Timothy Christian senior goalkeeper Emily White doesn’t like being idle on the soccer field.

“I really like busy games,” White said. “I know my coach and my team might not.

“My parents definitely don’t, but it’s always fun getting some action as a goalie. Our conference isn’t always very great, so there’s many games where I just kind of stand there.”

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Timothy Christian's Mikaela Bullard, right, kicks the ball to a teammate while being defended by Father McGivney Catholic's Emerson Isringhausen (18) during the state semifinals game on Thursday June 4, 2026, held at North Central College. (David Toney for Shaw Local News /David Toney)

White got plenty of action against Father McGivney in a Class 1A state semifinal Thursday at North Central College in Naperville. That came as no surprise.

“I talked to her yesterday,” Timothy Christian coach Nate Drye said. “I’m like, ‘You’re going to have to be great for us to have a chance. You’re going to get some work tomorrow and we’re going to need you to be great.’”

White did get a lot of work, and she was great. The favored Griffins outshot the Trojans 24-1, but White made 13 saves and kept her team in contention until midway through the second half before Father McGivney pulled away for a 4-0 win.

“She was fantastic,” Drye said. “She bailed us out.

“She kind of kept us in the game, so I’m happy for her to be able to play like that on this stage.”

White thrived under the near-constant pressure, making one diving save after another.

“(I was) a little too busy, yeah,” White said. “But I think the biggest takeaway for me is something my dad always tells me – is that as a keeper you’ve got to make one good save every game.

“In that first half there was one where I didn’t even know I had the ball in my hand anymore. I just kind of looked up and I was like, ‘Oh, I got it.’”

White had no chance to get the Griffins’ first shot of the game, which came just 92 seconds after kickoff. Sophia Rossetto scored on a 32-yard rocket into the upper right corner to give Father McGivney (23-2-3) a 1-0 lead.

“That hurt,” Drye said. “I thought we had a good plan coming in.

“They’re one of the best teams in the state regardless of class. So we wanted to make sure that we kept our shape and had people in position defensively, and we gave them a whisper of space on that first one and she just let it go, just a perfectly placed shot.”

The Trojans (14-6-1), who came in riding a 12-game winning streak, gamely held on until 44 seconds remained in the first half. That’s when Emerson Isringhausen fired a 20-yard shot under the crossbar to make it 2-0.

“That was another rocket shot,” Drye said. “Putting it where she did, there’s not a lot you can do about that.

“It hurt being down 2-0. I was hoping to get to halftime down 1.”

Yet the Trojans never let down. Father McGivney got goals from Natalie Beck with 20:40 left in the second half and another from Kinley Detmers six minutes after that, but the Trojans battled to the end.

“I thought our girls played really hard,” Drye said. “I was just proud of how they performed today.

“It was a really monumental task but it’s fun to do these things. If you’re going to win state you’ve got to beat somebody really good. Sometimes the other team is just better.”

Even so, White may have been the best player on the field for the Trojans, who made back-to-back state semifinal appearances for the first time in school history.

“It was such an honor to come here back-to-back years with my team and play with some of my best friends,” White said. “It was really fun.

“The whole team put it all out on the field and I’m so proud of each and every one of them.”