Fenwick beats halftime buzzer,
takes down Payton
LoGiudice’s header holds up, Friars shock top-seeded Grizzlies
By Michael Wojtychiw
RIVER FOREST -- Natalie LoGiudice had no idea the ball went into the net.
The senior midfielder lined up in the box to await a corner kick with just seconds to go until halftime of Fenwick's sectional final game against Payton. The next thing she knew she was getting mobbed by teammates and running up the field to celebrate her goal.
The score was the only one of the game and defeated the top-seeded Grizzlies 1-0 at the Priory Fields, allowing the third-seeded Friars to win their first sectional since 2019. The previous two times Fenwick won a sectional before that, it brought home state hardware (third in Class AA in 2013; fourth in Class A 2004).
“I don’t even remember it. I was just in the moment,” LoGuidice said. “It went past our offense, and it came to me. I just kicked it, and I don’t remember it going in. When I saw it and was running back, I don’t remember any of it.
“We were going as fast we could to get the ball. With that adrenaline, we had the energy to just get it in, hurry up and then it happened. It gave us that confidence going into the second half, knowing that we were up.
“To win it at home is amazing. We definitely defend our home field and don’t want to lose on our home field. It was amazing having all these fans here. A couple of games we haven’t had a lot of fans because of weather and stuff. With the fans here, it gave us more confidence.”
“We wanted to build off the last game, knowing Payton’s a good team and likes to play direct,” Fenwick manager Craig Blazer said. “We kind of got caught up with the excitement and toughness, so we had to go more direct and weren’t able to get as much momentum as we wanted, but we were able to get the ball behind them enough.
“This is a lot of fun. Credit to the whole team, our fans and students came out. What a great day.”
A crowd estimated at 200 saw the teams enter into a sectional final that both knew could be the toughest match on their hoped for road to the Class AA Final Four.
That thought process would turn out to be correct.
“I told our girls whoever gets by this game is probably going to go downstate,” Payton manager Paul Escobar said. “I had a feeling it was going to come down to a set piece, and unfortunately it went for them and not us.”
Fenwick (12-6-2) had an early opportunity when Kate Henige took a pass in front of the Payton defense and put it past Grizzlies goalie Chloe Guzik seven minutes in, but she was ruled offsides.
From there, it was a physical, defensive battle which saw both goalies make key plays. Backup Fenwick keeper Leah Hyland started in place of Audrey Hinrichs and made a big save on a shot by Felicity Cole, who recently returned to the Payton lineup after missing time with a foot injury.
Henige had another great opportunity for a chance at a goal with just under seven minutes remaining in the half when she rushed past the defense. But a pair of Payton defenders gained an advantage on the inside to take the ball away and clear the threat.
With 30 seconds remaining, the Friars earned a corner, which was taken by Emily Ortiz. She served the ball into the box, but it was knocked out of play by Payton (14-6-3), which gave the Friars a last-gasp chance.
That set up LoGuidice’s heroics.
Ortiz grabbed the ball, sprinted to the corner and hoped for the best.
“I was thinking ‘I just need to get this in before the half is over,’” she said. “I’ve had some kicks that have gone where I didn’t want them to go and for this one to go precisely where I wanted, it really meant a lot. Natalie knew where to be.”
Hinrichs replaced Hyland in goal for the second half and made a key save with about 12 minutes remaining when she stopped a ball flicked on by a Payton player off a free kick.
The Fenwick defense has stepped up all postseason and allowed only one goal through four games.
“What clicks is that we know we have to give our everything in these last couple games,” Ortiz said.
In the playoffs, much of Fenwick's offense has gone through the Henige sisters, senior Kate and sophomore Caroline. The pair had combined for a total of seven goals and two assists through three games. However, the Grizzlies defense did a good job against the sisters.
“We didn’t do anything special to help contain them, we just told our girls to be aware of them,” Escobar said. “We have some pretty athletic ladies as well, so I felt that one-on-one we matched up well with them. I was hoping our forwards or midfielders could get free from them, but we just couldn’t get much going in the offensive third.”
The offense and defense are clicking at the right time for Fenwick’s close-knit group.
“Team-bonding we do outside of just practice really helps us click as a team,” LoGuidice said. “It brings us together and makes us more comfortable than we were at the beginning of the year.
