BLOOMINGTON — After four years as the starting varsity goalkeeper for Lincoln-Way Central, Flynn Meyer is saying goodbye to soccer as she sets to embark on a college diving career at Southern Illinois.
But she’s leaving with an abundance of great memories and plenty of pride in the way her team performed in her final game, which also happened to be the biggest one she has ever played.
“I think we really did battle until the end,” Meyer said. “We did all we could. All the seniors, we can be proud of our last game. We left it all out there. No complaints there.
“I’m proud of us coming together and making it this far. I’ve never made it this far.”
Meyer made nine saves Monday night and the Knights shut out dangerous Edwardsville for 100 minutes. But the Tigers won the penalty-kick shootout 3-1 for a 1-0 victory in the Class 3A Bloomington Supersectional.
Ella Forystek, Jolie Kolosh, Aly Sudkamp and Millikin recruit Taylor Watt led a heroic defensive effort in front of Meyer for Lincoln-Way Central (19-3-1), while Jules Rafacz converted her team’s lone successful penalty kick.
The Knights capped a season highlighted by their second sectional title in the last five years and a perfect 8-0 run to the SouthWest Suburban Conference championship under first-year coach Breanna Bembenek.
“I’m happy with our season,” Meyer said. “Having a new coaching staff was a little nerve-racking, but in the end, we did great.
“All of us were very united. We were best friends off the field, and I think that chemistry carried us on the field and that’s what got us this far.”
Meyer also tipped her cap to fellow senior Genny Burroughs, who made three saves in the shootout to push Edwardsville (16-3-2) over the top and on its way to state.
But Meyer was a big reason the Knights pushed the game to that point. She made a huge diving stop with 8:30 left in regulation and got her knees on a tricky shot in overtime.
“Flynn was an absolute leader for us,” Bembenek said. “A lot of our games this year, a lot of our success was because she was in net saving us. In all our conference games this year, she only allowed one goal in eight games.
“You look at that and you’re like, ‘Man, how awesome was it to have a player like that in the net for us?’”
Meyer was a three-sport athlete at Lincoln-Way Central, competing in gymnastics in addition to soccer and diving.
Her future is one she would not have planned on a couple years ago, but she knows soccer has helped make her ready to be a college diver.
“These big moments in soccer, like this game, I have come up big in them sometimes over the years,” she said. “And the nerves that come up, it prepares me for the big moments in diving where it’s dead silent and I have to go perform.
“Diving was always a part-time thing for me and I never really took it seriously until this year, so I’m excited to see where I can go when I focus on that full time.”
While Meyer and some other key seniors are departing, the Knights started seven underclassmen, including a dynamic offensive player in Rafacz and three-fourths of their starting back line.
“We’ve got to keep this going for next season and remember how this ended,” said Sudkamp, a junior defender. “We’ve got to be willing to put the work in again just like we did for this season.”
Meyer will be cheering them on. And she’ll always have the memories.
“It’s not about any championships or anything like that,” Meyer said. “I build families in every sport I’m in. So, it’s my best friends. It’s building those relationships. That’s the best part.”
