Johnsburg‘s Charlie Eastland wasn’t sure how many chances the Skyhawks would have Friday in their Class 1A state tournament third-place girls soccer match against Timothy Christian.

When her dad, coach Rob Eastland, called on Charlie to take a free kick from 24 yards out, Johnsburg’s junior was more than happy to be the one to step up for her team.

With 13:49 remaining in the first half, Charlie took a few stutter-steps in her approach, fired a right-footed shot over the Trojans’ wall, and snuck the ball over goalkeeper Emily White, who leaped and got a touch on the strike at the near post.

Eastland’s goal stood, and Johnsburg held off Timothy Christian 1-0 at North Central College in Naperville to finish the season with a 19-1 record and a third-place trophy.

“Something told me we weren’t going to get a ton of chances,” said Charlie Eastland, who also scored in Thursday’s 5-1 semifinal loss to Pleasant Plains. “We were gassed. Both teams were tired from that first day. I just had to take that second to get that moment of quality for the team.”

“I’ve watched that kid do that on the field since she was 5 years old,” Rob Eastland said of his daughter. “She’s a big-game player. The second she sets up for the shot, I’m confident there’s a good chance it will hit the net.”

The Skyhawks had hopes of winning a state title and completing an undefeated season, but the loss of senior attacker Liz Smith, the team’s top scorer with 35 goals, was too much to overcome. Smith injured her right ankle in Johnsburg’s supersectional victory and didn’t play in Thursday’s semifinal, a 5-1 loss.

She shed her walking boot and entered Friday’s game with less than 40 seconds to play to make her last high school appearance.

“Being on the field one last time meant a lot to me, no matter how painful it was to get out there,” Smith said. “To hug everybody at the end and be with everybody I’ve played alongside with for so many years, it meant to the world to me.”

Rob Eastland said Smith is the team’s heartbeat.

“That kid deserves to end on the field. Two years, she’s been a huge reason why we got to this place,” Eastland said. “Even if it went to [penalty kicks], she might have took one. She might have cried, but she would have took one.”

Johnsburg senior goalkeeper Lila Konrad, after taking eight shots on goal in Thursday’s semifinal loss, made two saves. The Skyhawks finished with 15 shutouts for the season.

“It feels really special, because not a lot of teams get to do this,” Konrad said. “Not a lot of teams get to end with a win. I think we beat ourselves mentally [on Thursday]. There was no other way we would come out of this game knowing how we performed yesterday.”

Timothy Christian (14-7-1), which lost to Johnsburg last year in the 1A semifinals on an Eastland goal, took fourth for the second year in a row.

Junior attacker Mackenzie Laslo, the team’s leading scorer with 27 goals, said her team never gave up hope.

“It was really exciting to be back [at state] because I love my team. We were excited to see Johnsburg again,” Laslo said. “It wasn’t the outcome we wanted, but I think we still played hard, and it was really fun.

“I love our team, our love for each other and our love for the Lord. We just really like to be together. I think we have great chemistry together.”

White made one save for the Trojans, while Ella Rickert had one in the second half.

On offense, Timothy Christian put two shots on goal, one by junior Mia Schilf and one by sophomore Lucy Wilgenburg.

Trojans coach Nate Drye said the Skyhawks’ unconventional offense didn’t allow his team many scoring chances, especially early.

Wilgenburg had a shot at goal with about five minutes to go following a corner, but her left-footed shot sailed high.

“They play a very different style of soccer. Anytime anybody gets a foot on it, they just kick it as far as they can and they chase after it,” Drye said. “We don’t see that very much, and so it’s a challenge to constantly be on the alert for long balls.

“In the second half, we got the ball on the ground and moved the ball. We had it down there most of the second half, we just couldn’t find a way through in the end.”

Drye said the Trojans overcame key injuries, including to the team’s top defender Avery Croff, to make it back to state.

“We faced a lot of injuries this year, and the girls kept coming back from them and kept playing through it,” Drye said. “We had to rearrange our lineup, and the girls never let up. To be able to make it back at the end of a rocky season was a nice reward for them.”

Johnsburg graduates six seniors as it looks to make a third straight trip to state next spring. Last year’s team took runner-up.

“Just proud of every single person that stepped up this year,” senior defender Jacquelyn Douglas said. “We had Dorothy [Ruth], who started as a freshman [at state], and she was probably scared, but she did amazing. I’m proud of everyone who put in the effort for everyone around them. We knew we had to give every ounce for each other. I’m glad we did that throughout the whole season, and we ended up here.”