Falcons battle back twice vs. Benet
By Chris Walker

 

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It looked like Tiffany Traxinger's night was over with 12:03 remaining in Thursday's Naperville Invitational match against Benet in Wheaton.

The senior took an opponent's knee to the calf and had to be helped off the field with the two teams deadlocked at 2-2.

Apparently, the injury wasn't as bad as it looked.

The teams finished tied at 2-2 but because a team had to move on in the tournament, penalty kicks were used to determine which team would advance, which also set the stage for Traxinger to return to the field.

After teammates Sydney Sharkey, Lexi Pelafas and Anne Denz converted their kicks to give the Falcons a 3-2 lead heading into the final round, Traxinger ensured victory, sending her PK into the back of the net.

"I've never been in the situation before where I had to make it to win it," Traxinger said. "A couple weeks earlier we played Huntley and I missed my PK and in practice I've been missing them so it felt good to make one and get the win."

It certainly helped the pain from her injury subside, at least for a little while.

"It's like a big bump, but I'll be okay, hopefully," she said. "I just tried to focus on trying to trick the goalie. I was pretty nervous and didn't even look at her. I'm really happy to get the win for us."

Wheaton North coach Tim McEvilly figured Traxinger would be able to step up despite being banged up.

"She's got a lot of friends on that other team that she went to Europe with over the summer so I asked her if she was going to do it," McEvilly said. "I knew unless her leg was broken she was going to take that kick. It's a nice way for her to cap the night and you hate to see her come off the field that way so it was good for her to have a chance to end the game."

Benet took a 1-0 lead after Katie Liber scored with 28:05 left in the first half. The lead would be short-lived, as the Falcons bounced back at the 16:18 mark of the half when Lauren Szumski pounced on a rebound to make it 1-1.

The Redwings constantly applied pressure on the Falcons but were unable to recapture the lead until Madie Burke scored with 28:45 remaining in the second half.

"I slid Madie to the left outside mid," Benet coach Bob Gros said. "We're trying some different combinations to see what else we can do."

Once again though, the Benet lead didn't last very long as the Falcons answered with 23:46 left when Traxinger's beautiful cross was met by Sharkey.

"We've been able to do this a couple times where we bounce back and it's been a while (a few years) since we've been able to do it," McEvilly said. "We were down a goal twice to Conant and came back to tie it up and were down twice tonight and were able to come back."

The Falcons lost a pair of overtime decisions last week in the tournament, so being in tight matches is nothing new to the club. Finding a way to win though is something they hope becomes a new trend.

"It's about them not putting their heads down and forcing pressure," McEvilly said. "That second goal was definitely deserved. They were pushing for 10 to 15 minutes there and got the opportunity and had the confidence to think they could do it."

At the end of regulation there was discussion between Gros, McEvilly and the officials on whether or not the game ended in a draw, went into overtime or would be settled by penalty kicks. It was resolved that PKs was the answer.

"Seeding (for the post-season) is done and these are just games to see what people are doing anyway," Gros said. "Where we seem to be struggling right now is finishing and that's not a good thing."

Still, the Redwings created plenty of opportunities, which bodes well for what they have the potential to do once the state series begins in May.

"I thought our midfield played a real nice game and Katie (Liber) and Jamei (Borges) controlled it really well," he said. "We're just trying to continue to develop. Our offense can be very potent and it's an exciting brand of soccer that I think the girls enjoy playing."

Being able to advance against a very good Benet team, might be exactly what the Falcons, who were 1-3 in their last four matches, needed.

"We had a couple tough ones recently where fought back but came up short," Szumski said. "It feels pretty good to beat a solid team like Benet and to be so close against so many solid teams. We feel we can do plenty of damage if we keep playing like we are now."