Class A finals preview: IC Catholic Prep
By Matt Le Cren
You won’t find any future college stars on the IC Catholic Prep girls soccer team.
In fact, none of the eight seniors are going to play the sport in college.
No, all the Knights have are a bunch of winners.
And this special group made school history by beating University (Chicago) 1-0 on a goal by junior Grace Fuller on Tuesday night at the Class 1A Concordia University Chicago Supersectional.
That win was IC’s 10th straight and ensured the program’s first state trophy.
The playoff payoff begins in the Class A state semifinals, where the Knights (21-6-0) will take on state power Notre Dame (22-1-1), of Quincy, at 7 p.m. Friday at North Central College in Naperville.
Notre Dame, which has won 504 games since 1990 under coach Mark Longo, is the team to beat in the small school Final Four. The Raiders, who are ranked fourth in the Illinois 10 poll of teams outside of Chicagoland Soccer's main coverage area, won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013 and seek their fourth championship since 2010. This appearance ends a 3-year absence from the finals and is the school's seventh. The state final visits include a fourth place finish in 2000, the second-to-last year of the IHSA's one-class playoff system.
“I think they’re the clear favorite,” IC coach Tom Schergen said. “They have great soccer players all over the field.
“They really don’t have a weak spot. You look at their history; they have been (to state) quite a bit over the last decade. They have an established soccer tradition.”
In contrast, the Lady Knights have been to state just once before. That came in 2008, the final year of the two-class system, when eight teams advanced. IC lost 4-0 to Columbia in the quarterfinals that year and finished 10-10-3.
This year’s squad is more talented and athletic than the 2008 side, yet few are picking them to beat Notre Dame. That’s fine with Schergen.
“The mood is very positive,” Schergen said. “We have nothing to lose.
“One of the special things about this group is they never think they’re out of it. We’ve had games where people have thought we were down and out, and we’ve come back to win.”
What the Lady Knights lack in soccer pedigree, they make up for with athleticism. Though only two players – sophomore Olivia Hurt and senior Kaitlyn Grady – play club soccer, 21 of the 26 players are multi-sport athletes.
“We take pride in that,” Schergen said. “Our program is built on very good athletes. Some of them didn’t play soccer, until they tried out freshman year.
“But they have a no-quit attitude. They give it their all every game. They’re going to play hard and physical.”
No one epitomizes that ethos more than senior defender Tess Reardon, who splits the captains role with with Grady, Tessa Langan and Liz Maloney.
Reardon is a four-year starter in three sports – volleyball, basketball and soccer – and has now helped the Lady Knights win a state trophy in all three.
Reardon was a freshman on the volleyball team that won the Class 2A state championship. She also helped the basketball team finish fourth in 2A in 2014 and 2015.
Reardon is the stabilizing influence on the backline. The Layd Knights have given up 50 goals, but 33 have come against teams from classes AA or 3A.
Stopping Notre Dame will be IC's toughest task. The Raiders have tallied 124 goals, including 35 in five playoff games. However the Raiders only posted a 1-0 supersectional win vs. Columbia (18-3-1). Notre Dame had also enjoyed a home field playoff advantage until Friday.
Four Raiders have scored in double figures, led by senior forward McKenzie Foley, who has 33 goals and 15 assists. Junior Olivia Dreyer has 21 goals and 24 assists.
The Knights will counter with senior forward Langan, who has bagged 31 goals to go with 21 assists, and Hurt, a sophomore who is generating recruiting interest. She has 25 goals and 18 assists and has the speed to get behind defenses.
Fuller is a talented playmaker in the middle with 17 goals and 12 assists.
Will that be enough to solve a defense that has given up only 13 goals?
Schergen isn’t going to worry about what the Raiders do.
“We’re going to be us,” Schergen said. “We’re going to play the way we know how, which is with hard work and physicality 100 percent of the time.
“If that doesn’t work, at least we can say we did it our own way. It’s going to be a good experience for the girls.”
Win or lose Friday, the Knights figure to have an excellent chance to end the season on a high note. The other semifinal pits Johnsburg (14-5-0) versus University (Normal) (14-9-1).
Neither of those squads has the pedigree of Notre Dame. Both finished fourth in their only previous state appearances.
Johnsburg finished fourth in 2013, after losing 5-2 to Notre Dame in the semifinals, in its only previous state appearance. The Skyhawks might rate the edge due to their nine-game winning streak.
However, University (Normal) has the most prolific player in the finals in senior forward Sarah LaFayette, who has 63 goals and 14 assists. The Pioneers have the second-best state history in the field. They finished second (2002) and fourth (2005) in Class A and fourth (2012) in Class AA.
