Naperville N. grinds out PK win over Lyons
Huskies earn 1st state title game berth since 2013
By Dave Owen
NAPERVILLE – The battle into penalty kicks in Friday’s Class 3A state semifinal was the only logical finish for Naperville North and Lyons.
Between the waves of injuries that swept the Lions (18-3-1) all year and the postseason battles from behind waged by the Huskies (14-5-4), nothing else would have seemed possible than a draw after 100 minutes of play.
After her penalty kick session heroics helped seal a Naperville North victory (1-1 tie, then a 4-2 edge in PK’s), Huskies senior goalkeeper Amanda Johnson tried to sum up her team’s roller-coaster ride to their first state title match since winning in 2013.
“It’s insane, the best feeling ever,” Johnson said. “Especially with this group here – (coach Steve) Goletz always talks about how our team is special, and we are. We really have such a fight in us.
“We don’t stop, we never quit. We’re down one, we come back. We fight back with one and then two. That’s the story of this team – we’ve really had a fighter’s mentality and shown that, and today was no different.”
Lyons showed its own resiliency and grit worthy of a champion.
Already beset by injuries all year long, the Lions had to deal with the loss of standout senior defender Grace Truax to a knee injury in Tuesday’s supersectional win over Andrew.
“She’s as tough as they come,” Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary said, “and when she was down and not moving we knew it wasn’t good.
“We’ve had more injuries this year than I can ever remember. Kids going down, other kids stepping up, then someone comes back and another kid goes down. Cara (Perez) stepped in (at goalkeeper) when (starter Sophie) Grabis went down and did awesome.”
Enduring the massive losses to the defensive unit of Grabis and Truax was just the latest in a season-long injury roll call.
“Grace, our starting keeper (Grabis), Izzy Alvarado, Bella Dziak and Kayla Aurienne are out,” Lanspeary said. “Nora Blake was out earlier, and Peri Kracker. “
"It’s been kind of roll right through.
“It’s cliché, but it’s been a great team mentality. The next kid steps in but also raises their game knowing that ‘I have to fill this kid’s shoes.’ They step in and do it.”
The Lions overcame those waves of injuries to grab a 1-0 lead Friday. Just 1:33 before halftime, Ava Dallavo’s high corner kick send found both Eileen Murphy and Olivia Wirtz free near post – with Wirtz getting the header putaway for her fifth goal of the season.
“We’ve been dangerous on corners all year,” Murphy said. “That’s how we scored in this one. And we were getting around them pretty well on the outside.”
But just when it began to appear late in the second half that the Lions would make that goal stand up for their first state title game appearance since 1997, Naperville North turned a wild scramble with 15:25 left in regulation into a 1-1 score.
That tying play came through a mix of Huskies moxy – and more than a touch of controversy and confusion.
On the tying goal itself, Hannah Martin battled Lyons star midfielder Murphy for a loose ball in the box off a Maddie Schlecht cross, won possession and lined a 12-yard shot into an open net for her 17th goal of 2019.
“Number 13 (Murphy) fell on it, so I just kept on kicking at it,” Martin said. “I think their goalie (Perez) came out, and it just happened to slip in.
“We knew this game was going to come down to the dirt,” Martin said. “It’s not always technical, it’s a fight out there. It’s just who’s willing to work that hard.
“Maddie slipped it through and their girl got there,” Martin added, “but to keep fighting to get it in is what you need to do in these games.”
From the Lions’ perspective, the entire scramble had ominous origins.
“Their girl (Martin) came from an outside position,” Murphy said, “and the side ref had his flag up (for offsides) and put it back down. He put his flag up so we all thought he was going to call it, and then he put it down.”
Said Lanspeary: “That (offside) is what we thought. It looked like a flag went up ,and we thought they were calling an over-and-back offsides. We saw that motion, and then all of a sudden it wasn’t.”
Whatever the factors, the result was a tie score. And after rallying from a 1-0 halftime deficit to beat Minooka 2-1 in the supersectionals, Naperville North had produced even more comeback heroics.
