Class 3A girls soccer: Lincoln-Way East falls to Libertyville, still brings home school’s first soccer trophy

NAPERVILLE – Lincoln-Way East has shown remarkable resiliency this season, as evidenced just by advancing to the state finals for the first time in school history.

The Griffins showed that resiliency midway through the second half Saturday in the Class 3A third-place game against Libertyville.

After Libertyville’s Shea Krakowski scored off an assist from Erin Kelly with 19:24 to play to break a scoreless tie, Lincoln-Way East sophomore Payton Lucitt scored less than a minute later off a rebound of a shot by Cami Butler to tie it.

Libertyville got a goal from Molly Koch with the assist by Jenna Krakowski to provide the game-winner in the Wildcats’ 2-1 victory.

“It felt amazing to score a goal,” Lucitt said. “I am just so proud of the team for what we did this year. I couldn’t have done what I did if it wasn’t for the rest of the team putting me in that position.

“We gave up a goal, but we came right back and scored one. Cami got a good shot off and it came off right to me and I put it in.”

The loss sent Lincoln-Way East home with the fourth-place trophy, but you won’t hear any of them complaining.

“I can’t say this was bad at all,” Lincoln-Way East senior Brooklyn Mortell said. “I got to play with my best friends at state. It was the first time any soccer team, boys or girls, has gotten to state in our school’s history. I am so proud that we got here. To be upset about anything that happened here would just feel wrong.

“I think you learn more from your losses than you do from your wins. It depends on what you do with what you learned from the losses that’s important.”

The Griffins, who finish with a 21-6 record, controlled the action during most of the first half and the initial portion of the second half, but couldn’t get the ball to find the back of the net.

Ellie Feigl narrowly missed a crossing pass in front of the goal from Butler, Julia Czarnowski got a header on goal on a corner kick, but it was saved by Libertyville goalie Kate Hopma. In the second half, a shot by Breanna Herlihy hit the crossbar and bounced over the goal. In a game played on a field measured in yards, a few inches here or there might have spelled a different result for East.

“If we score in the first half, it’s a different game,” East coach Mike Murphy said. “Still, if someone told us at the beginning of the season that we would finish fourth at state, we would have taken it. We hung in there and competed with two great teams this weekend [O’Fallon on Friday and Libertyvlle], and that showed us that we can compete with anyone.

“We are a heavy junior group and even have three sophomores and two freshmen, so this experience is great for them. We are going to miss our seniors. Brooklyn Mortell and Madison Dziedzic, a lot, though. Their leadership has been the foundation of this team, and they have helped build something special. Brooklyn is a team leader. She gives pre-game and halftime talks, and Madison Dziedzic is also a great leader. I just couldn’t say enough about those two. They are program builders and they have helped build a great culture and taught it to the younger players.”

The future looks bright for East, with players such as Lucitt, a sophomore, as well as leading goal scorers Butler and Feigl, both juniors, returning next season.

“As far as the big picture, like I said, it was a great experience for our players that are coming back,” Murphy said. “We went through a very tough sectional and supersectional, then played two great teams in the state finals. Now that we know we can compete with teams like that, we hope this is just the first of more state trophies to come.”