Girls soccer: Crystal Lake Central shuts out Triad, captures IHSA Class 2A state championship

NAPERVILLE – Crystal Lake Central senior Paiton Hulata started to sense the Tigers were closing in on something special and historic as time ticked away during the second half of Saturday’s Class 2A state championship against Triad.

“Once we hit 10 minutes left, I looked back at Chelsea [Iles], my center back, and said, ‘Dude, we’ve got this,’ ” she said. “We can win right now. We were all crying before the game, and we were bawling our eyes out after.

“It’s such a monumental moment in our lives.”

The Tigers, with a determined senior class of 13, set a goal to raise a state championship trophy before leaving high school. Central realized that dream with a hard-fought, 1-0 victory against four-time state champion Triad.

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Crystal Lake Central goal keeper Addison Cleary holds up the state championship trophy after their win over Triad in the Class 2A state championship game at North Central College in Naperville on Saturday, June 1, 2024. (Sandy Bressner)

As Central’s players walked off the turf field at North Central College, the reality of being the first girls soccer team from the school to win a state title was a lot to take in.

“I think it’s going to set in on the bus ride home,” said senior goalkeeper Addison Cleary, who allowed only three goals in seven playoff games, getting shutouts in the final two. “We always make the joke that we’re going to go back to our little grass field.

“I think that’s when it’s going to hit me the most. We’ve come so far.”

The Tigers (23-2-2) needed only one goal to win their first state title, and it came in an unconventional way. Hulata sent in a corner kick with 16 minutes left in the first half looking to set up one of her teammates for a score.

When the ball came back out to her, she knocked it toward the goal again with thoughts of finding somebody on the back post.

To Hulata’s surprise, the ball instead sailed at Knights goalkeeper Payton Hartmann, who was unable to handle it as it went over her outstretched arms.

“I was trying to find the back-post runner, and it ended up going in the back-post corner over the goalie’s head,” Hulata said. “It was a little bit of luck, a little bit of skill, but I’ll take it.”

Cleary and Central’s defensive back line of Kalissa Kaiser, Hulata, Iles and Shaylee Gough – all seniors – turned away every scoring opportunity for the Knights, who turned up the pressure in the game’s last moments. Cleary, who finished with four saves, punched out a corner kick with 11 minutes remaining, and the Tigers turned away consecutive corner kicks with about seven minutes left.

Central made it to the state tournament last spring, losing the semifinal match and placing third. The Tigers felt the experience and disappointment of last year’s third-place finish – still the best in program history at the time – helped them out in the end.

The wait was worth it.

“We worked very hard the whole season,” Iles said. “I feel like when we got third last year, we could all see that we were going to get back here. It was only going to make us stronger, and winning today is proof of that. As a defense, I think our are strengths are our communication and dedication. We never give up no matter what.”

In addition to winning the program’s first state title, the Tigers also set the team record for wins in a season with 23. Central’s previous high was 19 last season and in 2019.

Central coach Sarah Fack said the Tigers put in the work to become a state champion.

“It’s hard to win games without great kids who care about each other and the program,” said Fack, who is 111-37-4 in seven years at the school. “It’s a culture that they created. Over the years, it’s been building and building and they took a little bit of success and they just ran with it.

“They’re a team that does things the right way. They don’t take shortcuts. Anytime freshmen came in they took them in and taught them how we do things. If you don’t have a solid core of leaders, you’re not getting very far.”

Senior forward Brooklynn Carlson, who had both goals in the Tigers’ 2-0 win over Burlington Central in Friday’s semifinals, took time to appreciate what she and her teammates accomplished.

“We’ve worked so hard for this moment,” she said. “We set a goal since the beginning of the year to win state. Even sophomore year we’ve been thinking about winning state. And just to go out on that field, do what we’re supposed to do and win, it feels great. We wanted this.”