“Hannah, the kid battles game in and game out,” Goletz said. “We expect the world out of her, and she’s talented enough and athletic enough that all it takes is one chance. She battled through that scrum to swat that in.”
Said Johnson: “We’ve had a ton of goals like Hannah’s today – fighting, scrappy. We had to get a goal no matter what it took and who was on it. Today it was Hannah.
“Sometimes it’s Katie (Murphy), sometimes it’s (Leah) Shumate,” Johnson added. “Whoever gets it, we’re happy for them. Today Hannah put in the extra effort, and we get a goal out of it.”
The Lions answered the Huskies goal with the advantage in chances late in regulation, and for much of the pair of 10-minute overtimes.
Johnson’s short-hop save of a Georgia Daugherty 23-yard shot with 45 seconds left closed regulation.
The Lions produced two corner kicks in the first OT (each cleared from the box by Reilly Riggs).
Against Young, Murphy’s perfectly placed free kick goal inside the left post late in the sectional final produced a 2-1 Lyons win.
She nearly repeated the feat with 8:25 left in the second OT on Friday, but her 26-yard free kick curled just wide of the upper left corner.
Johnson followed with a prelude to her PK heroics. Just 45 seconds later, she made a diving save on Dallavo’s 20-yard drive off a throw-in. Then with 4:30 left, a long send sprung Murphy for a 10-yard high liner that Johnson leaped to deflect over the net.
“It definitely helped me a little bit,” Johnson said of the OT saves, “kind of keeping the adrenalin up and not staying stagnant. Especially going to PKs where it’s such high energy. That’s something that was really important to me.”
That PK session wouldn’t come until a Huskies near-miss, seemingly out of nowhere.
With two minutes left in the second OT, Shumate’s 53-yard free kick took a high bounce that required a leaping Perez deflection off the crossbar. A Huskies hand ball on the rebound scramble ended the play.
Then once the PKs came, it was Johnson’s hands that were the difference.
While Naperville North shooters Shumate, Katie Murphy, Emily Dulik and Martin all converted their tries in order, Johnson made a diving save at the left post on Lyons’ second shooter – then made a catch on her right on the fourth shot to seal the Huskies win.
“Today I really didn’t have a whole lot of knowledge on the people that were shooting,” Johnson said, “so I just went right pretty much every time unless they gave me a cue not to.”
The PK session was Lyons’ first of 2019, and just the second for the Huskies (after an April 8 PK win over Evanston).
“We’ve been practicing PKs every single day since playoffs started,” Johnson said, “so we had our reps, myself and our shooters. We just had to go in with confidence like we’ve been doing in practice, and we did it.
“Once we hit playoffs we started practicing (PKs). We knew we were going to have a game somewhere along the playoffs where we could use it.”
While Lyons was facing its first PK session of the spring, the result was an all too familiar feeling.
“It’s been I think at least the last four years in a row (losing in the tournament) on PKs,” Lanspeary said. “But we felt pretty confident going in to it. It just didn’t happen. Their keeper made a couple nice saves too.”
And with all his team endured to earn Lyons first state semifinal trip since 2006, Lanspeary had even more to be proud of with Friday’s performance.
“It was the same stuff that’s worked for us all season long,” he said. “Our backs are really tough. They’re well organized, they communicate and they don’t allow a lot of good chances.
“And our midfield is fantastic. They blanketed Eileen very well today and she still makes things happen. And Meara (Hilling) and Linnea (Nelson-Sandall) did an awesome job in there. And we think our forwards are very dangerous.
“Their backs (Naperville North) are awfully good too,” Lanspeary added, “so we didn’t get as much as we have throughout the season. But we still generated I thought some good opportunities.”
Those chances began early, with a Hilling one-timer over the net in the ninth minute and a Dallavo 28-yard free kick in the 18th minute that produced a loose ball and a Johnson cover in the crease.
