Porters' fine season ends in overtime vs. Metea Valley

PHOTO GALLERY: METEA VALLEY VS. LOCKPORT
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By Gary Larsen

Another yawner for Metea Valley coach Pat Feulner unfolded in his team’s regional semifinal against Lockport on Tuesday.

“We never do anything easy, but it’s their first state game and they won,” Feulner said after Kristin Tomares’ goal in overtime gave his Mustangs a 2-1 win in the first postseason varsity game in program history.

A postseason game that was anything but a yawner took place on the artificial turf at Naperville North, between two programs that officially put themselves on the map this spring.

And 7th-seeded Metea Valley (12-9-1) got all it could handle from 10th-seeded Lockport (13-6).

“I thought they played hard and they’re a physical team. They were knocking us around,” Feulner said. “We have to get a little stronger, a little tougher, and that will come with age. But we knew coming in they had beaten (Naperville) Central and they’d be on a high coming in. Realistically, we thought it would be a pretty even game.”

Naperville North scoreboard operator and retired hall-of-fame coach Al Harris was called to action in the game’s 16th minute, when Tomares fed Jenna Kentgen for the game’s first goal.

A gritty Lockport team tied the game at 45 minutes on a Lexi Cozzi goal, capping a stint of newfound attacking cohesion for the Porters after the break. Cozzi got behind the defense, went around charging Mustangs keeper Megan Geldernick, and finished from a tough angle on the right side.

“We had to chase that early goal and we never should have been in that position,” Porters coach Todd Elkei said. “But then we started playing and moving, and we did some nice things in the second half.”

The teams battled to no advantage to the final buzzer and the IHSA requires that four 10-minute overtimes be played before a shootout to decide a winner. But the first overtime had barely started when Kentgen drove into the heart of the Porters’ defense and slid a pass to her right.

Tomares gathered it and went far post with a vengeance from 20 yards out, before 3 minutes had gone by in the first overtime. “Tina has a rocket,” Metea Valley’s Hannah Thayer said. “Any chance she gets, I know she can crack one in.

“We were the underdogs coming into the season and we wanted to prove ourselves. We set goals for ourselves and we want to accomplish them. The key (on Friday) will be playing as a unit.”

Outside of letting Cozzi get in behind and score, the Mustangs’ Alexis McKay-led back line was solid throughout the contest.

“They had a really good forward (Cozzi), very tall, but I thought we did a good job of keeping her in front of us. Overall, I thought we did very good.” Geldernick said.

Metea Valley takes on 2nd-seeded Naperville North on Friday with a Class 3A regional title on the line. North won 1-0 over Metea on April 25.

Metea’s sophomore keeper is the real deal, and one of the main players Naperville North coach Brent Terada is worried about heading into Friday’s game. “She can keep a team in a game all by herself,” Terada said. “She’s outstanding.”

The athletic and speedy Kentgen was all over the field on Tuesday, and her coach was just glad his girls went back to what had been working for them earlier in the contest.

“We had three central mids to their two and in the first 20 minutes of the first half and we had been taking advantage of the open mid,” Feulner said. “I told them at halftime that we had to find that open mid again. Well, we found her at the right time.

“Kentgen played great and Holly Krol, our defensive mid, played a really good game in the middle for us. She was really solid and I thought our back line played well. And (Geldernick) is a dream player, all-around. She works hard, she talks, and she leads very positively for us.”

For Lockport, a whale of a season ended with Tomares’ overtime goal.

“We’ve come a long way,” Porters senior Cassie Pullia said. “I don’t think we’ve ever played to this level, to be honest. I didn’t play last year but I played every other year since I was a freshman, and just seeing where the program is now is a huge improvement. I think it’s been our attitude and the coaching has been great. We can walk off with our heads held high. I’m just hoping in the upcoming years that they keep improving and moving forward.”

The Porters put 57 goals on the board this year while only giving up 18 goals in 19 games, including 9 shutouts.

Defenders Brynn Feeley, Julie Divita, Lauren Labanauskas, Leah Plescia, and Hannah Pilch will all return to the Porters’ back line next season, along with sophomore keepers Jenny Meyer and Alyssa DeYoung.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that the girls in the back have been our strength this year,” Elkei said.

“We have a team full of good kids who love soccer. They play year-round and I think they have a desire to improve. They want to win. The one thing we’ve always told them is to never get out-played by the other team where effort is concerned. Don’t walk off the field with anything left in the tank. Little number 15, Ally Brehm, was flying around out there creating some things, and it doesn’t take any skill to hustle. We’ve got a young team and they’ll keep working and improving.”