Lincoln-Way East girls score first top-4 finish in soccer

All of that hope and energy for a state championship explodes into losing two games — and usually disappointment.

Lincoln-Way East senior midfielder Brooklyn Mortell, however, didn’t want to hear the word “disappointment.”

The Griffins’ girls soccer team dropped a 2-0 decision to O’Fallon in the semifinals and a 2-1 game to Libertyville in third-place game of the Illinois High School Association Class 3A state tournament June 2-3 at North Central College in Naperville.

“We were the underdogs here and played our hearts out,” Mortell said. “Am I disappointed in us? No. Not whatsoever.

“Disappointed is a horrible way to put it because by losing you learn more. This is just a benchmark for future generations. I’m really excited about it, actually.”

O’Fallon went on to win the tournament, 1-0, over Barrington in double overtime.

This is the first top-four trophy in East program history.

The Griffins’ 23-athlete roster featured four seniors, 10 juniors, six sophomores and three freshmen so the hope is that this team will be back.

“We’re setting the foundation for the next few years,” East coach Mike Murphy said. “We got this trophy this year, and we want to build on that.”

He was also appreciates the support from former players. 

Alumni came to every playoff game, said Murphy. “It’s nice to see then all come back because they want to be a part of it.”

The Griffins finished 21-6, showing showed flashes of brilliance despite trouble getting by Lincoln-Way Central.

Central won the state’s third-place trophy in 2022 and was the preseason favorite in the area. The Knights beat the Griffins 3-0 at the Windy City Classic in March and 2-0 in SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue play in April.

When the seeds for the Shepard Sectional came out, the coaches were anticipating a Central-East showdown with Central getting the top seed and East second.

But in the sectional semifinals, fourth-seeded Andrew stunned Central and East beat Andrew 2-1 in a game that went to penalty kicks. East moved on and knocked off Hinsdale Central, 1-0, at the Andrew Supersectional May 30 to reach the semifinals.

“It’s crazy because at the beginning of the season, we would have never imagined that we would be here,” freshman defender Camden Cocish said. “But we just fought to the end.”

She liked that fight in the third-game.

At the 61-minute mark, Libertyville scored on a Shea Krakowski goal. A minute later, Payton Lucitt answered with a goal to tie it for the Griffins. 

Molly Koch scored what turned out to be the winning goal for Libertyville in the 66th minute, but Cocish admired her team’s grit as the Griffins got off nine shots in the game compared to zero in the semifinal.

“We faced a lot of adversity but we kept fighting,” she said. “We came back right away and scored that goal. Everyone thought we were going to get blown out, but we put up a good fight.

“You always have to keep working and keep pushing and just keep going.”

Lucitt was happy to pick up the team’s lone goal on the weekend.

“It felt great,” she said. “My team put me in that position to get that goal.”

During the season, Ellie Feigl and Cami Butler led the team with 17 goals each while Elizabeth Burfeind had 11. Burfeind, Emily Herlihy and Mortell each had nine assists. Goalie Mattea Arroyo allowed 22 goals in 27 games.