Raetzman scores in third OT as Cougars edge Saints

By Matt Le Cren

They say outstanding effort is eventually rewarded and that was certainly the case for Conant's Courtney Raetzman Saturday afternoon.

Raetzman, who by her own admission stands not quite five-feet tall, was a dynamo throughout the Class 3A St. Charles East Regional championship game, battling much larger players for the ball and never backing down.

The hard work paid off for the sophomore forward, who ended the 105-minute marathon by scoring with 5:10 left in the third overtime to give Conant a 2-1 victory over the upset-minded host school.

The victory advances to the Cougars (11-5-3) to Tuesday's Schaumburg Sectional semifinals against Schaumburg.

"She does get tired, but it's rare," Conant coach Jason Franco said of Raetzman. "She will work her butt off the whole game and I told her at the end of the second overtime, 'You can get it, this is your show.'

"She got a little lucky because the ball popped to her and she finished and that's why we rely on her. Our big wins this year have been because her and [Kaitlin] Chiero have been able to unlock a defense pretty much [between] the two of them."

The decisive play happened quickly. A loose ball came to Raetzman just inside the St. Charles East penalty area and with one step, she was behind the defense to the right of the goal.

Saints goalie Zoe Samaan charged out but Raetzman darted around her and scored into an empty net.

"To be honest, I'm not sure what happened," Raetzman said. "With the adrenaline [pumping] I don't know what happened, but whatever it was it worked out and I'm happy.

"I did [see Samaan come out] and I knew I had to get it past her because she was a good keeper. I give her credit because she did good all game. I knew she was quick on her feet, so I had to get one long touch and beat her."

The third-seeded Cougars struggled for most of the match trying just to get chances to beat Samaan.

The 11th-seeded Saints (8-9-3), who were attempting to pull their second straight upset, grabbed a 1-0 lead just 3:16 into the contest when Lauren Rohrmeier stole a bad pass 35 yards from the Conant goal, broke past a defender and chipped a shot over Cougars goalie Lindsay Fillingim (5 saves) from the top of the box.

The Saints' tough defense allowed just one shot in the first half, a 20-yarder by freshman Alyssa Altosino that sailed just wide of the right post in the 22nd minute.

Neither Raetzman nor Chiero came close to getting a shot off and Franco changed strategies at halftime.

"In the first half, our focus was to be more direct and we would send it up and over and we'd try to put it under, but it wasn't working because it was coming right back to us," Franco said. "So I told them to focus on finding our targets more, finding feet, try to pass the ball a little bit more because that's what we do best."

The Cougars pressed forward after intermission, with all 10 field players across midfield at one point. A shot by Chiero hit the outside of the left post and crossbar with 37:30 remaining and five minutes later Samaan kicked a shot from Sam Armando around the right post.

Conant finally tied the game with 22:20 left following a controversial call. The Saints were whistled for a hand ball in their own box, which East coach Paul Jennison argued was inadvertent. Sophomore defender Kelsey Foss converted the ensuing penalty kick.

"It was just a gutty effort and it's a shame for whoever loses this one because I think both teams deserved it in so many ways," Franco said. "I know we got the penalty kick goal on a questionable hand ball, but it's one of those where the hand is out and it hits her arm and we got a little bit lucky and we took advantage.

"It definitely hit [the defender's] arm and if you watch [soccer] at the highest level, they definitely call that. Sometimes in [high school] they'll say she had to intentionally handle it. If I was on [Jennison's] side, I'd be the same way. I would have argued it. Some refs call it one way, some call it another. Today we got a little bit lucky. They called it our way."

Chiero was unlucky in not scoring herself. With 1:40 left in regulation she broke free in the right side of the box and passed up an eight-yard shot to send a cross through the crease that Raetzman and freshman Becky Raimondo both barely missed.

Then in the first overtime, Samaan fully extended to make a diving stop on Chiero's hard shot from the right wing. Chiero also had a chance in the second overtime but missed wide of the right post from seven yards out.

"She does all that hard work to get in and then she just misses the target," Franco said. "You can't fault that. We'll go back to work on finishing and we'll see if we can get one against Schaumburg."

With Chiero making runs into the box and Raetzman challenging plays all over the field despite getting knocked down repeatedly, the Cougars eventually wore down the Saints.

"I've always been like that, [able] to get up right away because I don't like to stay down," Raetzman said. "I just have determination. I knew that this could be our last game, so we all had to get our stuff together and just stick it out and try to get through it."

The victory was a sweet one for Franco, a 1998 St. Charles East grad who played on two state championship teams. This was his first game coaching against his alma mater at Norris Stadium.

"We kind of talked to them before the game that I haven't seen that gutty, kind of gritty effort out of [the Cougars] in a while," Franco said. "We'd had flashes of it but to put it together for 100 minutes, I'm more than proud of the effort."

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