By Matt le cren
For the Bugle
www.buglenewspapers.com
Benet defender Mary Kate Hansen has been dreaming of winning a state championship ever since she began playing soccer a decade ago.
She and her teammates are living that dream.
Jaimee Cibulka scored the championship-winning goal for Benet in the second OT. (Photo by Mark Gregory)
Hansen scored the tying goal late in the second half and Jaimee Cibulka bagged the game-winning goal in the second overtime as the Redwings beat Wauconda 2-1 on Saturday in the Class 2A state championship game at North Central College in Naperville.
The dramatic victory, which featured a one-hour lightning delay before the start of overtime, was the culmination of 10 years of effort for Hansen, who along with fellow senior backliner Mary Kate Wilhelm have been friends and teammates since they were 7.
Hansen and Wilhelm have been attending the state finals for nearly as long and yearned to one day play in a title match.
“It’s amazing,” Hansen said. “It’s like a dream come true.
“When the buzzer went off, I looked over at Mary Kate Wilhelm and it was like time stopped. Everything that I’ve done for the past decade of soccer was worth it.
“Every practice, every workout, has been worth it. No coaching staff, no group of girls deserves this more. The coaches worked non-stop and we couldn’t have asked for a better way to go out.”
Hansen, a co-captain and University of Chicago recruit, saved the Redwings after they had trailed for 61 minutes against fellow first-time finalist Wauconda. The Bulldogs (19-3-2) went into a defensive shell after scoring midway through the first half and it almost worked.
Then junior defender Kate Flynn sent a cross from the left side into the middle of the box to Hansen, who blasted a 15-yard shot into the net with 1:46 left in regulation.
“I’ve been a defender my whole life but I just did what I had to do to keep my team in the game,” Hansen said. “It was a great ball by Kate Flynn. It was the best feeling I’ve ever had by far.”
It was the fourth goal of the season for Hansen, the anchor of a terrific back line. Benet coach Gerard Oconer was not surprised to see her make an impact at the other end.
“She just refused to let us lose,” Oconer said. “She knew a state championship was on the line, so she would not let us lose.” It took more than one player, of course, to enable Benet to win. The Redwings (24-3-1) set school records for wins and goals scored (107) and got star turns from most of their starters at one point or another.
The final goal came with 6:33 left in the second overtime when senior forward Abby Casmere slipped past a defender and sent a short pass to her left to Cibulka, who buried a 15-yard shot to give Benet its first lead.
“It was a great play by Abby,” Cibulka said. “She kind of had her back turned (to the net) so I called to her and she made the right call knowing I had a better angle.”
It was the 14th goal of the season for Cibulka, a sophomore in her first high school season after playing club last year. She will need to watch film to actually witness it.
“To be honest, I didn’t even see it go in,” Cibulka said. “Some of those you just know they’re going to go in before you even see it touch the net, but I didn’t even think when I did it.
“I knew my team needed me and I had to go for it because you miss all the shots you don’t take.”
Casmere, who had a team-leading 20 goals this season, opted not to take a shot on the decisive play, putting her trust in her younger teammate.
“I was just trying to turn it and Jaimee was right there,” Casmere said. “I gave a little toe poke to her and I’m very glad she finished it.
“I had all my faith and trust in her. I knew she was fully capable of doing it and she did the job. She’s been amazing all season.”
So have the Redwings, who set themselves the goal of winning their first state title and went out and did it.
“I can’t even describe the feeling,” Cibulka said. “Not a lot of people can say they’ve won a state championship and it’s just huge for me and my team.
“We did it together. All season it was our goal and to finally reach it is an amazing feeling.”
After beating Troy Triad 3-1 in the semifinals behind two goals from Mia Tommasone and one from Flynn, the Redwings were solid favorites to win it all. Wauconda gave them a tougher-than-expected battle but they pulled through, capping a terrific school year for the Lisle school that saw the girls volleyball and girls basketball team also reach the state semifinals.
“We didn’t want to have to come down to this, but when it comes down to the last few minutes you obviously want it to go your way and it did go our way,” Cibulka said. “It was very dramatic at the end and to stay composed at the end is so hard, but everyone did that.
“It was definitely a team effort. I’m so proud of my team for coming out on top.”
So was Oconer, a 1998 Benet grad and former longtime assistant coach who succeeded Bob Gros as head coach in 2017 and has compiled a 58-14-3 record. Gros and Henry Wind, who served as Oconer’s assistants, founded the Benet program in 1991.
The magnitude of the accomplishment had yet to set in for Oconer.
“Not completely because you think about this for so many years, you dream about it,” Oconer said. “Everything has to go right.
“There’s so many things along the way where if it doesn’t go right, like even today, you just don’t win. What makes it even more special is to be able to do it with Bob and Henry on my staff. They built this program from scratch and coaching with them for the last 17 years has just made it incredible.”