Sullivan scores late goal to send Huskies to sectional finals

By Curt Herron

Stephanie Sullivan doesn't get the chance to score many goals but that doesn't prevent her from working on corner kick situaions during practice.

All of that hard work paid off for the Oak Park-River Forest defender in Tuesday's Class 3A Lyons Township Sectional semifinals.

With her squad tied 1-1 to Morton, the Huskies senior got a chance to put her team up for good and definitely made the most of it.

Following a well-placed corner kick from Sara McCall Sullivan scored with 13:29 left to help the Huskies capture a 2-1 win.

That victory advances OPRF (14-7-1) to Friday's 7 p.m. sectional finals against the host Lions (17-4-1) at Bennett Field.

The two teams met on May 6 with Lyons winning 1-0 over coach Paul Wright's Huskies in a West Suburban Conference Silver match.

Making its first sectional final trip since 2007, OPRF hopes to reverse its recent disappointing playoff trend against the Lions.

LT eliminated the Huskies in sectional play each year from 2003 to 2008, with the first five of those coming in the title match.

On Tuesday, OPRF was missing two of its regulars, sisters Emily and Victoria Gullo, who weren't available due to a family graduation.

That forced Wright to juggle his lineup to find the right combination that would be able to find the net against the Mustangs.

To make matters worse, Morton took advantage of a hand ball to set up a long free kick which resulted in the match's first goal.

Despite that, the Huskies got the equalizer from Sheby Cozette a couple of minutes later, following an assist from McCall.

And after new keeper Kate Elgie stopped the rest of the few Mustangs' threats that came her way, it was up to someone to step up.

That's where Sullivan came in to help OPRF grab its first lead and then it held off several threats from Morton in the late going.

Click to hear coach Paul Wright interview

Both squads struggled on the attack at the start of the second half, with 16 minutes running off before either really threatened.

The Huskies looked like they had grabbed a 2-1 lead with 24 minutes left, but Alex Neumann's goal was nullified by an offsides call.

OPRF began its first real good second half scoring chance with just under 15 minutes left when Luttrell kicked a ball off a defender.

Luttrell sent the corner kick in front of the net and Sullivan headed it toward the goal but keeper Karen Navarette deflected it away.

Just over a minute later, Sullivan got another chance to score on a corner kick and this time from McCall, and she was successful.

Morton had a few chances after that, but an offsides call halted one threat and Elgie stopped two other threatening shot attempts.

Click to hear Stephanie Sullivan interview

While the Huskies controlled play during the initial part of thed match, they had little to show for during the first 20 minutes.

They got their first good chance over 12 minutes into the match when Joy Dennis sent in a grounder that Navarette dove to stop.

Less than three minutes after that, McCall tried to get off a short shot attempt but the Mustangs keeper was there to halt the try.

Then shortly before the midway mark in the opening half, Kate McCole directed a header toward the net but it was also halted.

The Mustangs finally got their first big break with just under 17 minutes left in the half and were able to capitalize on it.

Following an OPRF hand ball, Karen Santos lined a free kick from about 30 yards out that found the net with 16:56 left in the half.

While that score could have been demoralizing for the Huskies, they quickly responded to it by evening things up a short time later.

With 14:27 left before the break, McCall was met up top by Morton's keeper, then passed the ball to Cozette, who put in the easy shot.

Click to hear Shelby Cozette interview

The Huskies kept up the pressure during the final few minutes of the opening half as they attempted to collect another score.

McCall got things started with four minutes left when she lined a free kick from the side that the Mustangs' keeper had to punch away.

With just under two minutes left, Neumann was denied on a short try and then McCall sent a grounder toward the net in the final minute.

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