Gators prevail with PKs

Christina Szocka (12), Kali Loescher (8), and Emily Schoenfeldt (18) all of Crystal Lake South congratulate their teammate Marcella Albuquerque (13) after she scored a goal against Prairie Ridge during the IHSA Girl's Soccer Regional at South. (Hollyn Johnson - hjohnson@nwherald.com)

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CRYSTAL LAKE – History wasn’t on Crystal Lake South’s side when the Gators went into a penalty kick shootout against Prairie Ridge on Saturday afternoon.

The girls soccer team had lost in one earlier this season, and that memory reverberated when the tied match ended after four scoreless overtime periods.

The IHSA Class 3A Crystal Lake South Regional title, which would be the first for the Gators in seven years, hung in the balance Saturday. While that earlier shootout hadn’t mattered, Saturday’s certainly did.

Perhaps the win-or-go-home scenario fueled the 3-2 victory against the third-seeded Wolves. Maybe South had learned after losing in a shootout to Glenbrook North in the Glenbrook Cup title match on April 23.

Either way, when South’s players raised their plaque after senior defender Ellen Brunner scored the go-ahead penalty kick and senior keeper Elizabeth Quinn made a calculated save, the Gators (17-7-2 overall) had found a way to rewrite their history.

“I just can’t [describe] it right now,” said Quinn, who saved eight shots including three in the shootout. “ ... For us to do this and move on, it’s just amazing.”

It was fitting the match should end in penalty kicks since they had sent the match into the extra sessions and eventually the shootout.

The Wolves (6-11-1) had scored 7 minutes into the first half off a shot from sophomore Kelsey Bear, and South senior Kali Loescher tied the score at 1 on a penalty kick 1 minute later.

South went ahead 2-1 with 21:25 left in the first on junior Marcella Albuquerque’s goal, but the Wolves tied it at 2 with 1.4 seconds left in the first on junior Christa Lehman’s penalty kick.

After a scoreless second half and the four extra sessions, South’s confidence was high.

“We heard [Prairie Ridge’s players] saying they didn’t want to go into penalty kicks, so we felt good about it,” Brunner said.

Brunner’s teammates Karli Schumaker and Albuquerque had each converted penalty kicks before Brunner came to the line. Each team had made two shots, and Brunner was the Gators’ last shooter although she didn’t realize it.

Her shot hit the middle of the net, and Quinn needed only a save to put the match away.

Quinn decided to dive to her right against Prairie Ridge’s final shooter, senior Maria Bear since she feels she protects her right side better, anyway, and the decision proved key.

Bear shot toward the right post, and Quinn snatched it up to get the Gators the crown.

It was Prairie Ridge coach Dave O’Leary’s final match, since he will retire at the end of this school year from coaching and teaching.

Despite the loss, O’Leary went out on a high note. The past two games were his team’s best of the season, he said.

“The penalty kicks, if we wouldn’t have had them we would have been playing until Sunday,” he said. “We’ve been good at [penalty kicks] in practice, so I thought if it got to that we’d win, but we played as well as we could play.”