“I feel like if those two (Kate and Caroline) are being shut down, we have to realize to take advantage of the space and work with it.”
For Payton, it marked the end of a season that saw the Grizzlies start 0-3-0, but then win 14 and tie three of their next 20 games.
“This year, especially, I felt like this team had a lot of potential, and I wanted to show them what playing tough teams is,” Escobar said. “Sometimes you have to lose big to learn, and we learned a lot from those games. The intensity we got from those we brought to future games.”
The senior class was going for its second-consecutive sectional title, but Escobar said he wasn’t sure if it was exactly pressure his squad felt, especially since they had already made Payton soccer history with both the boys and girls programs making it to sectional title games in the same school year.
“Every year it’s hard to lose your seniors, but I’m really close with a lot of them and see them on a daily basis,” Escobar said. “It’s going to be tough. But they gave their all for the program, and they were great role models for the younger girls. That’s all you can ask for.
“I didn’t really talk to them about winning the sectional again. I told them they’d already made history by getting here two years in a row, so that’s quite an accomplishment.”
For Fenwick, the win sets up a matchup with DeLaSalle in the Brooks Supersectional at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Meteors sport a 21-3-0 record, have won 14 of their last 15 games and collected their first regional plaque.
Starting lineups
Fenwick
GK: Leah Hyland
D: Emily Ortiz
D: Lizzie Brunick
D: Abbie Rogowski
MF: Maddie Rogowski
MF: Caroline Henige
MF: Julia Cianci
MF: Gabi Kapusta
MF: Mia Cello
F: Kiera Mullarkey
F: Kate Henige
Payton
GK: Chloe Guzik
D: Tess Scrivner
D: Lola Feurer
D: Maddie Spark
D: Shea Vandermeid
MF: Norah Denehan
MF: Isabella Chitarro
MF: Norah Duritsa
MF: Kate Feurer
F: Felicity Cole
F: Nadine Denehan
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Natalie LoGiudice, sr., MF, Fenwick
Scoring summary
First half
F: Natalie LoGiudice (Emily Ortiz), 40th minute
Second half
No scoring
takes down Payton
LoGiudice’s header holds up, Friars shock top-seeded Grizzlies
By Michael Wojtychiw
RIVER FOREST -- Natalie LoGiudice had no idea the ball went into the net.
The senior midfielder lined up in the box to await a corner kick with just seconds to go until halftime of Fenwick's sectional final game against Payton. The next thing she knew she was getting mobbed by teammates and running up the field to celebrate her goal.
The score was the only one of the game and defeated the top-seeded Grizzlies 1-0 at the Priory Fields, allowing the third-seeded Friars to win their first sectional since 2019. The previous two times Fenwick won a sectional before that, it brought home state hardware (third in Class AA in 2013; fourth in Class A 2004).
“I don’t even remember it. I was just in the moment,” LoGuidice said. “It went past our offense, and it came to me. I just kicked it, and I don’t remember it going in. When I saw it and was running back, I don’t remember any of it.
“We were going as fast we could to get the ball. With that adrenaline, we had the energy to just get it in, hurry up and then it happened. It gave us that confidence going into the second half, knowing that we were up.
“To win it at home is amazing. We definitely defend our home field and don’t want to lose on our home field. It was amazing having all these fans here. A couple of games we haven’t had a lot of fans because of weather and stuff. With the fans here, it gave us more confidence.”
“We wanted to build off the last game, knowing Payton’s a good team and likes to play direct,” Fenwick manager Craig Blazer said. “We kind of got caught up with the excitement and toughness, so we had to go more direct and weren’t able to get as much momentum as we wanted, but we were able to get the ball behind them enough.
“This is a lot of fun. Credit to the whole team, our fans and students came out. What a great day.”
A crowd estimated at 200 saw the teams enter into a sectional final that both knew could be the toughest match on their hoped for road to the Class AA Final Four.
That thought process would turn out to be correct.
“I told our girls whoever gets by this game is probably going to go downstate,” Payton manager Paul Escobar said. “I had a feeling it was going to come down to a set piece, and unfortunately it went for them and not us.”
