field. That’s really my first thought as a coach right now.”
Naperville North began the year with some question marks regarding a solid roster that had only two Division I players – Boswell and Allison Svoboda – and morphed into a juggernaut that won 13-straight games and the prestigious Naperville Invitational. The team finished five victories shy of its goal of a third state title in four years.
“It was a great year for the kids,” Goletz said. “They accomplished some phenomenal things, and I’m super proud of them.”
He was also complimentary to the Wildcats.
“We made some uncharacteristic mistakes at times, and that’s part of the game” Goletz said. “We never really got in the flow of the game, and that’s a credit to Joe [Moreau] and Neuqua for disrupting that, making it hard on us.
“I wish them nothing but the best. It’s a great program. We’ve been on the winning side, and now I’m on the losing side of it as a coach for the first time, but I respect the heck out of them.”
Starting lineups
Neuqua Valley
GK: Hannah Parrish
D: Sophia Moreau
D: Dannah Williams
D: Tatiana Espinoza
D: Nicole Mondi
M: Anna Toersloev
M: Lauren Ciesla
M: Veda Tappin
F: Jamie Goralski
F: Alyssa Bombacino
F: Kiley Czerwinski
Naperville North
GK: Fiona Baenziger
D: Ashley Santos
D: Morgan Krause
D: Jen Fortman
D: Emily Wilhelm
M: Maddie Krejci
M: Olivia Stapleton
M: Allison Svoboda
F: Abbie Boswell
F: Shaina Dudas
F: Alexis Dandridge
MVP of the Match: Lauren Ciesla, M, Neuqua Valley.