For Crystal Lake midfielder Allison Barnett, the 11th minute Friday seemed much longer.
Receiving a pass from Addison Schaffer inside the Prairie Ridge box, Barnett rolled a shot through traffic toward the corner of the net. Amid a crowded box, the sophomore’s kick had enough pace to bounce off the right post and into the goal, giving Crystal Lake Central the first lead of Friday evening’s Class 2A regional girls soccer final.
“It felt like the ball went in slow motion, I can’t lie,” Barnett said. “When I played it into the corner, it just started rolling down. I didn’t know if it was going to go in or not. It was all in slow motion, but it was super fun to witness it and celebrate with my teammates.”
The Tigers figured Prairie Ridge would pack the box. It didn’t matter, as junior forward Jordin Gaunaurd scored two goals in the second half to help Central shut out the Wolves 3-0 and clinch the program’s sixth regional championship in eight years. The top-seeded Tigers (17-2), playing on their home field, will advance and host their sectional next week.
“We knew they were going to pack it back a lot and park the bus, but we practiced having composure in the box and making sure we passed it around and took our chances at the right time,” Barnett said. “It was a little frustrating at times. Everyone’s just kind of piled into the middle. We all worked together to make sure we snuck a few in there.”
Moving standout forward and top scorer Ava Gertz to the back line, Prairie Ridge (9-6) fought to prevent Central from converting crosses or through balls into goals. Despite the early concession, the fourth-seeded Wolves executed their newly-incorporated strategy in the first half, keeping the deficit to one after the first 40 minutes of action.
“We changed our formation around a bit,” Prairie Ridge coach Lindsay Gertz said. “We knew we weren’t going to get very many offensive attacks. We just had to play defense. We definitely parked the bus and that was the game plan all week. We practiced the shift to defense to not allow the penetrating passes to break through the back line.”
In one of its few chances all game, Prairie Ridge earned a free kick in the 36th minute. After the ball found its way to Ava Gertz, who moved up into an attacking position, the junior launched a shot that soared into the wind and well over the crossbar. Goalkeeper Winter Gallivan compiled 15 saves for the Wolves, who posted just one shot on goal.
“We forced them to the outside and let them make mistakes,” Lindsay Gertz said. “I thought we did a nice job doing that. I was telling the girls how proud I am of them for coming out and completely changing our system around for one game and not implement it any other time except for this game. I thought they did a fantastic job at it.”
Dominating possession throughout the first half, Central successfully won balls out of the air and shifted Prairie Ridge around by switching the ball from side to side. The team’s patience and ball movement led to a goal in the 59th minute, where Gaunaurd finished a run sparked by a charging Schaffer, who was taken down by a tackle, to go up 2-0.
“I know I have to pressure every ball no matter if I’m tired or not,” Gaunaurd said. ”Knowing we can win on our home field, I feel like that’s what made us go for every 50-50 ball, no matter if we’re tired or not. We’re all very, very talented and we work well together."
Gaunaurd sealed Central’s victory, cashing in a cross by Schaffer in the 73rd minute to give the Tigers their largest lead of the evening. Central, which will face the winner of Saturday’s game between No. 2 Boylan or No. 3 Hononegah in a sectional semifinal match at 4 p.m. Monday, compiled six corners in Friday’s victory. Five Central players had at least two shots on goal.
“We kind of knew they would pack it back a little bit because we have a strong offensive line,” said Central midfielder Peyton McMahon. “We knew they were going to try and shut that down, but we have such great team chemistry that we were able to break through those lines.”