Marian slips past Hampshire, into sectional

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MARENGO – In the driving rain on Marengo’s muddied soccer field, it would have been simple to make several mistakes.

It took only one to decide the outcome of Friday’s IHSA Class 2A Marengo Regional championship match between No. 1 seed Hampshire and No. 2 seed Marian Central.

Marian junior midfielder Susan Thomas sent a ball from 40 yards in front of the Whip-Purs’ net directly to Hampshire goalkeeper Haylee Moscato, and the sophomore blocked the high shot, knocking it to the ground, but couldn’t prevent it from taking another awkward bounce.

When Moscato turned around, the ball had settled into the back of the Whips’ net with 32 minutes remaining in the second half. Despite Hampshire’s pressure, the ’Canes held on for a 1-0 victory.

Marian advances to the Hampshire Sectional semifinals, where it will face Freeport at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

“I turned around and I didn’t even see it, and then I turned back around and it spun into the goal,” Thomas said. “[Moscato] dropped it, and then it went behind her. And then we celebrated.”

It was certainly a celebratory moment, considering the match had been fairly even and the conditions were prime for miscalculations.

The ’Canes (18-4-1) had outshot the Whips, 6-2, in the first half but were on their heels immediately after Thomas’ goal as Hampshire tried for the equalizer.

The Whips (18-6-1) had six chances on set pieces in the final 24 minutes of the game but couldn’t capitalize.

“Once we were down, we certainly played the way we had all year, like champions,” Hampshire coach Pat O’Brien said. “ ... In these kinds of conditions that (type of goal) is exactly the kind of thing that can happen. You don’t know how it’s going to scoot or how to necessarily play it, whether you’re going to get a good bounce. Hats off to [Marian]. I wish them well moving forward, and it’s a shame we had to end it here today.”

Marian was determined to earn another regional title – a crown that had eluded the ’Canes since 2005 – and that focus showed for much of the game.

Goalkeeper Kaitlyn Logan made five saves, and Marian defenders packed the box to squash Hampshire’s chances.

“It was about time we get another regional title,” Marian coach Jose Arias said. “I think [Hampshire] put up a lot of pressure in the second half, but overall I think we held our pressure on them and took a lot of shots. We played physical and we played good passes and got good touches.”