In the leadup to the Lyons goal late in the first half, the two sides traded good defensive stands.
Huskies defender Emily Magee nicely denied a Wirtz shot in the 27thminute, followed by Lily Mattern’s block in front of a Martin touch off a Huskies corner kick in the 30th minute.
Shumate corner kicks in the 36th and 38th minutes ended with Martin redirects just wide – before Wirtz’s goal gave Lyons momentum heading into the half.
“It was a heck of a game,” said Lanspeary, whose team also dropped a 2-1 decision to the Huskies in the regular season. “It was a battle back and forth, and we knew it would be.
“I’m really proud. It’s been a great group, a hell of a run all season long really. You can see how much they care for each other playing with each other. It’s awesome.”
That same camaraderie has carried the Huskies through their own ups and downs.
“It’s a special thing they have going,” Goletz said, “and I attribute it to the whole makeup of the group. It’s battle hard enough and long enough, and someone always steps up and makes the play down the stretch. And when you’re tested game-in and game-out you know what you have to do. They bought into what they have to do to be hard to beat.
“Our stats aren’t gaudy in terms of goal scoring and shutouts, but our backline tonight was fantastic. Emily Magee was unbelievable, and Amanda in the shootout – when your goalkeeper saves two...”
Lyons’ tenacity earned similar praise from the Huskies bench boss.
“LT’s a fantastic team,” Goletz said. “We know that, we play them every year. Murphy’s a fantastic player, and I know they were nicked up with some injuries. You can see what their kids did stepping up and playing their best game when it mattered.”
With the Illinois-bound Murphy leading the way, the Lions have indeed had a breakthrough year.
“It’s the same effort every game,” Murphy said. “Everybody goes out there and tries their hardest no matter what. It just didn’t go our way today.”
Naperville North’s ability to grind out wins has been a yearlong source of frustration for foes.
“We’ve fallen behind quite a few times this season and come back and won,” Martin said. “And that’s just because we fight so hard.
“We knew coming out they (Lyons) were going to be physical,” Martin added. “They’re a great team; they play just like us. They’ll keep running you over and keep fighting. But with Amanda’s huge saves in goal and our defense shutting them down after we tied it up, it was just a big team effort.
“I doubt we’re the most technical team and there’s a lot of teams at North that have been better than us, but if you work hard it comes down to this, the little things.”
Friday, that little thing turned into a big PK session.
“Penalty kicks are always nerve-wracking,” Martin said, “and for a goalie to save two gives your team so much momentum. For her to make those saves got us that were shooting so pumped up. It’s a cool opportunity she got for us by saving those – we’re going to the state championships.”
Having already secured the 10th top-four state finish in program history, the Huskies now seek to claim a fourth championship.
“You never would have expected this (state final),” Goletz said. “For this group to go through what they did with injuries and losing so many kids from last year’s team, and still come out here on top and have a chance to play for a state championship – it’s something I’m always indebted to this group, to get us back here in what is a storied program.”
Starting lineups
Lyons
GK: Cara Perez
D: Eli Kosonovich
D: Lily Mattern
D: Bri Stirrat
D: Peri Kracker
M: Eileen Murphy
M: Linnea Nelson-Sandall
M: Meara Hilling
M: Colleen Kulinski
F: Georgia Daugherty
F: Ava Dallavo
Naperville North
GK: Amanda Johnson
D: Emily Magee
D: Reilly Riggs
D: Paige Sylvester
M: Kaitlyn Castillo
M: Taylor Klaiber
M: Leah Shumate
M: Maddie Schlecht
M: Emily Dulik
F: Katie Murphy
F: Hannah Martin
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Amanda Johnson, sr. GK, Naperville North
Scoring summary
First half
Lyons- Olivia Wirtz (Ava Dallavo), 39th minute
Second half
NN- Hannah Martin, 65th minute
PKs:
NN (4)- Leah Shumate, Katie Murphy, Emily Dulik, Martin
Lyons (2)- Meara Hilling, Eileen Murphy
Huskies earn 1st state title game berth since 2013
By Dave Owen
NAPERVILLE – The battle into penalty kicks in Friday’s Class 3A state semifinal was the only logical finish for Naperville North and Lyons.
