Sycamore tops St. Francis for 3rd place
Carl corner work the key in 2-1 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
NAPERVILLE — The corner-kick is both art and science. It is also a deeply ritual act. The best learn how to do the same thing, over and over.
Cali Carl is one of the best around. The Sycamore junior midfielder estimated nearly all of her 10 assists this year developed off of corner-kicks. In the final game of the year she added to the total and helped change her team’s fortunes.
Carl’s corner kicks yielded two goals as Sycamore rallied to pull out the 2-1 victory over St. Francis and earned the best finish in school history in capturing the Class 2A third place game Saturday at North Central College.
Junior midfielder Emma Stice smashed in the game-winner on a header in the 75th minute.
“They had an opening in the middle and I was hoping that Cali would make it, and she played the perfect ball. I was just happy I got on it the way I did,” Stice said. “After they scored, and we went down like that; we haven’t been in that situation much this year. And we just knew we needed to do something to make history.”
Sycamore’s only previous state final appearance was with the 2009 team that finished fourth.
Sycamore (24-3-1) trailed for much of the match after St. Francis senior defender Rachel Rahman sent home a shot from 25 yards in the 19th minute. St. Francis maintained that advantage for more than 30 minutes of game action.
Sycamore fell behind against Rochester in Friday’s semifinal and never recovered.
“We didn’t have many games this year when we were down a goal,” Sycamore coach Dave Lichamer said. “We had yesterday and then again today and this time we managed to fight back through it. We always have confidence in ourselves. We know we have the talent to keep in any game.”
Sycamore also overcame key injuries and the partial loss of two of its best players from its Friday semifinal. Keeper Amanda Cook suffered a concussion and was replaced by sophomore backup Maegan Schwartz. Freshman midfielder Ella Holland, the team’s second-leading scorer with 24 goals and 14 assists, cleared the concussion protocol and played. She did not start.
Carl, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, instigated the comeback with two expertly played corner-kicks.
“Everytime I go up for a corner, I think of the same thing,” Carl said. “I think about where I want to place it, and then I look for somebody I want to aim for. I almost always try to find somebody to look for.”
St. Francis junior keeper Tammy Syron thwarted Sycamore with several aggressive moves off her line to break up through-balls or deny Sycamore in the final third.
“They were a very direct team,” Syron said. “They tried to play balls through the gaps and balls over the top of our heads. I have always been very decent at coming off of my line and stopping those through-balls. I just showed up and did what I had to do.”
Both of Carl’s corner-kicks originated from the same southeast corner. In the 51st minute, she served a ball into the box off the near post that St. Francis senior defender Brooke Roback got to first. Roback appeared to be hit in the back as she attempted to head the ball clear.
With Syron marking a Sycamore player near the far post, the ball went off Roback and into the wide open St. Francis goal. The own goal knotted the score. Sycamore was newly energized after going more than 130 minutes of game action without a score.
“Our school got fourth a couple of years ago, and we needed to get third,” Stice said. “We just knew we needed to do something to make history.”
The teams went back and forth as Sycamore withstood two strong flurries by St. Francis late in the second half.
“We couldn’t finish the ball, and that was kind of hard,” Rahman said. “That’s what counts in the game.”
Sycamore created a counter in the 74th minute as Syron made a spectacular stop by quickly sliding her right leg to deny Ella Holland. The save resulted in the game-deciding corner-kick for Sycamore.
“We were pretty even,” Syron said. "I think if we could go back and do some things differently we would.”
St. Francis (17-5-0) held an 11-9 advantage in shots. After struggling to generate many dangerous offensive scenarios against Deerfield in its 1-0 semifinal loss Friday, St. Francis played with more energy and generated far more opportunities.
Star sophomore forward Kendra Pasquale was particularly dangerous, the natural left-footer created consistent pressure that yielded shots. “We generated shots and stuff, but we didn’t put them away,” St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said.
Rahman and Roback both had older sisters who played on St. Francis’ 2012 Class 2A state champion team. This year’s edition marked only the second time in school history St. Francis reached the state finals.
After an initial shot was played out to Rahman in the 19th minute, she lofted a high and looping shot for St. Francis’ only goal in the two state final games.
“I’m usually pretty hesitant to shoot,” Rahman said about her second goal of the year. “But I knew this was my last game, and it had to count. I knew that every play counted.”
Ending the year with consecutive losses was a tough way to go out. Seven of the team’s 11 starters are underclassmen. The team’s quest was accelerated by the memory of its last game a year ago, a devastating 1-0 loss against Lemont in the supersectional.
Moving up to the Red Division, the best in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference, St. Francis played against larger schools and better competition and achieved what it set out to do. The future is very bright.
“My sister (Sarah) was on the state team, so my goal and the team’s goal was to get to state,” Rahman said. “Last year we experienced a really hard loss in the supersectional, and it was our goal to make it to state. Having such a young team is an advantage and disadvantage at the same time. We have incredible potential going forward. Now we need to get past it and win another state title.
“This whole year we worked very well off of each other, and it showed.”
Starting line-ups
Sycamore
GK: Maegan Schwartz
D: Jenna Lewey
D: Claire Schroeder
D: Anna Haub
D: Taryn Mathey
MF: Carly Kresge
MF: Emma Stice
MF: Cali Carl
MF: Savannah Burns
F: Saydie Holland
F: Taylor Meier
St. Francis
GK: Tammy Syron
D: Brooke Roback
D: Elli Pointer
D: McKenzie Douglas
D: Rachel Rahman
MF: Claire Hensley
MF: Kaitlyn Joniak
MF: Molly Doran
F: Kendra Pasquale
F: Erin Peck
F: Kate LaMantia
MVP of the Match: Cali Carl, MF, Sycamore
Carl corner work the key in 2-1 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
NAPERVILLE — The corner-kick is both art and science. It is also a deeply ritual act. The best learn how to do the same thing, over and over.
