PLAINFIELD – Plainfield North got the message, but almost too late.

Playing Geneva for the third-straight year in the Plainfield Classic championship game Saturday afternoon, Plainfield North wanted to avoid a repeat of last season’s result.

In 2023, the Tigers opened the season on a roll and rarely slowed down on the way to a 23-2-2 record.

Plainfield North’s only regular-season defeat came to Geneva in penalty kicks in last season’s Plainfield Classic title game. In 2022, the Tigers took the trophy.

“We talked about to remember last year, and we had to take care of the game in the first 80 minutes,” Plainfield North coach Katie Monterosso said. “Geneva is a great team. We won two years ago, and that was also a very tight game where we scored the winning goal late.”

This time the Tigers took care of business again – in the final 10 minutes.

Forward Katelyn Haiser turned a looming drama-filled penalty-kick ending into a deceiving result. The sophomore scored two-straight goals that started a three-goal spree in the final 10 minutes in a 3-0 victory over Geneva. The 16-team tourney closed out in perfect fashion for the host Tigers (10-2-1). 

Plainfield North goalie Samantha Jurgens made two saves for the shutout, which was the Tigers fourth in five tournament matches.

Freshman forward Ilyana Barriball tacked on the final goal in the 76th minute to cap a three-goal scoring run in just under six minutes that shocked the visitors.

In the first half, Geneva (6-4-0) had a decided advantage with the wind on their backs on the offensive side but came up empty. 

Geneva coach Megan Owens focused her postgame talk on maintaining intensity, especially against a team of Plainfield North’s caliber. 

“We allowed three goals in the last 10 minutes, so it’s mental,” Owens said. “We dominated long stretches of the game. We just checked out in the end. That’s high school soccer. You have to put a complete game together for the full 80 minutes. 

“We have the talent. We have to create and finish shots and stay mentally in the game. We fought really hard for the first 70 minutes. It shouldn’t happen, but we will learn from it and move on. Plainfield North is a really solid program. We controlled a lot of the game, but just imploded in the last 10 minutes.

“We fought hard, but just have to work on our mental toughness component and playing that complete game and just build from it. I think our backline did their job. They fought hard. We just have to have the offense work as hard as the defense does. That’s the missing component.”

Geneva senior midfielder Caroline Madden said Saturday’s defeat should push the Vikings toward more complete efforts. The team will train up to the opening weekend of the prestigious Naperville Invitational. Geneva heads into tough matchups at highly ranked Barrington on Thursday and home against Oswego East on Friday. Madden had one the Vikings’ best shot attempts in the game, hitting the football crossbar in the 25th minute.

“They had some good shots at the end,” Madden said. “At the end, we had to take some chances and put some people on offensive. That makes it harder to defend with less numbers. 

“We definitely wanted to take advantage of the wind in the first half, which we didn’t do. So, we knew it would be more pressure on us in the second half to keep our mistakes from happening in the back. We knew that the second half would be harder. We played hard today and put in good effort. There’s a lot to learn from today.”

Geneva senior defender Hope Ieler said Haiser, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, was tough to defend.

“(Haiser) is really fast, but I think we held our own against her,” she said. “We made just a couple of critical mistakes and paid for it. I think we connected really well and held our own the whole game, but just make a couple of mistakes.”

Sensing her team needed a push, Haiser provided energy with a flurry of moves and shots that started in the 66th minute. She was all over the final third, sending passes to teammates for shots, making 1-v-1 moves to try and get open and attempting to race down loose balls. She came up empty on three shots before finally breaking the ice.

The first goal came on a blast from 23 yards that found paydirt inside the far post with 10:26 remaining in regulation.

Her second goal was even better. After a few moves to try and open space, she put the ball between a Geneva defender’s legs before nailing it into the back of the net with 8:07 left.

Haiser is happy to be fully recovered after a six-week layoff due to a knee injury.

“That felt really good to get the first one, because I had a lot of chances. I was getting double-teamed, and it was frustrating in the first half with the wind,” Haiser said of her first goal.

Then she smiled when talking about her second goal.

“The girl gave me space, and I turned,” she said. “That goal was pretty satisfying. This win really felt good because of last year. We knew we had to win this.”

With 4:59 left, Plainfield North freshman forward Ilyanna Barriball closed out the shower of goals by hitting a bouncing shot from distant inside the far post.

“We had a lot of momentum by that point. Also, their defense was getting pretty tired at that point,” Barriball said. “We just recognized that and kept on going. I’m really glad we were able to win.”

Plainfield North junior defender Grier Isaacson said it was a quality win for the program.

“Last year we lost to them, so coming back was really important,” Isaacson. “It was a struggle at first, but we worked it out. We just kept having pressure on the ball and creating opportunities and we knew we would get one over time. We kept working for it.”

Monterosso said her team is unique.

“This year is a completely different year,” she said. “We graduated 15 seniors last year, so we’re really trying to see the mixes and figure things out. 

“Some girls play well in one position one day, then we might switch it up and see some different things. It’s nice because you can throw people in different positions, and you get completely different looks. We look completely different sometimes from even the first 15 minutes or the last 15 minutes, depending on who is clicking.”

One thing for certain is that Monterosso is happy to have Haiser to completely healthy.

“Katelyn was injured a bit, so we’re slowing trying to get her back in,” she said. “She’s really at full tilt right now, and pretty much 100 percent. This was a great battle, so I have to give props to Geneva.”

 
Starting lineups

Geneva
GK: Jordan Forbes
D: Cami Bishop
D: Hop Ieler
D: Leyna Yonehara
D: Riley Pryor
MF: Lilly Coats
MF: Caroline Madden
MF: Evyn Schokora
MF: Alyssa Houk
F: Audrey Stredde
F: Olivia Rawls
 
Plainfield North
GK: Samantha Jurgens
D: Delaney Harwood
D: Mackenzie Harriman
D: Claire Wilson
MF: Lauren Mrugala
MF: Ilyana Barriball
MF: Kyla Seifert
MF: Riley Grant
MF: Grier Isaacson
F: Katelyn Haiser
F: Lauryn Amico
 
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Katelyn Haiser, so., F, Plainfield North

Scoring summary

First half
No scoring
 
Second half
Plainfield North: Haiser (Miller), 70’
Plainfield North: Haiser (Seifert), 72’
Plainfield North: Barriball (Isaacson), 76’