Between the waves of injuries that swept the Lions (18-3-1) all year and the postseason battles from behind waged by the Huskies (14-5-4), nothing else would have seemed possible than a draw after 100 minutes of play.
After her penalty kick session heroics helped seal a Naperville North victory (1-1 tie, then a 4-2 edge in PK’s), Huskies senior goalkeeper Amanda Johnson tried to sum up her team’s roller-coaster ride to their first state title match since winning in 2013.
“It’s insane, the best feeling ever,” Johnson said. “Especially with this group here – (coach Steve) Goletz always talks about how our team is special, and we are. We really have such a fight in us.
“We don’t stop, we never quit. We’re down one, we come back. We fight back with one and then two. That’s the story of this team – we’ve really had a fighter’s mentality and shown that, and today was no different.”
Lyons showed its own resiliency and grit worthy of a champion.
Already beset by injuries all year long, the Lions had to deal with the loss of standout senior defender Grace Truax to a knee injury in Tuesday’s supersectional win over Andrew.
“She’s as tough as they come,” Lyons coach Bill Lanspeary said, “and when she was down and not moving we knew it wasn’t good.
“We’ve had more injuries this year than I can ever remember. Kids going down, other kids stepping up, then someone comes back and another kid goes down. Cara (Perez) stepped in (at goalkeeper) when (starter Sophie) Grabis went down and did awesome.”
Enduring the massive losses to the defensive unit of Grabis and Truax was just the latest in a season-long injury roll call.
“Grace, our starting keeper (Grabis), Izzy Alvarado, Bella Dziak and Kayla Aurienne are out,” Lanspeary said. “Nora Blake was out earlier, and Peri Kracker. “
"It’s been kind of roll right through.
“It’s cliché, but it’s been a great team mentality. The next kid steps in but also raises their game knowing that ‘I have to fill this kid’s shoes.’ They step in and do it.”
The Lions overcame those waves of injuries to grab a 1-0 lead Friday. Just 1:33 before halftime, Ava Dallavo’s high corner kick send found both Eileen Murphy and Olivia Wirtz free near post – with Wirtz getting the header putaway for her fifth goal of the season.
“We’ve been dangerous on corners all year,” Murphy said. “That’s how we scored in this one. And we were getting around them pretty well on the outside.”
But just when it began to appear late in the second half that the Lions would make that goal stand up for their first state title game appearance since 1997, Naperville North turned a wild scramble with 15:25 left in regulation into a 1-1 score.
That tying play came through a mix of Huskies moxy – and more than a touch of controversy and confusion.
On the tying goal itself, Hannah Martin battled Lyons star midfielder Murphy for a loose ball in the box off a Maddie Schlecht cross, won possession and lined a 12-yard shot into an open net for her 17th goal of 2019.
“Number 13 (Murphy) fell on it, so I just kept on kicking at it,” Martin said. “I think their goalie (Perez) came out, and it just happened to slip in.
“We knew this game was going to come down to the dirt,” Martin said. “It’s not always technical, it’s a fight out there. It’s just who’s willing to work that hard.
“Maddie slipped it through and their girl got there,” Martin added, “but to keep fighting to get it in is what you need to do in these games.”
From the Lions’ perspective, the entire scramble had ominous origins.
“Their girl (Martin) came from an outside position,” Murphy said, “and the side ref had his flag up (for offsides) and put it back down. He put his flag up so we all thought he was going to call it, and then he put it down.”
Said Lanspeary: “That (offside) is what we thought. It looked like a flag went up ,and we thought they were calling an over-and-back offsides. We saw that motion, and then all of a sudden it wasn’t.”
Whatever the factors, the result was a tie score. And after rallying from a 1-0 halftime deficit to beat Minooka 2-1 in the supersectionals, Naperville North had produced even more comeback heroics.
