The postseason can produce some wild, wonderful and unexpected moments.
Sandburg senior soccer player Sarah Boertlein was able to enjoy one of those moments.
The seldom-used forward had no goals during her varsity career but on May 26, she came up with the biggest penalty kick of the season for the Eagles.
After regulation and two overtime periods couldn’t decide the Class 3A Andrew Sectional semifinal between the sixth-seeded Eagles and third-seeded Lincoln-Way East, the game went to penalty kicks.
After eight rounds, Boertlein’s successful kick clinched the win for the Eagles. Though they lost 2-0 to top-seeded Lincoln-Way Central on May 29 to have their season end, the crazy penalty-kick game was a highlight few on the team will ever forget.
And Boertlein capped it off.
“When the first five were out there, she said, ‘If it goes to six, I want to be out there,’” Eagles coach Tom Kubowicz said of Boertlein. “She said, ‘I want one.’
“I thought she was confident and I wanted her out there taking the kick. She had no doubt in her mind that she was going to make it. She buried it.”
Boertlein is headed to Ole Miss for college to study nursing and will try to play intramural soccer. This was a great way to wrap up her high-school career.
She was not quite as confident when she stepped up for the clinching kick as she was when she talked to her coach.
“At first I was stressed and a little scared,” she said of preparing for the kick. “But I’ve had a lot of practice with PKs and I knew it would be fine.
“When I went to go kick it, I was like, ‘Whatever happens, happens.’’’
And what happened was a kick that produced a mob scene with her teammates when the match was finally over.
“It’s awesome to see kids step up,” Kubowicz said. “Nobody here questions their role. They are just here for the team. She embraced it and she came through when we needed her and I’m really happy for her.
“She’s an awesome kid and she deserves it.”
The Eagles (10-8-3) had a surprising run in the postseason, beating Stagg 2-1, Marist 1-0, and Lincoln-Way East 2-1 to advance to the sectional final game.
The good news for the team is that it had 13 underclassmen who should be coming back.
Some of their freshmen made big impacts in the postseason as Quinn Fahey scored three of the Eagles’ four playoff goals and freshman Sofie Ulleweit added the other.
Lyons bows out on PKs
Second-seeded Lyons made it to the championship of the Class 3A Downers Grove South Sectional, but dropped a 1-0 penalty-kick decision on May 29 to top-seeded Hinsdale Central.
Carolina Capizzi and Avery Lusk were successful in the penalty-kick round for the Lions (17-3-3).
To reach the finals, the Lions beat Oak Park, 3-0, as Zibby Michaelson scored two goals and Lusk added one while Anna Bigenwald had eight saves in recording the shutout.