Ashlyn Grabs didn’t take a single one of the 100 minutes for granted.
Competing alongside her twin sister Brooke for perhaps the final time in her varsity career, the senior goalkeeper hung tough as Huntley went into double overtime of Friday’s IHSA Class 3A Harlem Sectional girls soccer final against Warren. Organizing her back line, Ashlyn made key stops down the stretch as the Red Raiders kept fighting.
But the Blue Devils, after applying heavy pressure throughout the second half and overtime, managed to break through in the 94th minute. Sprinting to a long through ball, Warren’s Sophie Dolinar capitalized on a backside breakaway, beating Huntley’s defense to the net and scoring to give the Blue Devils their first lead of the night.
It proved to be the game winner for the No. 1 seed Warren, which outlasted No. 2 seed Huntley 2-1 in and earned a spot in the Class 3A Barrington Supersectional on Tuesday. Huntley (15-4-2) had been vying for its first sectional title since 2016, when the Red Raiders won 22 games and finished fourth in the state under Kris Grabner.
“I’m so proud of my whole team,” said Ashlyn Grabs, who finished with 12 saves. “Getting to play with my sister the last four years has just been amazing. The friendships I’ve made and everything from the team dinners to the after-game bus rides have been so amazing.”
Winners of their home regional last weekend, the Red Raiders took control in the first few minutes and were the first to strike in Friday’s championship match. Navigating a crowded Warren box, Brooke Grabs managed to field a ball from teammate Maizie Nickle and place a close-range shot past goalkeeper Ella Bos in the fourth minute.
“It was really crowded and Maizie touched a ball to me,” Brooke said. “I turned and when I was in front of the goal, I was like, ‘oh my God,’ then I placed it and it went in. It was so exciting and the energy was very good. It changed the game completely. It went from, ‘I don’t know how this will go’ to ‘we’re actually in this and we can do this’.”
Huntley’s lead was short-lived, however, as Warren equalized during the sixth minute. Eyeing the net from just over 20 yards, Blue Devil forward Brianna Nunez blasted a line-drive shot that ripped the top half of the net and made the score 1-1. It was one of three shots on goal for Nunez, who the Red Raiders looked to shut down on Friday.
“We knew who their dangerous players were,” Huntley coach Matt Lewandowski said. “[Nunez] scored a goal that got through and we locked her out the rest of the game. Then, a kid stepped up and put it in on us when we fell asleep in one moment. It proves how important every moment is. If you have one slip-up, that could be your match.”
Warren threatened to surge ahead late in the first half, but Ashlyn Grabs and the Huntley defense managed to keep the score even after 40 minutes. After Grabs made saves on free kicks in the 33rd and 36th minutes, Warren hit a shot off the crossbar in the 38th minute. Neither team earned a corner kick in a well-fought opening half.
“The main thing for us is communication,” Ashlyn said. “Lily [Aschenbrenner], Sophie [Virgilio] and I all talk throughout the back if one of them has to put pressure on them. As a team, we’ve been playing together for almost three months. We’ve really bonded. Sometimes, you don’t even have to say it. They’ll just do it.”
Looking to wear down Huntley’s back line, the Blue Devils (14-4-2) controlled the ball for a large portion of the second half, winning balls out of the air and using strong body control to win possession away from the Red Raiders. Warren found a breakaway in the 47th minute, but a charging Ashlyn Grabs led a stop that kept the match even.
Shortly after a possible hand ball inside the Huntley box went uncalled in the 51st minute, Warren’s Kenzie Szczerowski booted a hard shot that Grabs collected in the 62nd minute. The Blue Devils earned free kicks in Huntley territory during the 68th and 69th minutes, but were unable to convert against a continuously stingy Red Raider defense.
“I’m proud of my girls and how hard they worked and how long they worked in this heat,” Lewandowski said. “For them to dig down deep in the most important game of the season and compete with 11 kids on the other side of the field says a lot about their character.”