“Hannah, the kid battles game in and game out,” Goletz said. “We expect the world out of her, and she’s talented enough and athletic enough that all it takes is one chance. She battled through that scrum to swat that in.”
Said Johnson: “We’ve had a ton of goals like Hannah’s today – fighting, scrappy. We had to get a goal no matter what it took and who was on it. Today it was Hannah.
“Sometimes it’s Katie (Murphy), sometimes it’s (Leah) Shumate,” Johnson added. “Whoever gets it, we’re happy for them. Today Hannah put in the extra effort, and we get a goal out of it.”
The Lions answered the Huskies goal with the advantage in chances late in regulation, and for much of the pair of 10-minute overtimes.
Johnson’s short-hop save of a Georgia Daugherty 23-yard shot with 45 seconds left closed regulation.
The Lions produced two corner kicks in the first OT (each cleared from the box by Reilly Riggs).
Against Young, Murphy’s perfectly placed free kick goal inside the left post late in the sectional final produced a 2-1 Lyons win.
She nearly repeated the feat with 8:25 left in the second OT on Friday, but her 26-yard free kick curled just wide of the upper left corner.
Johnson followed with a prelude to her PK heroics. Just 45 seconds later, she made a diving save on Dallavo’s 20-yard drive off a throw-in. Then with 4:30 left, a long send sprung Murphy for a 10-yard high liner that Johnson leaped to deflect over the net.
“It definitely helped me a little bit,” Johnson said of the OT saves, “kind of keeping the adrenalin up and not staying stagnant. Especially going to PKs where it’s such high energy. That’s something that was really important to me.”
That PK session wouldn’t come until a Huskies near-miss, seemingly out of nowhere.
With two minutes left in the second OT, Shumate’s 53-yard free kick took a high bounce that required a leaping Perez deflection off the crossbar. A Huskies hand ball on the rebound scramble ended the play.
Then once the PKs came, it was Johnson’s hands that were the difference.
While Naperville North shooters Shumate, Katie Murphy, Emily Dulik and Martin all converted their tries in order, Johnson made a diving save at the left post on Lyons’ second shooter – then made a catch on her right on the fourth shot to seal the Huskies win.
“Today I really didn’t have a whole lot of knowledge on the people that were shooting,” Johnson said, “so I just went right pretty much every time unless they gave me a cue not to.”
The PK session was Lyons’ first of 2019, and just the second for the Huskies (after an April 8 PK win over Evanston).
“We’ve been practicing PKs every single day since playoffs started,” Johnson said, “so we had our reps, myself and our shooters. We just had to go in with confidence like we’ve been doing in practice, and we did it.
“Once we hit playoffs we started practicing (PKs). We knew we were going to have a game somewhere along the playoffs where we could use it.”
While Lyons was facing its first PK session of the spring, the result was an all too familiar feeling.
“It’s been I think at least the last four years in a row (losing in the tournament) on PKs,” Lanspeary said. “But we felt pretty confident going in to it. It just didn’t happen. Their keeper made a couple nice saves too.”
And with all his team endured to earn Lyons first state semifinal trip since 2006, Lanspeary had even more to be proud of with Friday’s performance.
“It was the same stuff that’s worked for us all season long,” he said. “Our backs are really tough. They’re well organized, they communicate and they don’t allow a lot of good chances.
“And our midfield is fantastic. They blanketed Eileen very well today and she still makes things happen. And Meara (Hilling) and Linnea (Nelson-Sandall) did an awesome job in there. And we think our forwards are very dangerous.
“Their backs (Naperville North) are awfully good too,” Lanspeary added, “so we didn’t get as much as we have throughout the season. But we still generated I thought some good opportunities.”
Those chances began early, with a Hilling one-timer over the net in the ninth minute and a Dallavo 28-yard free kick in the 18th minute that produced a loose ball and a Johnson cover in the crease.
