Girls soccer: Lincoln-Way Central’s season comes to an end in sectional final against Andrew

JOLIET – The Lincoln-Way Central girls soccer team saw its season come to an end on Friday at Joliet Central High School. It wasn’t where, when, or how they wanted to finish things up, but in sports, it’s the way all but one team ends up each and every year.

With that being said, there’s hope that in the near future, the Knights could be that one team. It just won’t be this year, as Lincoln-Way Central fell to Andrew by a final score of 2-0 in the Class 3A sectional final. The Knights finish the year 11-6-3.

“I still think we’re right there,” Knights coach Sean Fahey said. “(Andrew) is just a really talented team that played hard and physical so tip of the cap to them for getting it done. We created a lot of chances early in the first half, it just didn’t go our way and that’s how it goes. Maybe our frustrations got the best of us here and there. When you give a good team an opportunity, they’re going to seize it.”

The game itself was what it was. Andrew controlled most of the possession throughout and finally managed to take full advantage with 6:20 left in the first half on a goal from Paige Swaw. This was after keeper Flynn Meyer delivered an impressive save on a Thunderbolt penalty kick attempt six minutes earlier. And thus Andrew carried a 1-0 advantage at the half.

The second goal came with 11 minutes remaining in the game when Swaw snuck in a difficult goal to all but wrap it up. Fahey wasn’t entirely sure the ball was in bounds when Swaw took the attempt, but he also acknowledged that result was what the result was.

“It’s a game of millimeters,” Fahey said. “Was it our of bounds or not? I don’t know. It’s not for me to call. That one definitely hurt and changed the mentality to finish the game.”

It also didn’t lessen Fahey’s pride for the way the Knights played this season.

“I’m proud of our girls,” he said. “They worked hard, they played hard and I hope they left it on the field today. Only two teams at the end of the year get to end with a win, it just didn’t get to be us this year.”

Lincoln-Way Central graduates several key players, including Reagan Schultz, Lila Hadley and Emma Vogler. Schultz will be heading to the Division I level to play for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay while senior Allie Green will play at Olivet Nazarene. Schultz was honored to have been a part of the community at Lincoln-Way Central and a part of the soccer culture.

“It felt really good to have a big role on the team this year,” a teary eyed Schultz said. “I’m proud of everyone for the effort that they put in this year. I’m proud that I was able to help spark some of the energy that we had throughout the year...I just hope they keep working hard every day. Outwork everyone. The job is never done so they have next year to look forward to.”

Fahey was grateful for the contributions of his entire senior class.

“It’s hard to walk away,” he said. “We’re going to miss them. I always give a big thank you. Once you’re a part of the crest, you always are. We’ve got two (players) going on to play (collegiately) so I’ll keep in touch with them in college.”

As for the future, as Fahey said, the Knights are right there. All but three starters return in 2025, including Loyola commit Abby Sudkamp and Eastern Illinois commit Madi Watt. While the defeat will sting for now, Fahey hopes the loss will fuel them down the line.

“If you don’t like the feeling of walking off right now then it’s all about what you put in the next nine months,” he said. “We’ve got some good leadership in these returners. We’ll get the ball rolling...Nine months will go fast and I hope they put the work in and we’ll see what happens.”