By Matt Le Cren
You won’t find any future college stars on the IC Catholic Prep girls soccer team.
In fact, none of the eight seniors are going to play the sport in college.
No, all the Knights have are a bunch of winners.
And this special group made school history by beating University (Chicago) 1-0 on a goal by junior Grace Fuller on Tuesday night at the Class 1A Concordia University Chicago Supersectional.
That win was IC’s 10th straight and ensured the program’s first state trophy.
The playoff payoff begins in the Class A state semifinals, where the Knights (21-6-0) will take on state power Notre Dame (22-1-1), of Quincy, at 7 p.m. Friday at North Central College in Naperville.
Notre Dame, which has won 504 games since 1990 under coach Mark Longo, is the team to beat in the small school Final Four. The Raiders, who are ranked fourth in the Illinois 10 poll of teams outside of Chicagoland Soccer's main coverage area, won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013 and seek their fourth championship since 2010. This appearance ends a 3-year absence from the finals and is the school's seventh. The state final visits include a fourth place finish in 2000, the second-to-last year of the IHSA's one-class playoff system.
“I think they’re the clear favorite,” IC coach Tom Schergen said. “They have great soccer players all over the field.
“They really don’t have a weak spot. You look at their history; they have been (to state) quite a bit over the last decade. They have an established soccer tradition.”
In contrast, the Lady Knights have been to state just once before. That came in 2008, the final year of the two-class system, when eight teams advanced. IC lost 4-0 to Columbia in the quarterfinals that year and finished 10-10-3.
This year’s squad is more talented and athletic than the 2008 side, yet few are picking them to beat Notre Dame. That’s fine with Schergen.
“The mood is very positive,” Schergen said. “We have nothing to lose.
“One of the special things about this group is they never think they’re out of it. We’ve had games where people have thought we were down and out, and we’ve come back to win.”
What the Lady Knights lack in soccer pedigree, they make up for with athleticism. Though only two players – sophomore Olivia Hurt and senior Kaitlyn Grady – play club soccer, 21 of the 26 players are multi-sport athletes.
“We take pride in that,” Schergen said. “Our program is built on very good athletes. Some of them didn’t play soccer, until they tried out freshman year.
“But they have a no-quit attitude. They give it their all every game. They’re going to play hard and physical.”
No one epitomizes that ethos more than senior defender Tess Reardon, who splits the captains role with with Grady, Tessa Langan and Liz Maloney.
Reardon is a four-year starter in three sports – volleyball, basketball and soccer – and has now helped the Lady Knights win a state trophy in all three.
Reardon was a freshman on the volleyball team that won the Class 2A state championship. She also helped the basketball team finish fourth in 2A in 2014 and 2015.
Reardon is the stabilizing influence on the backline. The Layd Knights have given up 50 goals, but 33 have come against teams from classes AA or 3A.
Stopping Notre Dame will be IC's toughest task. The Raiders have tallied 124 goals, including 35 in five playoff games. However the Raiders only posted a 1-0 supersectional win vs. Columbia (18-3-1). Notre Dame had also enjoyed a home field playoff advantage until Friday.
Four Raiders have scored in double figures, led by senior forward McKenzie Foley, who has 33 goals and 15 assists. Junior Olivia Dreyer has 21 goals and 24 assists.
The Knights will counter with senior forward Langan, who has bagged 31 goals to go with 21 assists, and Hurt, a sophomore who is generating recruiting interest. She has 25 goals and 18 assists and has the speed to get behind defenses.
Fuller is a talented playmaker in the middle with 17 goals and 12 assists.
Will that be enough to solve a defense that has given up only 13 goals?
Schergen isn’t going to worry about what the Raiders do.
“We’re going to be us,” Schergen said. “We’re going to play the way we know how, which is with hard work and physicality 100 percent of the time.
“If that doesn’t work, at least we can say we did it our own way. It’s going to be a good experience for the girls.”
Win or lose Friday, the Knights figure to have an excellent chance to end the season on a high note. The other semifinal pits Johnsburg (14-5-0) versus University (Normal) (14-9-1).
Neither of those squads has the pedigree of Notre Dame. Both finished fourth in their only previous state appearances.
Johnsburg finished fourth in 2013, after losing 5-2 to Notre Dame in the semifinals, in its only previous state appearance. The Skyhawks might rate the edge due to their nine-game winning streak.
However, University (Normal) has the most prolific player in the finals in senior forward Sarah LaFayette, who has 63 goals and 14 assists. The Pioneers have the second-best state history in the field. They finished second (2002) and fourth (2005) in Class A and fourth (2012) in Class AA.