In the leadup to the Lyons goal late in the first half, the two sides traded good defensive stands.
Huskies defender Emily Magee nicely denied a Wirtz shot in the 27thminute, followed by Lily Mattern’s block in front of a Martin touch off a Huskies corner kick in the 30th minute.
Shumate corner kicks in the 36th and 38th minutes ended with Martin redirects just wide – before Wirtz’s goal gave Lyons momentum heading into the half.
“It was a heck of a game,” said Lanspeary, whose team also dropped a 2-1 decision to the Huskies in the regular season. “It was a battle back and forth, and we knew it would be.
“I’m really proud. It’s been a great group, a hell of a run all season long really. You can see how much they care for each other playing with each other. It’s awesome.”
That same camaraderie has carried the Huskies through their own ups and downs.
“It’s a special thing they have going,” Goletz said, “and I attribute it to the whole makeup of the group. It’s battle hard enough and long enough, and someone always steps up and makes the play down the stretch. And when you’re tested game-in and game-out you know what you have to do. They bought into what they have to do to be hard to beat.
“Our stats aren’t gaudy in terms of goal scoring and shutouts, but our backline tonight was fantastic. Emily Magee was unbelievable, and Amanda in the shootout – when your goalkeeper saves two...”
Lyons’ tenacity earned similar praise from the Huskies bench boss.
“LT’s a fantastic team,” Goletz said. “We know that, we play them every year. Murphy’s a fantastic player, and I know they were nicked up with some injuries. You can see what their kids did stepping up and playing their best game when it mattered.”
With the Illinois-bound Murphy leading the way, the Lions have indeed had a breakthrough year.
“It’s the same effort every game,” Murphy said. “Everybody goes out there and tries their hardest no matter what. It just didn’t go our way today.”
Naperville North’s ability to grind out wins has been a yearlong source of frustration for foes.
“We’ve fallen behind quite a few times this season and come back and won,” Martin said. “And that’s just because we fight so hard.
“We knew coming out they (Lyons) were going to be physical,” Martin added. “They’re a great team; they play just like us. They’ll keep running you over and keep fighting. But with Amanda’s huge saves in goal and our defense shutting them down after we tied it up, it was just a big team effort.
“I doubt we’re the most technical team and there’s a lot of teams at North that have been better than us, but if you work hard it comes down to this, the little things.”
Friday, that little thing turned into a big PK session.
“Penalty kicks are always nerve-wracking,” Martin said, “and for a goalie to save two gives your team so much momentum. For her to make those saves got us that were shooting so pumped up. It’s a cool opportunity she got for us by saving those – we’re going to the state championships.”
Having already secured the 10th top-four state finish in program history, the Huskies now seek to claim a fourth championship.
“You never would have expected this (state final),” Goletz said. “For this group to go through what they did with injuries and losing so many kids from last year’s team, and still come out here on top and have a chance to play for a state championship – it’s something I’m always indebted to this group, to get us back here in what is a storied program.”
Starting lineups
Lyons
GK: Cara Perez
D: Eli Kosonovich
D: Lily Mattern
D: Bri Stirrat
D: Peri Kracker
M: Eileen Murphy
M: Linnea Nelson-Sandall
M: Meara Hilling
M: Colleen Kulinski
F: Georgia Daugherty
F: Ava Dallavo
Naperville North
GK: Amanda Johnson
D: Emily Magee
D: Reilly Riggs
D: Paige Sylvester
M: Kaitlyn Castillo
M: Taylor Klaiber
M: Leah Shumate
M: Maddie Schlecht
M: Emily Dulik
F: Katie Murphy
F: Hannah Martin
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Amanda Johnson, sr. GK, Naperville North
Scoring summary
First half
Lyons- Olivia Wirtz (Ava Dallavo), 39th minute
Second half
NN- Hannah Martin, 65th minute
PKs:
NN (4)- Leah Shumate, Katie Murphy, Emily Dulik, Martin
Lyons (2)- Meara Hilling, Eileen Murphy