Tinley Park rides wind into sectional final

Updated: May 26, 2011 8:40PM

With the wind at its back in the second half, the Tinley Park girls soccer team thought it was only a matter of time before something good happened.

The Titans presumption proved correct as senior Noelle Thompson scored the game-winning goal on a rebound to give Tinley Park a 2-1 victory over Illiana Christian Thursday afternoon in the semifinals of the Class 2A Lincoln-Way West Sectional.

The game started on Wednesday evening, but was suspended by lightning with 16:28 left in the first half and resumed at that point on Thursday.

Tinley Park (14-7) will play South Suburban Conference-rival Lemont for the title at 11 on Saturday. The Vikings finish the season at 13-6.

“This is the first time we’ve advanced to the sectional final in school history,” Tinley Park coach Paul Dorney said. “We lost in the semifinals the past two years, so this is huge for these girls, especially the seniors.

“When they came into high school we hadn’t had much success. But the girls dedicated themselves to to getting better this year and this shows that the hard work pays off.”

The hard work paid off and so did having the wind in the second half. The game was tied at 1-1 when it was resumed and Tinley Park held off the Vikings wind advantage for the remainder of the first half.

When the second half started, the Titans went on the offensive. Thompson ripped a shot from 20 yards out just over a minute into the half, but it was saved. That started a Tinley onslaught of shots as midfielders Liz Kopecky and Jenna Karajeh took shots and junior forward Kaylee Diddens sent in numerous corner kicks.

Illiana had two opportunities in the second half. One was a shot from the left side by senior midfielder Erinn Behn that Titan freshman goalie Alexis Boyer went down to her knees to save about eight minutes in.

The other came when with just under 15 minutes to play. That’s when senior forward Sarah Witvoet got the ball in front, but could not get off a shot as there was some good defense along with some jockeying for position. But no foul was called and Tinley Park gained possession.

Diddens then sent in a long blast that was aided by the wind. Viking junior goalie Mallory Fulton stopped the shot, but gave up a rebound. Thompson thundered in toward the ball and was able to knock it into the back of the net with 13:55 to play.

“I knew it was going to happen,” Thompson said of the tally. “The goalie can’t stop everything. The ball was going fast with the wind, so I kept going forward and got it into the net.

“It’s our first time in the sectional finals and I can’t even describe it. I’m just super excited.”

Illiana, which had taken a 1-0 lead on a goal by junior midfielder Megan Knapper with 22:23 left in the first half on Wednesday, barely got the ball past midfield after that.

“I thought what made the difference was the wind,” Illiana coach A.J. Turkstra said. “We had to fight that for 40 minutes and that was tough. I had four seniors who played three years and we lose a big part of the team that made us successful for the last few years.”

But in the end it was Tinley Park, whose first goal was scored by sophomore forward Carley Arden with 20:56 to play in the first half, that broke through.

“I just told the kids we have to keep shooting and follow the ball and we did,” Dorney said. “I’m glad for my captain, Noelle, to bury the shot. She had opportunities before that and just kept working.

“I’m looking forward to playing our conference rivals, Lemont. We lost to them this season (2-1 on April 5), but beat them last season. We have all the respect in the world for them and think this matchup shows the strength of our conference.”

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