Andress scores in third OT to lift Cougars past Saxons

By Mike Garofola

Fittingly, on a night when the defense ruled, it was a defender-turned striker who would be the difference maker.

Hailey Andress, one of the backline stars for Conant coach Jason Franco all season long, easily became the player-of-the-match in the 107th minute by drilling home the game-winner Tuesday night against MSL rival Schaumburg.

That 2-1 victory sent the Cougars (12-5-3) into Friday's Class 3A sectional final with No. 1 seed St. Charles North.

Andress, pushed forward in place of the injured Kaitlin Chiero (concussion) made her mark on this match almost instantly after Franco made his switch.

She ran on to a brilliant no-look early ball from the left side by Courtney Raetzman and then sent a well-paced low shot into the far inside netting to give the visitors a 2-1 victory.

"I guess if anyone was going to catch-up to (that) ball it would have been Hailey," said Franco, just minutes after his club raced to find Andress to celebrate on the far touchline a second-straight 3OT victory.

"Hailey is so deceptively fast, and she seems to find another gear when she needs to, but then again, nobody can put a ball out on the flank like (Raetzman) did to set the game-winner up for us."

A wild and crazy night of soccer finally came to an end following plenty of high-speed play, close calls in both ends, an obvious PK call missed by the center official - and oh yeah, and two separate power losses- the second throwing the Saxons home pitch into darkness for nearly 15 minutes.

After a goal-less first half, the Saxons (14-3-3) who saw a memorable 2010 season come to an abrupt halt, broke on top when an unmarked Kelsey Steenstrup had enough time in close to head a wonderful serve from teammate Becky Sneddon at 42 minutes.

The Cougars Kelsey Foss answered quickly with a sizzling cracker of a free kick from 25 yards into the upper corner to draw the two sides even, and set up 60-plus minutes of thrilling play on both sides.

"Both teams left everything they had out there tonight," said Schaumburg head coach Greg Chavrat, who loses six to graduation, but returns a core of terrific talent.

That includes much of the Saxons' backline, led by Stephanie Pouse, one of the best in the business in and around the area.

The Cougars neutralized the Saxons' top striker, Sarah Christy, for most of the night, as well as her mates alongside the team's leading scorer.

But they were unable to stay out of trouble when senior Rachel Kahan unleashed her stealth-like throws, many of them dangerously inside the Cougars' box.

"We had trouble defending (her) long throws, and it almost cost us in the second half," said Franco, who watched Kahan go to the back post and nearly find Teagan Eberle at 61 minutes for the go-ahead goal.

Just before the end of regulation, Steenstrup cleared a ball off the line sent in by Raetzman, who almost found the back of the net off a Paige Wentzel corner.

Franco and his staff thought Chiero was brought down in the box as the first extra period came to a close. And although the center official would make the call, he (then) incorrectly marked the ball outside of the box and not at the spot.

"I guess we got our (call) in the postseason after (that) hand ball in the box on Saturday at St. Charles East led to us getting the equalizer - I guess it all evens out," said Franco.

After a bank of lights popped off seconds into the second extra period, Foss helped play resume by unloading a wicked free kick that hit the underside of the woodwork and bounded away.

At 99 minutes, the entire stadium went blank, and after a 15-minute delay to restore power, play got back under way, setting up Andress' heroics.

"I wasn't sure if my shot was going to go in, but halfway there, I knew it would," said an exhausted Andress, who like many, went the 100-plus minutes on this warm evening in Schaumburg.

"I don't know if we were still mentally or physically tired from going 3-OTs against St. Charles East on Saturday, or if it was the heat tonight, but it (all) of it caught up to us tonight in one way or another," began Raetzman.

"But I knew when I saw Hailey running up right side, that she was going to get to that ball, and just hoping (she) would be able to get the ball into the net for us. And she did!"

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