Girls soccer: Ava Trudeau lifts Huntley over McHenry 1-0 in overtime

HUNTLEY – Ava Trudeau did exactly what Huntley needed to do if the Red Raiders wanted to finally score and take down McHenry on Thursday night.

Don’t stop running.

Trudeau and the Red Raiders came close to scoring multiple times during the 80 minutes of regulation Thursday, but neither team could break through. Trudeau and Huntley kept the faith and kept pushing in overtime until Trudeau got her chance and scored to lead her team to a 1-0 win.

“We knew we were knocking on the door,” Trudeau said. “We were getting a lot of confidence driving it forward.”

The play started once Chloe Pfaff gained control of the ball and started moving it down the field. She found a sprinting Trudeau, and Pfaff banged the ball right to her. Once Trudeau gained possession, she stayed wide and went back until she shot a ball she wasn’t sure would go in.

“I knew it was either going in or going wide,” Trudeau.

Luckily for Huntley (6-2-1, 1-1-1 FVC), the ball snuck in with 1:50 left in the first overtime period, and the Red Raiders mobbed Trudeau after picking up not only an important win in the Fox Valley Conference, but also in the Class 3A playoff picture.

“We wanted this so bad, so we just knew we had to get it in,” Pfaff said.

Thursday felt like a match that wouldn’t end in a tie. Both teams created different opportunities but neither found the back of the net. The Red Raiders pushed the tempo for much of the match and put eight shots on net and finished the night with eight corner kicks, but Huntley couldn’t score and hit a couple posts.

“We knew we were knocking on the door. We were getting a lot of confidence driving it forward.”

—  Ava Trudeau, Huntley junior

Huntley coach Matt Lewandowski thought his team was due to finally score. The Red Raiders hit a couple of posts in their 1-1 tie against Burlington Central, and they couldn’t find the back of the net against Crystal Lake Central on Tuesday in a 2-0 loss.

“It’s good to finally finish one,” Lewandowski said. “It gets us back on track. Somebody was going to score. It was either us or Emerson.”

[ Photos: McHenry vs. Huntley Girls Soccer ]

McHenry (1-1-2, 0-0-1) created scoring opportunities but couldn’t find the back of the net. The Warriors ended the night with three corner kicks and four shots on goal, but McHenry coach Andrew Stegenga thought the Warriors playing their second overtime match after tying with Prairie Ridge on Tuesday became too much to overcome.

“The girls worked their [butts] off,” Stegenga said. “Tough game, tough loss, big loss. We hate losing in conference in overtime, but again we played hard, we just couldn’t finish.”

McHenry won’t have much time to catch its breath. The Warriors will host Johnsburg on Friday before playing matches Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week.

Huntley will try to use Thursday’s match as a momentum boost against Wheaton Academy on Saturday. Thursday’s win against McHenry not only kept the Red Raiders ahead of McHenry in the FVC standings, but also when it comes time to seeding for the Class 3A postseason.

The Red Raiders kept knocking and were awarded with a major win.

“It’s huge … " Lewandowski said. “To get into another tight one that’s fought out and you end up on top, it’s water under the bridge.”