Cali Carl is one of the best around. The Sycamore junior midfielder estimated nearly all of her 10 assists this year developed off of corner-kicks. In the final game of the year she added to the total and helped change her team’s fortunes.
Carl’s corner kicks yielded two goals as Sycamore rallied to pull out the 2-1 victory over St. Francis and earned the best finish in school history in capturing the Class 2A third place game Saturday at North Central College.
Junior midfielder Emma Stice smashed in the game-winner on a header in the 75th minute.
“They had an opening in the middle and I was hoping that Cali would make it, and she played the perfect ball. I was just happy I got on it the way I did,” Stice said. “After they scored, and we went down like that; we haven’t been in that situation much this year. And we just knew we needed to do something to make history.”
Sycamore’s only previous state final appearance was with the 2009 team that finished fourth.
Sycamore (24-3-1) trailed for much of the match after St. Francis senior defender Rachel Rahman sent home a shot from 25 yards in the 19th minute. St. Francis maintained that advantage for more than 30 minutes of game action.
Sycamore fell behind against Rochester in Friday’s semifinal and never recovered.
“We didn’t have many games this year when we were down a goal,” Sycamore coach Dave Lichamer said. “We had yesterday and then again today and this time we managed to fight back through it. We always have confidence in ourselves. We know we have the talent to keep in any game.”
Sycamore also overcame key injuries and the partial loss of two of its best players from its Friday semifinal. Keeper Amanda Cook suffered a concussion and was replaced by sophomore backup Maegan Schwartz. Freshman midfielder Ella Holland, the team’s second-leading scorer with 24 goals and 14 assists, cleared the concussion protocol and played. She did not start.
Carl, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, instigated the comeback with two expertly played corner-kicks.
“Everytime I go up for a corner, I think of the same thing,” Carl said. “I think about where I want to place it, and then I look for somebody I want to aim for. I almost always try to find somebody to look for.”
St. Francis junior keeper Tammy Syron thwarted Sycamore with several aggressive moves off her line to break up through-balls or deny Sycamore in the final third.
“They were a very direct team,” Syron said. “They tried to play balls through the gaps and balls over the top of our heads. I have always been very decent at coming off of my line and stopping those through-balls. I just showed up and did what I had to do.”
Both of Carl’s corner-kicks originated from the same southeast corner. In the 51st minute, she served a ball into the box off the near post that St. Francis senior defender Brooke Roback got to first. Roback appeared to be hit in the back as she attempted to head the ball clear.
With Syron marking a Sycamore player near the far post, the ball went off Roback and into the wide open St. Francis goal. The own goal knotted the score. Sycamore was newly energized after going more than 130 minutes of game action without a score.
“Our school got fourth a couple of years ago, and we needed to get third,” Stice said. “We just knew we needed to do something to make history.”
The teams went back and forth as Sycamore withstood two strong flurries by St. Francis late in the second half.
“We couldn’t finish the ball, and that was kind of hard,” Rahman said. “That’s what counts in the game.”
Sycamore created a counter in the 74th minute as Syron made a spectacular stop by quickly sliding her right leg to deny Ella Holland. The save resulted in the game-deciding corner-kick for Sycamore.
“We were pretty even,” Syron said. "I think if we could go back and do some things differently we would.”
St. Francis (17-5-0) held an 11-9 advantage in shots. After struggling to generate many dangerous offensive scenarios against Deerfield in its 1-0 semifinal loss Friday, St. Francis played with more energy and generated far more opportunities.
Star sophomore forward Kendra Pasquale was particularly dangerous, the natural left-footer created consistent pressure that yielded shots. “We generated shots and stuff, but we didn’t put them away,” St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said.
Rahman and Roback both had older sisters who played on St. Francis’ 2012 Class 2A state champion team. This year’s edition marked only the second time in school history St. Francis reached the state finals.
After an initial shot was played out to Rahman in the 19th minute, she lofted a high and looping shot for St. Francis’ only goal in the two state final games.
“I’m usually pretty hesitant to shoot,” Rahman said about her second goal of the year. “But I knew this was my last game, and it had to count. I knew that every play counted.”
Ending the year with consecutive losses was a tough way to go out. Seven of the team’s 11 starters are underclassmen. The team’s quest was accelerated by the memory of its last game a year ago, a devastating 1-0 loss against Lemont in the supersectional.
Moving up to the Red Division, the best in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference, St. Francis played against larger schools and better competition and achieved what it set out to do. The future is very bright.
“My sister (Sarah) was on the state team, so my goal and the team’s goal was to get to state,” Rahman said. “Last year we experienced a really hard loss in the supersectional, and it was our goal to make it to state. Having such a young team is an advantage and disadvantage at the same time. We have incredible potential going forward. Now we need to get past it and win another state title.
“This whole year we worked very well off of each other, and it showed.”
Starting line-ups
Sycamore
GK: Maegan Schwartz
D: Jenna Lewey
D: Claire Schroeder
D: Anna Haub
D: Taryn Mathey
MF: Carly Kresge
MF: Emma Stice
MF: Cali Carl
MF: Savannah Burns
F: Saydie Holland
F: Taylor Meier
St. Francis
GK: Tammy Syron
D: Brooke Roback
D: Elli Pointer
D: McKenzie Douglas
D: Rachel Rahman
MF: Claire Hensley
MF: Kaitlyn Joniak
MF: Molly Doran
F: Kendra Pasquale
F: Erin Peck
F: Kate LaMantia
MVP of the Match: Cali Carl, MF, Sycamore
