Crystal Lake Central can’t hold early lead, falls to St. Ignatius in Class 2A supersectional

CHICAGO – Despite goals from forwards Addison Schaffer and Jordin Gaunaurd in the opening 30 minutes against St. Ignatius, Crystal Lake Central’s advantage didn’t feel particularly safe.

“Everybody says a 2-0 lead is the most dangerous, so I was nervous,” senior Liz Gray said of Tuesday’s Class 2A De La Salle Supersectional. “Any lead in a game with 80 minutes is not really enough until the end.”

St. Ignatius, trailing 2-0 at halftime, really put the pressure on Central after the break.

Three straight goals gave the top-seeded Wolfpack the lead, and after the second-seeded Tigers briefly evened the score again, St. Ignatius answered back for a 5-3 win to reach its first state tournament since 2021 – and avenge last year’s loss to Central in the supersectional round.

“We really weren’t relaxed,” Central first-year coach Leah Rutkowski said of her team’s 2-0 lead at the half. “We work our best when the ball’s on the ground and we’re playing to feet and possessing, and [St. Ignatius] was breaking that up for us. It’s great to have a halftime lead, but a 2-0 lead is the worst one to have in soccer.”

Central (17-5-2) was looking to make its third straight state appearance after capturing the state title last spring and placing third in 2023. The Tigers knew how dangerous the Wolfpack could be, and they showed that at the onset of the second half.

Junior forward Kayla Washington, who owns the team record for goals in a season, had three goals in the second half, showcasing her strong right foot and quick reflexes. Her first goal came from about 30 yards out, where she controlled the ball, turned and fired a shot over Central goalkeeper Ryleigh Smith with 33:56 left in the second half.

Quinn Urquhart followed with a goal at the near post on a corner kick with 29:46 to go to tie the score at 2, sticking out her right foot as the ball was still in the air.

The Tigers looked to answer on the other end, but Wolfpack defender Maggie Helms stole the ball off Gray and immediately went the other way with the ball. She fired the ball upfield to Washington, who hit a running Francesca Besztery on the sideline. Besztery beat her defender and fired a shot past Smith for the go-ahead score with 16:58 left.

St. Ignatius coach Pam Whitehead said Washington, who scored the final two goals Tuesday, is a unique talent.

“She’s capable of holding the ball up, which a lot of players aren’t, with her back to the goal and still finds a way to get around and take the shot,” Whitehead said. “She attracts a lot of defenders so other people can make runs. And the thing you always notice about Kayla is she always has a positive mindset. She’s always smiling.”

“We knew we could do it,” Washington said of coming back and making state. “Once we went down, we knew we had to step it up and push our energy to keep going.”

Central, despite giving up three straight goals, fought back and found the equalizer less than two minutes after Besztery’s score. With 15:04 remaining, Ella Bechler (two assists) blasted a corner kick to a crowded group in the penalty box, and Gray and fellow senior Hadley Ferrero put their bodies on the ball as it deflected into the goal past a leaping MC Galante for St. Ignatius.

Ferrero fell to the ground, but Gray picked her back up.

“That was reassuring that we could pull it back together and get the goal,” Ferrero said. “But we obviously knew that wasn’t the end, and we needed to keep fighting.”

Rutkowski was proud of her team’s resilience.

“All season they’ve proven themselves as competitors and fighters,” she said. “They battled through some very tough games, even with their lack of experience, which is hard to do.

“As hard as it is to lose here, I never thought we’d be playing in a supersectional this year. We had a brand new group after losing so many kids to graduation. There was just a lot of change to adjust to, and they kind of figured it out and clicked so fast.”

Schaffer, who was one of a select few Tigers on the current team to get varsity playing time last spring, said the season was a success.

“I’m really proud that we got this far,” she said. “It’s pretty hard. There’s only eight [teams] that get this far. I thought we just did good throughout the season getting to know each other.”

Central claimed its fourth straight regional, third straight sectional and took runner-up to Huntley in the Fox Valley Conference. This team felt like not many gave them a chance after graduating the majority off last year’s roster.

“We were told we were going to be left with nothing ... and we were going to make it nowhere,” Ferrero said. “Even though we did fall short of state, I’m still super proud of our team.”

“We had a great team,” Gray said. “They’ll still have a ton of potential for next year, and I’m really excited to see how they do.”