Falling just short of winning a national championship disappoints the players and coaches from Chicagoland United 17U girls soccer team.
But it also serves as inspiration for next season.
The travel team is a sort of all-star team with players hailing from a wide area, including Chicago, Frankfort, Orland Park, Bolingbrook, West Chicago, and Hammond, Dyer and St. John in Northwest Indiana. Several players also are from Kankakee, Bourbonnais and St. Anne.
The team lost 2-1 last weekend to Thorns North FC, from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in the 2024 US Youth Soccer National Presidents Cup in Wichita, Kansas.
Ella Riordan, 16, of Orland Park, a center back, said Sunday she has no doubt “we’ll be back and better than ever next year. This time, we have something to prove.”
“I’m proud of everyone and how they played,” she added. “Five games in a weekend is a lot.”
Riordan noted a heat wave had the temperature up to 130 degrees on the turf. Games were rescheduled to beat the heat. Chicagoland United started playing one game at 7 a.m.
Still, the girls went 3-0 in pool play July 12 through 14 and won a semifinal game 3-1 on July 15, before losing the title game July 16.
The girls had defeated Thorns North FC 2-1 to open pool play, but just couldn’t repeat that magic.
“We tried to not be cocky, but we were confident in ourselves going into the game,” said Riordan, who plays soccer for Sandburg High School, in Orland Park.
With the entire roster expected back next season, Connelly thinks Chicagoland United can win the cup in July 2025.
After Chicagoland United cut the lead in half with a goal by Jocelyn Sanchez, of Kankakee, “we thought we were going to win or go to penalty kicks,” said Connelly, who had one assist in five games.
Head coach Jose Smith, who before the tournament said “we should do well,” was pleased with his team’s effort.
“Deep down, I know we’re the better team. On that one day, we got rattled and they held on to beat us,” Smith said.
Three minutes into the game, midfielder Emily Kovar, of Chicago got fouled, fell and hit her head on the turf. She had to leave the game for concussion protocol and was out for 35 minutes.
“Everything kind of goes through the middle, through her. When she went out, that rattled us because we play up the middle and we had to play on the sides, a different style we’re not used to,” he said.
He subbed in Ava Brickell, of Bourbonnais. Seven minutes later, she took a ball to the head and she came out for concussion protocol, missing 10 minutes.
Thorns North had taken a first-half 1-0 lead after it caught Chicagoland United on a counter, he said.
“We had tons of shots. They had goal-line saves. We outshot them. We dominated that,” he said.
After a foul on a girl on a breakaway, Thorns North scored on the penalty kick for a 2-0 lead.
“It was questionable, but it is what it is. A PK at that level, it’s tough to put your goalie in that position,” Smith said.
With 15 minutes left, he wasn’t tossing in the towel trailing 2-0.
“We ended up getting a free kick and (Sanchez) scored directly off that to make it 2-1. We had about seven minutes left plus whatever stoppage time to try to tie it,” Smith said. “They held on.”
Chicagoland United was perfect in pool play, winning 2-1, 3-0 and 4-0, and then won the seminal 3-1, before losing the title game, 2-1.
In five games, the girls scored 13 goals and allowed just four.
“The stars were aligned,” Smith said. “If we play that final 10 times, we win nine out of 10.”
While disappointed, Smith also thinks another title run is possible next year.
“Like I told the girls afterwards, I’m still very proud of them. I told them the reason they were crying is because they’re passionate about the game.
“I told them, ‘You wanted it. It just didn’t go your way’,” he recalled. “That makes you hungry for next year.”
Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
