LISLE — “We’ve been here before.”
That’s what the Alleman High School girls soccer team told one another heading into overtime against Lombard Montini in Tuesday’s Class 1A Lisle super-sectional matchup at the Benedictine University sports complex.
Having played three tight overtime games this season in the Western Big 6 Conference, the Pioneers were uniquely prepared for the challenges of extra soccer.
It paid off.
Alleman sophomore Gretchen Ellis scored three minutes into overtime as the Pioneers held off Montini 2-1 to reach state for just the second time in school history. The Pioneers finished third in 2015.
Alleman guaranteed itself another state trophy in the win and is the first Big 6 school to reach state twice. Only Quincy has a state trophy.
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Alleman will face IC Catholic (14-2) in Friday's state girls soccer semifinals at 5 p.m. at North Central College in Naperville.
The Broncos would strike first in the rematch of last year’s super sectional as Avery Lucatorto found Maren Hoover for a goal in the 10th minute.
Carson Wendt would answer just a minute later for Alleman as the game remained knotted through 80 minutes.
Then, Ellis came through.
She was emotional following the win and celebrating with her family as Alleman avenged last year’s 2-1 loss.
“I’m so excited that we won,” she said. “And I can’t wait to go to state.”
Giving the team its first lead of the game in a defensive contest, Ellis was elated.
“I couldn’t stop smiling,” she said. “It was just so amazing.”
"I love you, Gretchen," Wendt added. "That's all there is to say."
The Pioneers fell to Geneseo and Quincy and beat United Township in OT this season. All were one-score games, so Alleman was prepared. Montini did not play an overtime game this season.
“We know how to handle ourselves in this situation,” Alleman keeper Clair Hulke said. “We were calm and collected going into it and that’s part of the reason I think we were able to finish it how we did.”
“We’ve got to play 100 minutes of soccer,” Wendt said. “No breaks, go all the way through.”
The job was not done as Hulke had to stay composed and finish the day with six saves.
Junior captain Mackenzie Burkett said it felt surreal to accomplish the goal of getting to state the team had since the season began.
“It doesn’t feel real,” she said. “Everybody’s been working for this and we couldn’t imagine it another way. It’s been the goal the whole time and I’m really happy to have the opportunity to go to state.”
With another year of experience under its belt, she said the team felt more prepared and believed.
“We were gutting it out out there because everybody was tired, but we had to get one in the back of the net,” Burkett said. “It was a lot of relief to get that in there.”
The Pioneers overcame 11 offsides calls in the win and out-shot Montini 10-7.
Alleman junior Abby Glackin said it felt amazing to get to state.
“It’s everything we’ve worked for this season,” she said. “It’s really paid off.”
Glackin said the team stayed composed in overtime and played its game.
When Hulke saw Ellis get the ball early into overtime, she was confident the sophomore would deliver. And she did.
“I just had a feeling, I just knew it was going in,” she said. “We all have so much confidence in her and she does so much up there. For her to be able to get that moment is amazing.”
Alleman coach Randy Bollman has now led a second team to state. His daughter, Emily, played on the last state team and is an assistant coach and leads the JV team.
Bollman said the OT experience in Big 6 play was beneficial.
“As we were getting into the overtime, the girls said, 'we’ve been here before,'" he said. “Just keep playing. When you hear it coming from the girls, that’s a good thing.”
Bollman said the ultimate goal is not just to get to state, but to win state. That would be a first for the program.
“We’re partially to our goal. We set that at the very beginning and from our very first training session the girls were all over it,” he said. “Working hard, getting their fitness level up, moving the ball very well even at the start of the season.”