Fenwick (12-6-2) had an early opportunity when Kate Henige took a pass in front of the Payton defense and put it past Grizzlies goalie Chloe Guzik seven minutes in, but she was ruled offsides.
From there, it was a physical, defensive battle which saw both goalies make key plays. Backup Fenwick keeper Leah Hyland started in place of Audrey Hinrichs and made a big save on a shot by Felicity Cole, who recently returned to the Payton lineup after missing time with a foot injury.
Henige had another great opportunity for a chance at a goal with just under seven minutes remaining in the half when she rushed past the defense. But a pair of Payton defenders gained an advantage on the inside to take the ball away and clear the threat.
With 30 seconds remaining, the Friars earned a corner, which was taken by Emily Ortiz. She served the ball into the box, but it was knocked out of play by Payton (14-6-3), which gave the Friars a last-gasp chance.
That set up LoGuidice’s heroics.
Ortiz grabbed the ball, sprinted to the corner and hoped for the best.
“I was thinking ‘I just need to get this in before the half is over,’” she said. “I’ve had some kicks that have gone where I didn’t want them to go and for this one to go precisely where I wanted, it really meant a lot. Natalie knew where to be.”
Hinrichs replaced Hyland in goal for the second half and made a key save with about 12 minutes remaining when she stopped a ball flicked on by a Payton player off a free kick.
The Fenwick defense has stepped up all postseason and allowed only one goal through four games.
“What clicks is that we know we have to give our everything in these last couple games,” Ortiz said.
In the playoffs, much of Fenwick's offense has gone through the Henige sisters, senior Kate and sophomore Caroline. The pair had combined for a total of seven goals and two assists through three games. However, the Grizzlies defense did a good job against the sisters.
“We didn’t do anything special to help contain them, we just told our girls to be aware of them,” Escobar said. “We have some pretty athletic ladies as well, so I felt that one-on-one we matched up well with them. I was hoping our forwards or midfielders could get free from them, but we just couldn’t get much going in the offensive third.”
The offense and defense are clicking at the right time for Fenwick’s close-knit group.
“Team-bonding we do outside of just practice really helps us click as a team,” LoGuidice said. “It brings us together and makes us more comfortable than we were at the beginning of the year.
“I feel like if those two (Kate and Caroline) are being shut down, we have to realize to take advantage of the space and work with it.”
For Payton, it marked the end of a season that saw the Grizzlies start 0-3-0, but then win 14 and tie three of their next 20 games.
“This year, especially, I felt like this team had a lot of potential, and I wanted to show them what playing tough teams is,” Escobar said. “Sometimes you have to lose big to learn, and we learned a lot from those games. The intensity we got from those we brought to future games.”
The senior class was going for its second-consecutive sectional title, but Escobar said he wasn’t sure if it was exactly pressure his squad felt, especially since they had already made Payton soccer history with both the boys and girls programs making it to sectional title games in the same school year.
“Every year it’s hard to lose your seniors, but I’m really close with a lot of them and see them on a daily basis,” Escobar said. “It’s going to be tough. But they gave their all for the program, and they were great role models for the younger girls. That’s all you can ask for.
“I didn’t really talk to them about winning the sectional again. I told them they’d already made history by getting here two years in a row, so that’s quite an accomplishment.”
For Fenwick, the win sets up a matchup with DeLaSalle in the Brooks Supersectional at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Meteors sport a 21-3-0 record, have won 14 of their last 15 games and collected their first regional plaque.
Starting lineups
Fenwick
GK: Leah Hyland
D: Emily Ortiz
D: Lizzie Brunick
D: Abbie Rogowski
MF: Maddie Rogowski
MF: Caroline Henige
MF: Julia Cianci
MF: Gabi Kapusta
MF: Mia Cello
F: Kiera Mullarkey
F: Kate Henige
Payton
GK: Chloe Guzik
D: Tess Scrivner
D: Lola Feurer
D: Maddie Spark
D: Shea Vandermeid
MF: Norah Denehan
MF: Isabella Chitarro
MF: Norah Duritsa
MF: Kate Feurer
F: Felicity Cole
F: Nadine Denehan
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Natalie LoGiudice, sr., MF, Fenwick
Scoring summary
First half
F: Natalie LoGiudice (Emily Ortiz), 40th minute
Second half
No scoring