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Green Wave championship run falls short
Updated: May 28, 2011 12:03AM
St. Edward’s dream of winning its first state soccer championship died Friday night, but not before a legend was born.
The Green Wave lost to Alton Marquette 3-0 at the Class 1A state semifinals at Naperville Central, but it was the courageous play of junior goalie Paige Gannon that the crowd will remember most.
Gannon and the St. Edward defense kept Marquette’s powerful offense in check for most of the contest. Just when it looked the Green Wave (14-8-3) would head into intermission in a scoreless tie, fate reared its ugly head.
Gannon came off her line and successfully cut off a Marquette corner kick, but she was tripped while still in the air and landed hard on her left shoulder. The ball popped out and Marquette senior Nicki Wisnasky fired a 15-yard shot into the open net to give the Explorers (18-5-1) a 1-0 lead with 13 seconds left in the first half.
“One of the girls kicked me from underneath, then when I came down my shoulder went into my neck,” Gannon said. “We got an unlucky break and stuff like that happens. We just needed to bounce back and I don’t know if we fully recovered from that.”
No foul was called on the play and Wisnasky wasn’t sure what happened. But the end result was an easy goal for Wisnasky, a Central Missouri recruit who has scored 42 goals this season and 103 in her career.
“It all happened so fast,” Wisnasky said. “I saw the ball just flew out of her hands. It was just sitting right there at the 18 and I had an open net, so it was just one of those cherry-pick goals.”
Gannon appeared to be seriously injured on the play and was helped off the field. After receiving treatment from a trainer for a possible pinched nerve in her neck during halftime and getting consent from her parents, she returned and played the entire second half, finishing with eight saves.
“You’re looking at probably the toughest 17-year-old kid on the planet,” St. Edward coach Tim Brieger said. “When I went out there I was thinking we’re calling an ambulance. Paige doesn’t show pain and it kind of spooked me a little bit.
“The trainer said it was a pinched nerve in the muscle but nothing’s broken. I looked at Paige and she goes, ‘Get my gloves, I’m going back in.’ My jaw hit the floor.”
Holding a bag of ice to her neck afterward, Gannon explained her decision.
“I can’t just leave my team hanging,” she said. “Since I was one of the only goalkeepers, I knew it was my job to stay strong for the team and continue for the rest of the game and sacrifice because they sacrifice so much for me.”
St. Edward, which will play Willows in Saturday’s third-place match, was able to muster only three shots, but Wisnasky did not score again and the Explorers couldn’t increase their lead until 11:27 remained in the second half.
Freshman Caroline Hoefert lofted a 17-yard shot that Gannon deflected into the left post but could not stop until it had barely crossed the goal line. Kateri Vaughn finished the scoring with a rebound goal with 19 seconds left.
“They’re a very respectful team and they have amazing players,” said Gannon, who intends to play against Willows. “I think we came out and gave it our all and we got a couple of unlucky breaks and that’s how the game goes.”
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