The last couple of weeks of the girls soccer regular season, St. Francis junior forward Ashley Klein was sidelined recovering from a concussion.

“It wasn’t too major. I was very nervous (when I’d return) but it was a fast recovery. That’s all that matters,” Klein said.

Klein returned just in time for the Class 2A playoffs.

Her presence made all the difference Tuesday.

Klein’s goal with 9:02 left in the second of the two 10-minute overtimes gave the Spartans a 1-0 victory over Elmwood Park at the Class 2A Hinsdale South Supersectional after dominating the contest.

Klein dug out the ball to the right of the goal against two defenders, forged through and converted an unbalanced shot that somehow got past tough goalie Mariana Varkholiak.

“Honestly, I don’t remember a lot of it. I just remember I pulled back and I ended up on the ground, of course. I’m always on the ground,” Klein said.

“I’m just really glad that happened because it really changed the mood and our mindsets. I think we could have gotten so many more goals.”

The Spartans (12-4) play in the 2A state semifinals against downstate Morton at 2:30 p.m. Friday at North Central College in Naperville.

Only veteran fans remember the Spartans’ last state trip – the 2018 2A state championship season when Jim Winslow also was head coach.

This year’s lineup has three senior starters – Megan Maertens, Molly Marks and Maicie Schweiner. St. Francis has outscored its five playoff opponents 20-0 with sophomore goalie Pyper Schweiner and defenders Maertens, Ainsley Clark and Maria Fassnacht keeping the shutouts coming.

“If you told me at the beginning of the year we’d go to state, I’d be like, ‘Hmmm, maybe,’ but a couple of things have happened,” Winslow said. “We got healthy at the right time, Pyper’s been really good in goal and timely goal scoring.”

The Spartans led Elmwood Park (12-8-1) in total shots 31-3 and 20-2 in shots on goal with more than a handful that hit or grazed posts and crossbars. They also led 16-0 in corner kicks.

“The refs were joking about that. We were playing the crossbar challenge,” Maicie Schweiner said. “We got one and that’s all that matters.”

St. Francis especially dictated the second half with 12 shots on goal. If the outer goal or a defender didn’t get in the way, Varkholiak was in great position to make saves directly or with deflections.

“Give them credit. They hung in there and put so many numbers in the box they made it impossible. The goal we scored, we had to dig it out,” Winslow said.

“Probably what I’m most proud of is typically you get a game like this, you either give up a bad one or let them get some momentum for a period of time. They never really got (momentum).”

The Spartans also overcame missing a penalty kick with 26:12 left in regulation after junior forward Lorraine Surina was tripped attacking in the box.

Junior Caroline Kiesler’s penalty kick hit off the outer edge of the right post. Within a minute, Surina left the game with an injury.

“That’s kind of my thing and it kind of brought me down a little bit but my teammates were there to help me stay positive,” Kiesler said. “I got back into it and we all did. I’m just grateful for my team for helping me.”

Because the Spartans reached state, Kiesler spoke with anticipation of players dying their hair blue.

“Our team just got really excited and ran with it,” Kiesler said. “At the beginning of the school year, (we discussed it) mostly as a joke but now that we’re here we’re definitely doing it.”

The Schweiner sisters will enjoy state together thanks to Pyper playing soccer this season for the first time since she was 8. Both suffered concussions this season with Pyper returning just before playoffs.

“She’s been doing a great job this year and I’m so happy to share the field with her one last time,” Maicie Schweiner said.

“(Reaching state is) so amazing, especially my senior year. This is a dream I’ve always had so to fulfill it on my last journey in soccer, it’s just so special and with this group, too. There’s no one I’d rather do it with.”