Prospect trio finishes off Senior Night right Fitzsimmons’ 67th-minute goal gets Knights’ win over rival Hersey
By Patrick Z. McGavin
MOUNT PROSPECT -- Everything about “the play” was beautiful, and deeply fitting. On Senior Night as Prospect honored the careers and achievements of seven players from a historic class, three from the cherished group put together a dazzling moment nobody here is ever likely to forget.
It played out like a dream for Shawna Stokes, Sarah Mulvihill and Faith Fitzsimmons, by turns exhilarating, deft and poignant. It also spelled victory.
Stokes initiated the action with a breakout that ended with her slotting the ball to Mulvihill who provided the sublime service into the box that Fitzsimmons finished with a magnetic volley from about six yards to inside the near post in the 67th minute for the Knights’ 1-0 regular season finale against rival Hersey on Monday night.
“It was just perfect,” Fitzsimmons said of her sixth goal. “It was a perfect sequence from senior to senior to senior. Seeing it go in the back of the corner was just a relief. Hersey is our big rival.
“We definitely had a lot of opportunities, and we kept trying and trying. In the second half we knew we had to come out and get a goal.”
Stokes, who earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor, was the lightning rod, the one who broke down the gut of the Hersey interior and created the seams that Mulvihill and Fitzsimmons exploited. Quick and explosive, she got the ball and broke past a defender on the right wing in creating the advantage for the Knights.
Her speed created sufficient space for the events that followed.
“I think it was like a breakaway and then we all got up together, and we started to connecting,” Stokes said. “Sarah passed it to Faith and then a one-touch into the goal. We had some good build-up and strong chances. I think we just started to shoot more.
“Once we started connecting, we had the opportunities.”
The scoring play was unmatchable as far as design and execution. Each of the three principals had ideal spatial balance, the freedom to run and make a soccer play without feeling cramped. Hersey could only react. Stokes broke the defense, Mulvihill intensified the pressure, and Fitzsimmons buried the shot.
“I saw Faith was open, and I knew I had to get her the ball,” Mulvihill said. “The timing had to be there, because if anything else, a Hersey player could have just stepped in.”
Prospect coach Tom Froats had been waiting patiently for the moment to drop.
“As you saw tonight, we play some really beautiful soccer. We play the game the right way, and we just have not been able to get on the end of some of those finishes in the box,” he said. “To see Faith, a senior, finish from another senior on the service from Sarah, was outstanding. She broke down the initial defender and then finding the service to connect with Sarah.
“It was well served and certainly befitting of an awesome senior class.”
Prospect (11-7-1, 6-4-1) ruined the Huskies’ night in more ways than one. Prospect, Hersey, Elk Grove and Buffalo Grove finished in a very unusual four-way tie atop the East Division of the Mid-Suburban League with 19 points.
Heading into the game, Prospect and Buffalo Grove were already eliminated from representing the East in the league Soccer Bowl on Wednesday night against no. 4 Barrington based on division record and head-to-head play.
Elk Grove advanced despite being upset by Schaumburg 1-0 Monday night.
In retrospect, all Hersey needed was a tie to advance. The Schaumburg game, like Prospect’s, a make-up date from the lightning and rain storms of last Wednesday, concluded just as the second half started in Mount Prospect.
“We heard that Elk Grove lost, and we said, at halftime, that means that we really have to put it together now,” sophomore forward Chloe Sena said. “For me, I tried not to let it affect me, because it could get in the way, affect my playing. I tried not to let it, and I don’t think the team did either.
“We just continued playing.”
Sena generated the Huskies’ top scoring chance in the 58th minute after she got clipped from behind by a Prospect defender. That led to a free kick from just outside the box that Sena smashed, but a defender on the Prospect wall deflected it.
“It was a good effort to get us up there,” Sena said. “I thought we did a great job of connecting to make the opportunity happen. It was definitely unfortunate that it deflected off the Prospect girl, but it was a good effort to get up there.”
Hersey (6-12-1, 6-4-1) was already dealing with a significant void, the absence of star junior midfielder Laura Burckhardt, the team’s best offensive talent who was not available. The Huskies looked to other options on a young team that started the year 0-5-0. Midfielder Avery Larson, a freshman, impressed for the Huskies. Senior defender Emma Wilson played a nice ball in the first half that skipped over the top of the bar.
