Gators hang on to beat McHenry on Senior Day

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By Gary Larsen

The game’s opening whistle was blown, the ball was immediately kicked out of bounds, and Karley Mecko was surrounded on the field and hugged by her teammates. She limped off the pitch to the cheers and applause of fans and players from both teams.

Mecko suffered a season-ending injury ten games into the season, but on Senior Day at Crystal Lake South she was allowed to be a starter and to take the field with her team one last time, even if it was only for a few seconds.

“It felt really good to get back out on the field and feel like a part of the team again,” Mecko said. “Being out there reinforced my bond with this team.”

When a senior’s season ends prematurely due to injury, it’s understandable if that player chooses to distance herself from the sport altogether. Frustration, depression, and feeling useless to your team can be hard things to overcome.

But Mecko is made of tougher stuff than that. Adversity always exposes character, and Mecko passed the test with flying colors.

“It was really hard at first,” she said. “The devastation of not being able to play really brought out a lot of anger and disappointment. I had to turn that energy into something positive and put it towards this team.”

“Ever since I stopped playing I haven’t been able to contribute as much as I could on the field. All I can do is be a leader, be verbal, and be encouraging on the bench. They need me because I’m a leader and I need them because they’re my team.”

Fellow injured senior Ashley Ross was also allowed one final home start, but luckily for the Gators she’ll return to action for next week’s regional competition. McHenry coach Jim Nelson agreed to allow Crystal Lake South to pay homage to the two seniors.

“It was important to get them out there and honor them appropriately,” Gators coach Brian Allen said. “I talked to Jim beforehand and he’s a class act. It was important to get them out there and honor them in our last home game.”

“It meant a lot them and it meant a lot to the team to have them out there.”

As for the game, with the Valley Division of the Fox Valley Conference already won by Huntley this year, the Gators and Warriors squared off on a cold and windy Wednesday. South won 3-2 on goals from Christina Szocka, Kelsey Clark, and Kali Loescher.

“It was Senior Day for us so for me it was more about that than about the result,” Allen said. “Getting the result was an added bonus but there are a couple things we need to learn from this game, like how to close out and put teams away early on.”

“When we head into the regional, if we can’t bury chances when we get them, we’re going to be in trouble.”

The Gators improved to 16-7-2 overall and 8-2-0 in FVC play. Their lone conference losses have both come to FVC champion Huntley.

Through 25 regular-season games, South scored 58 goals and gave up 23 goals-against with 10 shutouts. The Gators’ attack has been strong throughout but like every team, South would like to finish on more goals.

Especially early in games, when the Gators have created numerous scoring chances but not finished as frequently as their coach would like.

“Unfortunately in the last three games – Huntley, Cary-Grove, and this one – it cost us against Huntley, we got lucky against Cary, and today we held on,” Allen said. “So we need to be more consistent, in terms of finishing early on.”

With a wind at its back on Wednesday, South’s attack applied good pressure and found dangerous space consistently. Clark chipped a shot past a charging goalkeeper in the game’s 8th minute to put South up 1-0.

At the 20-minute mark, Allen sent Szocka into the game and the sophomore wasted no time getting her name in the box score. Junior Karli Schumaker slid a pass over to Szocka inside the penalty area, and Szocka buried it from 12 yards out.

“I turned around and there’s a goal,” Allen said. “For Christina it’s all about confidence, so when she has a game like this I’m very eager and anxious to see it carry over to the postseason. Because when she’s on, she helps with Loesch (Kali Loescher) and Ashley (Ross) and the rest of the forwards. Christina took another big step forward today.”

The Warriors cut the Gators’ lead to 2-1 on a quick goal to start the second half. The game’s drama seemed deflated when Loescher gave South a 3-1 lead by burying a shot in the 70th minute, but McHenry refused to go quietly.

A long Warriors shot found the back netting, forcing the home crowd to sweat out the game’s waning minutes.

“We’ve got a solid defense. We just have little lapses, like we did today,” Gators’ senior sweeper Katie Burton said.

South’s defense has, in fact, been more than solid this season. Burton, Kelsey Taldone, Kelsey Cosley, Ellen Brunner, and Emily Hamrick have all keyed the back line, with keepers Elizabeth Quinn and Beth McGinn both spending time in net.

And 23 goals given up in 25 games is right on target.
“The back has done a phenomenal job all year,” Allen said. “We talked about keeping it right around a one or less goals-against average and when we score, we usually win. Defensively we’ve been in every game this year.”

Burton figured this year’s defensive crew would get it done.

“We were really building on our defense,” Burton said. “This year coming in we had a lot of girls coming back.

We’ve had these four years and we used to play travel together, so we’ve played together for a long time. We know how to communicate and where someone’s going to be, and how they play.”

South opens up Class 3A regional play at Jacobs, as part of the Rockford (Boylan) sectional. The Gators are a No. 1 regional seed and on Tuesday they’ll open against the winner between No. 4 South Elgin and No. 5 Larkin.

A win there would put South in a regional title game against the winner between No. 2 Cary-Grove and No. 3 Jacobs – a pair of FVC rivals the Gators have beaten twice each.
 
“I think we’ll be able to compete in the regional, but playing a team a third time is tough and we’re not looking past South Elgin,” Allen said. “They’re a double-digit win team, so we know we’ll have our work cut out for us.

The last time we won a regional was before (South’s current seniors) came here. So they’ve been a part of conference championships but they want to make their mark in the postseason. They’ll have that opportunity and I’m excited to see how they respond.”

South will bid farewell to eight seniors on the roster, in Ross, Mecko, McGinn, Burton, Cosley, Taldone, Alison Agnes, Katie Browning.

“This group is special and there are several whose careers aren’t over with,” Allen said. “All eleven of them have been integral parts of the program, from Beth McGinn to Sherri (Wieglos), my manager, to all the ones that will be playing in college. They’ve all contributed something this year to put us in the race.”

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