Stronger Together: Historic season ends in heartbreak for PND after late goal
- Rodrigo Perez
- Jun 8
- 4 min read
NAPERVILLE — Being on any sports team requires a substantial time commitment, often causing many athletes to spend less time with their own families and invest more time with their team. For Peoria Notre Dame girls soccer, both aspects are one in the same.
“I wouldn't want a different team, that’s my family, there’s nothing more I can ask from them,” Irish midfielder Hannah Daly said.
After 80 ruthless minutes of back and forth soccer action, PND ended with their heads held high despite falling 1-0 against Chicago St Ignatius in the Class 2A state title game at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium at North Central College.
It marked the end of the most successful season in Irish history, winning a program-record 26 games and recording the best state finish in team history.
“I’m just proud of everyone and I know we put our whole hearts into it,” Daly said. “We had preseason workouts and our motto has been ‘better together’ since the start.”
Found on the back of their warm-up jersey, the Irish put on display that motto after one of their own fell, two or three of PND’s own helped their fallen teammate on the ground, providing encouragement to keep fighting.
“I think we got really nervous…”
Despite dominating and finding clean looks throughout the match, the game was ultimately decided in the final three minutes. On a long free kick attempt with three minutes left on the clock, St. Ignatius senior forward Lili Garcia ended up securing the Wolfpack their first state title, taking advantage of a rebound in the 18 yard box.
“There were a lot of times where tracking back was really hard, because they were very aggressive pushing forward,” Daly said.
With a battle locked in the midfield in the first half, both defenses had to make important interceptions when play left the middle of the field. It would take roughly eight minutes before the Wolfpack's Lauren Reed found a hole in the Irish’s defense and released a ball straight to PND keeper Rylie Bare who had to contain the shot.
“Honestly, Emy (Wardle) is great back there, so usually we have her man mark, and then we have Allie (Stickelmaier) cover,” Bare said. “She gets everything out, and kind of just to communicate, to watch the runners in.”
“I feel like we came in and had a gamplan, and I think we got really nervous,” Bare added. “Honestly we put a lot of effort in and I think the second half went better.”
Despite the nerves, PND found a good opportunity after some astute pressure by Ava LaFollette caused the Wolfpacks defense to shake. Picking up a tame pass, LaFollette released a cleanly hit left footed effort that forced St Ignatius’s M.C. Galante to dive.
PND tallied 11 total shots to the Wolfpack’s five, with seven of the Irish’s shots being on goal.
“We came out with the heart we needed…”
Coming back from the locker room, Peoria Notre Dame came out with a lot more fire in their game. Taking possession of the game and playing with a more direct attacking style, PND found its way to the final third. Providing that spark to light the fire was assistant coach Mike Bare, who had much to say after the first half.
“He yelled at us, got us fired up, and I think we needed that,” Rylie Bare said. “We needed to put more effort in and I think we came out with the heart we needed.”
After some nice build-up play between Daly, LaFollette and Maddie Stickelmaier, LaFollette got on the end of the play and fired one of her six shots at Gallante, who rebounded it straight into the path of Shea Larson, forcing Gallante to make another impressive close-range save.
Even with the right amount of heart and effort, things didn’t turn out for the Irish, losing their first state championship final.
This iteration of Peoria Notre Dame's girls soccer achieved more than any of its past teams, making it the farthest while winning the most games (26) along the way. LaFollette also made some history of her own, finishing the season with 57 goals, tied for the 15th most in a season in IHSA history.
The Irish could take another step next season with LaFollette, Abigail Chaddock, Wardle, Bare, Larson, Daly and several others returning. The team will be even hungrier to take home the ultimate championship in 2026.
“We made history either way, and I'm just so proud of this team, and hopefully [we’re] coming back next year to get first,” Rylie Bare said.
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