For Hoffman Estates, Saturday night`s 1-0 victory over Palatine for third in the state soccer finals was a first-the first time the school had won a girls state soccer trophy.
It was a first for Palatine, too-the first time in the three-year history of the tournament that the defending state champion Pirates hadn`t come home with a trophy.
The trophy Hoffman Estates got may not have been the one it wanted, but that third-place hardware will be appreciated.
”We were down a little after the first game (a 2-1 semifinal loss to St. Charles in penalty kicks), but we came back,” said junior forward Shannon O`Neil. ”Nobody expected us to get this far. To come out of it in third place is great.”
After a scoreless first half, Hoffman Estates (19-2-4) went ahead 4 minutes 55 seconds into the third period on a goal by halfback Francine Zodda. Freshman forward Jenny Montalbano assisted on the play, with Zodda beating backup goalie Megan Harold, who replaced starter Sue Gade of the Pirates
(18-7-3) for the second half.