The Huskies played their typically defensive-oriented formation and dropped back players in an effort to cripple the Knights’ attack. It was very effective for much of the night. Prospect was the more aggressive team and had the better opportunities, particularly in the first half.
Stokes and Mulvihill were very effective in breaking down the Huskies’ defensive interior and breaking to the edge. Twice in the first half, Mulvihill made sharp crosses that Prospect valiantly tried to get a first touch on.
Senior midfielder Natalie Marfilius also had a ball just go over the top of the bar, and another shot push just wide of the far post.
“I think [recently] we felt a little frustrated because a lot of games we dominated, with possession and with the ball, but we could not finish,” Stokes said. “That was our finish.
“Losing Ashley Welk, who was our leading scorer, didn’t help with the finishing part.
“During our games, we needed to shoot the ball.”
The last home game for the class of 2018 ended note perfect. Now the Knights get ready to play Fremd in a Tuesday night crossover and then open the state playoffs in the Class 3A Evanston Regional opener against Taft from the Chicago Public League.
“I think today really goes a long way in lifting some spirits,” Froats said. “We’ve had some tough losses on the way. To be able to right the ship and to be able to see things we like to happen, get the the ball wide, get the service in into the dangerous area and get on the end of it, to see that happen is awesome.”
Starting lineups
Hersey
GK: Emma Hager
D: Katrina Seugalla
D: Jane Stefaniak
D: Emma Wilson
M: Jena Hill
M: Maddy Kim
M: Hannah Grawe
M: Avery Larson
F: Chloe Sena
F: Krista Thuer
F: Marlena Kot
Prospect
GK: Gianna Rossi
D: Helen Siavelis
D: Ashley Erickson
D: Madalyn Ladd
D: Kelly Moran
M: Natalie Marfilius
M: Sarah Mulvihill
M: Faith Fitzsimmons
M: Natalie Miodowski
F: Ella Marzolf
F: Shawna Stokes
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Shawna Stokes, sr., F, Prospect
Scoring summary
Second half
Prospect—Faith Fitzsimmons (Shawna Stokes-Sarah Mulvihill), 67th minute
By Patrick Z. McGavin
MOUNT PROSPECT -- Everything about “the play” was beautiful, and deeply fitting. On Senior Night as Prospect honored the careers and achievements of seven players from a historic class, three from the cherished group put together a dazzling moment nobody here is ever likely to forget.
It played out like a dream for Shawna Stokes, Sarah Mulvihill and Faith Fitzsimmons, by turns exhilarating, deft and poignant. It also spelled victory.
Stokes initiated the action with a breakout that ended with her slotting the ball to Mulvihill who provided the sublime service into the box that Fitzsimmons finished with a magnetic volley from about six yards to inside the near post in the 67th minute for the Knights’ 1-0 regular season finale against rival Hersey on Monday night.
“It was just perfect,” Fitzsimmons said of her sixth goal. “It was a perfect sequence from senior to senior to senior. Seeing it go in the back of the corner was just a relief. Hersey is our big rival.
“We definitely had a lot of opportunities, and we kept trying and trying. In the second half we knew we had to come out and get a goal.”
Stokes, who earned the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honor, was the lightning rod, the one who broke down the gut of the Hersey interior and created the seams that Mulvihill and Fitzsimmons exploited. Quick and explosive, she got the ball and broke past a defender on the right wing in creating the advantage for the Knights.
Her speed created sufficient space for the events that followed.
“I think it was like a breakaway and then we all got up together, and we started to connecting,” Stokes said. “Sarah passed it to Faith and then a one-touch into the goal. We had some good build-up and strong chances. I think we just started to shoot more.
“Once we started connecting, we had the opportunities.”
The scoring play was unmatchable as far as design and execution. Each of the three principals had ideal spatial balance, the freedom to run and make a soccer play without feeling cramped. Hersey could only react. Stokes broke the defense, Mulvihill intensified the pressure, and Fitzsimmons buried the shot.
“I saw Faith was open, and I knew I had to get her the ball,” Mulvihill said. “The timing had to be there, because if anything else, a Hersey player could have just stepped in.”
Prospect coach Tom Froats had been waiting patiently for the moment to drop.
