St. Francis celebrates win over Benet

St. Francis junior Hannah Rittenhouse and senior Kendra Pasquale don't claim telepathic powers, but the talented forwards have developed a special connection around soccer nets. When senior forward Erin Peck made an early cross in Tuesday's Class 2A Hinsdale South supersectional against rival Benet, Pasquale was wide open in the middle of the crease -- the perfect scoring opportunity. Pasquale let the ball continue rolling between her legs to the wide-open Rittenhouse.

"I checked my shoulder early and I saw she was on the weak (side) post so I just let it go to her," Pasquale said. "We've definitely practiced it."

Rittenhouse converted just 7:22 into play and it was the game-winner in the Spartans' 1-0 hard-earned victory in Darien.

St. Francis (16-4-3) plays in the state semifinals at 11 a.m. Friday at North Central College against Lemont (24-1), fourth at state in 2017.

"It's amazing. We played really well together and fought really hard against a good team," said Rittenhouse, an Iowa recruit who leads the Spartans with 23 goals. "(Pasquale) knew I was right there. We have this vision when we're on the field. It's great working with her. She's an awesome teammate. I had a feeling it was coming so I just had to be ready."

The potent offensive trio are among six starters who remain from the 2016 St. Francis lineup that that finished fourth in 2A. Even more remember the sting of last year's loss in the sectional finals.

"Last time we didn't do the best that we could at state so it's like redemption. And I think we're prepared," Peck said. "I think almost every practice we just talk about how we need to practice like we're going to make it to state and prove that we're good enough to win this year."

St. Francis coach Jim Winslow also was determined for this group with 11 seniors to make their state return. "For me personally, internally, this has been the most stressful three or four weeks. If we hadn't made it, it would have been gut-wrenching," Winslow said. "I'm so proud of them because we didn't look great. You could make a case that Benet outhustled, outworked us the first half. The second half was kind of eh. But we did enough to win."

Benet (20-4-1) hoped for its first state tournament appearance after two-class Class AA quarterfinal appearances in 2005 and 2003.

Rittenhouse's goal was the only one allowed this postseason and in the last six games by the Redwings, who posted 16 shutouts this season en route to the single-season school record for victories.

"The season pretty much got us to that next level as a program. Any time that you have 20 wins in this area, it's an incredible accomplishment," Benet coach Gerard Oconer said.

"This is what high school soccer is all about in the playoffs -- two really good teams back and forth, really intense. When you get this deep it comes down to the difference makers, and (Rittenhouse) is obviously a difference maker."

The teams had just a combined 6 shots on goal. St. Francis junior Caroline Zimmer put a blast off the crossbar fewer than three minutes into play, and St. Francis senior goalie Courtney Kozak pushed senior Jackie Schuman's header off an Erin Flynn corner kick over the crossbar in the 20th minute. Benet's rebound goal in the 13th minute was nullified because Mary Kate Hansen's initial header deflected off the out-of-bounds football uprights.

The Spartans lost Pasquale the final 24:04 to an apparent injured right collarbone but withstood Benet's late pressure. The defensive line of seniors Christine Fasana, juniors Emma Armbrust and Jill DiTusa and senior Alex Preusser and Katherine Lemke, who each played one half, recorded St. Francis' fifth shutout in the last six games. Pasquale said she would have her injury evaluated Tuesday night.

"Our defense got balls out and worked their butts off," said St. Francis senior defensive midfielder Kaitlyn Joniak.

"I think we were all a little nervous. I definitely had butterflies going into this game. (The Redwings) were a great team. We came out strong. It was good to see how well we played against them."

Benet had four four-year varsity players (Flynn, Schuman, Maddie Becker, Clare Bumpus) and five other three-year varsity juniors.

"We beat every goal we've set for this year, besides winning state. It's one of the best teams and best backlines I've ever played for," central defender Bumpus said. "St. Francis is going to score. It has to be 3-2, 2-1. Our team was talking about we need to score more than one goal. It's frustrating, but I'm just proud of this team."