CL Central pulls playoff upset
By MAUREEN LYNCH - mlynch@nwherald.com
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| Crystal Lake Central’s Nelle Youel jumps into the arms of Christy Kinahan (8) as their teammates celebrate their 2-1 win in an IHSA Class 2A regional semifinal Wednesday in Crystal Lake. Prairie Ridge’s Maggie Olsen (right) leaves the field after the loss. (Catalin Abagiu – cabagiu@nwherald.com) |
CRYSTAL LAKE – Ashley Arendt’s knee was aching, but the Crystal Lake Central junior forward never took her eyes off the ball.
Arendt figured this was her moment – the one that had eluded her during Central’s previous two matches against rival Prairie Ridge – and there was no bigger stage than the Class 2A Crystal Lake Central regional semifinal on which to enjoy it.
After taking two hits to the knee as a Prairie Ridge defender and the Wolves’ goalkeeper Kyli Humm tried to stop her shot, Arendt fired the ball into the left corner for the go-ahead goal with 6 minutes remaining in the Tigers’ third – and most important – match against Prairie Ridge this season.
Arendt limped off the field and iced her right knee for the rest of the game, but her goal stood up in the No. 3 Tigers’ 2-1 victory against No. 2 Prairie Ridge. Central advances to the regional championship against No. 1 St. Viator at 4 p.m. on Friday.
“Madie (Edwards) gave me a phenomenal cross, it just went right over the defenders and I saw my opportunity,” said Arendt, who expects to play Friday. “I just went for it. One defender, when I first got the ball, hit me and then Kyli Humm came out of the goal and she hit me again, but I stood up and just kicked it in. And then I fell down.”
Arendt played only one half of the Tigers’ two previous meetings with Prairie Ridge because of migraines, Central coach Josef Schroeder said, so to have her score the go-ahead goal during the Tigers’ lone win against the Wolves this season was thrilling.
“ ... They had not seen us play well and they had not seen us play players in certain positions,” Schroeder said. “She was just huge for us today.”
Arendt’s goal could not have been more timely, either. Central (12-5) took a 1-0 lead thanks to an early second-half goal from junior forward Erin Frazier off a pass from freshman midfielder Megan Mannix at the 38:53 mark, but Prairie Ridge senior forward Erin Kehoe tied the score at 1 with 7:09 left in the match.
Arendt’s goal less than a minute later represented all the Tigers’ preparation for this game.
“Their resiliency to come back right away was above and beyond anything I’ve ever expected,” Schroeder said.
“We knew they were a good team and we knew we had to practice hard enough to give them a good game,” Arendt said. “We did.”
Prairie Ridge coach Dave O’Leary said the loss would not overshadow his team’s accomplishments.
Wednesday was the team’s first loss since the first week of the season and Prairie Ridge won its first Fox Valley Conference Fox Division title.
“It’s hard to beat a team three times,” O’Leary said. “It might have been a good thing to lose to them before. ... It’s too bad for our seniors. I feel worst for them.”