“As you saw tonight, we play some really beautiful soccer. We play the game the right way, and we just have not been able to get on the end of some of those finishes in the box,” he said. “To see Faith, a senior, finish from another senior on the service from Sarah, was outstanding. She broke down the initial defender and then finding the service to connect with Sarah.
“It was well served and certainly befitting of an awesome senior class.”
Prospect (11-7-1, 6-4-1) ruined the Huskies’ night in more ways than one. Prospect, Hersey, Elk Grove and Buffalo Grove finished in a very unusual four-way tie atop the East Division of the Mid-Suburban League with 19 points.
Heading into the game, Prospect and Buffalo Grove were already eliminated from representing the East in the league Soccer Bowl on Wednesday night against no. 4 Barrington based on division record and head-to-head play.
Elk Grove advanced despite being upset by Schaumburg 1-0 Monday night.
In retrospect, all Hersey needed was a tie to advance. The Schaumburg game, like Prospect’s, a make-up date from the lightning and rain storms of last Wednesday, concluded just as the second half started in Mount Prospect.
“We heard that Elk Grove lost, and we said, at halftime, that means that we really have to put it together now,” sophomore forward Chloe Sena said. “For me, I tried not to let it affect me, because it could get in the way, affect my playing. I tried not to let it, and I don’t think the team did either.
“We just continued playing.”
Sena generated the Huskies’ top scoring chance in the 58th minute after she got clipped from behind by a Prospect defender. That led to a free kick from just outside the box that Sena smashed, but a defender on the Prospect wall deflected it.
“It was a good effort to get us up there,” Sena said. “I thought we did a great job of connecting to make the opportunity happen. It was definitely unfortunate that it deflected off the Prospect girl, but it was a good effort to get up there.”
Hersey (6-12-1, 6-4-1) was already dealing with a significant void, the absence of star junior midfielder Laura Burckhardt, the team’s best offensive talent who was not available. The Huskies looked to other options on a young team that started the year 0-5-0. Midfielder Avery Larson, a freshman, impressed for the Huskies. Senior defender Emma Wilson played a nice ball in the first half that skipped over the top of the bar.
The Huskies played their typically defensive-oriented formation and dropped back players in an effort to cripple the Knights’ attack. It was very effective for much of the night. Prospect was the more aggressive team and had the better opportunities, particularly in the first half.
Stokes and Mulvihill were very effective in breaking down the Huskies’ defensive interior and breaking to the edge. Twice in the first half, Mulvihill made sharp crosses that Prospect valiantly tried to get a first touch on.
Senior midfielder Natalie Marfilius also had a ball just go over the top of the bar, and another shot push just wide of the far post.
“I think [recently] we felt a little frustrated because a lot of games we dominated, with possession and with the ball, but we could not finish,” Stokes said. “That was our finish.
“Losing Ashley Welk, who was our leading scorer, didn’t help with the finishing part.
“During our games, we needed to shoot the ball.”
The last home game for the class of 2018 ended note perfect. Now the Knights get ready to play Fremd in a Tuesday night crossover and then open the state playoffs in the Class 3A Evanston Regional opener against Taft from the Chicago Public League.
“I think today really goes a long way in lifting some spirits,” Froats said. “We’ve had some tough losses on the way. To be able to right the ship and to be able to see things we like to happen, get the the ball wide, get the service in into the dangerous area and get on the end of it, to see that happen is awesome.”
Starting lineups
Hersey
GK: Emma Hager
D: Katrina Seugalla
D: Jane Stefaniak
D: Emma Wilson
M: Jena Hill
M: Maddy Kim
M: Hannah Grawe
M: Avery Larson
F: Chloe Sena
F: Krista Thuer
F: Marlena Kot
Prospect
GK: Gianna Rossi
D: Helen Siavelis
D: Ashley Erickson
D: Madalyn Ladd
D: Kelly Moran
M: Natalie Marfilius
M: Sarah Mulvihill
M: Faith Fitzsimmons
M: Natalie Miodowski
F: Ella Marzolf
F: Shawna Stokes
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Shawna Stokes, sr., F, Prospect
Scoring summary
Second half
Prospect—Faith Fitzsimmons (Shawna Stokes-Sarah Mulvihill), 67th minute