May 20, 2024
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Girls soccer: Peyton Kohn scores late to help Huntley tie Boylan Catholic 1-1

Red Raiders use big second half to come back

By Michal Dwojak
Huntley's Bella Fusco (left) celebrates her teammate, Peyton Kohn, after Kohn scored the game tying goal during a nonconference soccer game against Boylan Catholic in March 2024, at Huntley High School.

Huntley's Bella Fusco (left) celebrates with teammate Peyton Kohn after Kohn scored the game-tying goal during a nonconference match against Boylan Catholic on Wednesday at Huntley High School. (Gregory Shaver/Gregory Shaver )

HUNTLEY – Matt Lewandowski’s halftime speech to Huntley on Wednesday evening had a simple message: Run hard and opportunities will happen.

Senior Peyton Kohn understood the assignment.

Kohn made a push on a ball late in the Red Raiders’ match against Boylan and scored. That late push helped the Red Raiders end their opening match of the Huntley Invitational in a 1-1 draw.

[ Photos: Huntley vs. Boylan Catholic girls soccer ]

“I didn’t even know it was going in, honestly,” Kohn said. “I toe-poked it, and it went in.”

Kohn’s goal capped a second half that Huntley (0-1-2) controlled despite trailing 1-0. The Titans (1-2-2) weathered some strong Red Raider looks at the start of the second half before Johanna Hawley scored with 27:37 left in the match.

Despite the deficit, Huntley still listened to Lewandowski’s halftime message. The Red Raiders had a strong scoring chance a couple of minutes after falling behind on a cross pass that went too high. Huntley had three shots on goal and a corner kick before finally breaking through.

Kohn ran toward the front of the net before putting a touch on Maddie Cummings’ cross pass. She got just enough of the ball, and it rolled slowly past the goal line to tie the match with 13:12 left.

The Red Raiders withstood a late push in the final 10 minutes to end the match in a draw.

“It was a good, hard push to end the game strong,” Kohn said.

That push was a drastic change from what happened in the first half. The Red Raiders couldn’t keep up with the Titans’ aggressive style and turned the ball over once Huntley got into Boylan’s third of the pitch.

Huntley had one shot on goal in the first half.

“They really collapsed on us well,” Kohn said. “I think we couldn’t cross the ball in to get those toe-pokes or headers or anything. We needed a better cross in.”

Huntley's Maddie Rumachik tries to control the ball in between Boylan Catholic's Johanna Hawley (left) and Ava Galluzzo (right) during a nonconference soccer game on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Huntley High School.

Huntley's Maddie Rumachik tries to control the ball in between Boylan Catholic's Johanna Hawley (left) and Ava Galluzzo (right) during a nonconference soccer match on Wednesday at Huntley High School. (Gregory Shaver/Gregory Shaver )

Lewandowski was proud to see Huntley respond in the second half. The Red Raiders have tried to find new scoring options after graduating a majority of their goal scorers from last season’s team.

Although Huntley could’ve scored on a few more chances after controlling much of the second half, Lewandowski was impressed to see a strong-character performance early in the season.

“To go down and then come back in the second half to even it out is indicative of our character we’ll have this season,” Lewandowski said.

Huntley will try to pick up its first win of the season by continuing what it started in the second half Wednesday. They’ll get their next chance against Auburn on Thursday and Larkin on Saturday.

“It’s always trying to be like that,” Kohn said. “Sometimes you get really slow. I think the second-half intensity is how we want to play each game.”