Girls soccer: Richmond-Burton clinches state berth with win over IC Catholic

RIVER FOREST – Margaret Slove took a chance Tuesday chasing after a loose ball and ended up relieving a year’s worth of pressure on Richmond-Burton.

The junior sprinted to the ball as it rolled to IC Catholic goalkeeper Allie Geiger and just touched enough of it for it to roll past everyone with 4:54 left in the Class 1A Concordia University Supersectional.

[ Photos: Richmond-Burton vs. IC Catholic girls soccer ]

Almost a year after Richmond-Burton’s season ended in the final minutes of a supersectional match, the Rockets were the ones celebrating a supersectional title and a trip to the state finals after a 1-0 victory over IC Catholic.

Richmond-Burton will play Montini (13-4-1) in the Class 1A state semifinals at 5 p.m. Friday at North Central College in Naperville.

“It means everything,” Slove said. “I’m so proud of my team. We’ve worked so hard ever since the moment we lost last year. It was a switch. We knew we had to come back.”

Both teams played to each other’s strengths for most of the match. IC Catholic (16-4-2) entered Tuesday having allowed six goals in 21 matches and finished with 17 shutouts, including four in the postseason.

The Knights swarmed the Rockets (22-1-1), limiting their front line to one shot on goal in the first half. Reese Frericks came loose on a fastbreak with about 10 minutes left in the match, but she was called offsides.

Richmond-Burton coach Casey DeCaluwe saw that IC Catholic pressured high on the right side of the field. DeCaluwe told Slove to stay strong defensively but to take her shot if she saw it.

“I knew I had to take a chance,” Slove said. “I knew there were 10 minutes left, and I knew I had to make a move. I knew I had to get up.”

Richmond-Burton goalkeeper Taylor Labay and the Rockets defense stopped the Knights at every turn, especially in the final 10 minutes of the match. IC Catholic had a chance to score when the Knights had the ball near the goal line with just less than nine minutes left, but Labay stopped a shot right in front of her and jumped on the rebound.

IC Catholic got one last good look on net with a shot just outside the corner of the box, but Labay made the save.

“I think Taylor played a fantastic game,” DeCaluwe said. “Maddie Havlicek, our whole back line, doing anything and everything.”

IC Catholic coach Tony Godinez knew the difference in Tuesday’s match would come down to who got a break to score one goal. After what he saw in the first half and much of the second half, Godinez thought the match was headed for penalty kicks, but the Rockets’ one chance proved to be the break he expected.

“It was a well-played game,” Godinez said. “They got a break there and finished. That’s how soccer is. You have to get the break in the game.”

After spending an entire calendar year with the goal of reaching the state finals, Richmond-Burton is ready to focus on a new challenge.

“It takes so much to get here,” DeCaluwe said. “Why not go all the way?”