Girls Soccer: St. Edward rolls into sectional title match
By Brandon Mangia For Sun-Times Media May 15, 2012 10:36PM
Updated: May 15, 2012 11:28PM
St. Edward sophomore Allison Kruk had herself a game to remember on Tuesday night.
Facing Stillman Valley in a semifinal matchup at the Class 1A Harvard Sectional, Kruk used her blistering speed to help tally four goals as the Green Wave cruised to a 6-0 win and a date in Saturday’s 11 a.m. sectional title game against Rockford Lutheran.
“It was all positives,” Kruk said of the atmosphere surrounding the night. “It was positive during warm-ups, it was positive during the game. It all added up and was just perfect.”
Freshman Chelsea Gnan had quite a game as well, scoring a goal and adding three assists. Kelly Tripicchio also scored, and Monica Ramirez added an assist. Senior keeper Paige Gannon faced a barrage of shots over the final 20 minutes and stopped them all to keep the shut out intact.
After a 90-minute lightning delay, St. Edward (18-7-2) asserted its dominance from the start against the Cardinals (14-6), scoring two goals within the first 10 minutes. Gnan got it started with a steal and a centering pass to Kruk for a 1-0 lead, and Kruk put in a rebound off a Jordyn Madden shot less than a minute later.
“Once we got the first couple in we knew we had to keep going at them so that we had no chance of giving it up,” Kruk said.
Gnan scored with 26:14 left in the first half, and Tripicchio scored 10 minutes later as the Wave went into the break up 4-0.
“We saw Stillman on Monday and we talked about how they’re quick getting back and like to trap so we have to play through, not long,” said St. Edward coach Tim Brieger. “The girls came out with the right intensity and we talked about keeping the energy going.”
Kruk netted the hat trick with 36:19 left in the second half on a rebound, and made it a four-goal night five minutes later on a pass from Gnan.
Stillman Valley keeper Shannell Boetcher had 16 saves in the loss. Saturday’s game will mark the third time in the last four years St. Edward has met Rockford Lutheran in the postseason.
“It’s gonna be one heck of a game,” Brieger said. “I think you’ll see two teams that know each other.”
