Griffins drop wild one to McAuley in regional semifinals

 

 

By Curt Herron

Brian Papa has been around long enough to know that during the playoffs, it's best to expect the unexpected.

That was again clearly demonstrated on Tuesday when Papa's Lincoln-Way East squad kicked off its postseason.

The Griffins met Mother McAuley in the Class 3A Lincoln-Way North Regional in a rematch of a contest from earlier in the season.

When the two met on a cold day in late March, neither could find the net and settled for a scoreless draw.

It was a completely different story on a hot day in mid May, however, as both sides connected frequently.

The good news for East was that it scored three times and held the upper hand on three different occasions.

But the bad news is that the Mighty Macs responded each time and then got the go-ahead score to claim a 4-3 win in Frankfort.

As a result, McAuley advances to Friday's 6 p.m. finals against the host Phoenix, who beat Eisenhower in the other semifinal.

The Griffins saw their roller coaster season end at 10-9-1 after having a three-match winning streak halted.

East lost its first three, won five of six in one stretch, dropped four straight and then won three in a row.

One of the season highlights saw Papa become the 11th Illinois coach to collect 300 girls wins and just the third from this state to win that many for both the boys and the girls.

"We scored the first goal, then gave it right back," Papa said. "Then we scored the second goal and immediately gave it right back. And then we scored the third goal, and we gave that right back.

"They scored off of three restarts. You can't foul back there and give them chances like that because that's where their strength is. What are you going to say? The ball went into the net too often.

"But it wasn't for a lack of effort. It comes down to confidence. The kids have been so used to losing that it's hard to start winning. But they have to understand that they did win this year and finished over .500."

The Griffins last won 10 or more matches in 2008 and hadn't had a winning season since two years before that.

They were hoping for another chance to meet North, which won 4-0 earlier in the season, but those hopes were dashed.

That was assured in the 68th minute when Clare Kennedy hit a nearly 50-yard try out to give the Macs their first lead.

McAuley had tied things for the third time in the 59th minute when Yaseem Haleem's corner kick that was deflected in.

East grabbed its final lead in the 52nd minute when Samantha Fiorella put in a header off of a Kelsey Elam corner kick.

The Griffins opened the final half in a good fashion, connecting just over a minute in to grab a 2-1 advantage.

But the Mighty Macs answered quickly, needing less than 150 seconds to get the equalizer to produce a 2-2 score.

Jessica Rajca gave East a 2-1 lead in the 42nd minute before Jessie Peyronet scored following a Kennedy free kick.

Things also started off well for the Griffins, as Jillian Kilrea scored off an Elam corner in the fourth minute.

But McAuley forged its initial tie in the 11th minute when Lauren Regan scored, off an assist from Christina Sperando.

There were plenty of good chances from both sides for the remainder of the half but neither side could connect.

Elam had a long free kick deflected by a defender and then saw a corner kick get punched away by keeper Erica Horn.

Tracy Brinkman and Fiorella were also denied by the keeper while Kilrea and Hanna Dolan-Cook were thwarted by defenders.

Sperando got free but Anna Gerdes slid in to break up the threat and Kerry Kennedy also had a shot halted by Katie Kazmierczak.

"It was hot and some kids were fatigued," Papa said. "Some of our kids went out there and played hard all the way through and others just went through the motions. But the heat affects players differently.

"Meaghan Grady told me before the game that she had a fever and couldn't go, so she took one for the team. And Hanna McClard got out of a boot and wanted to play, so we put her on the field at the end.

"Our kids were excited and had intentions of doing something good, and hopefully we can build off of that. I feel bad for seniors like Jessica Bicek, but you can only do so much. That's why it's a team game."