SANDBURG’S SAVIOR
Alsheikh makes 11 saves, plus a huge stop in PKs, as Eagles top Lockport to gain conference title
There were times during her shutout Thursday night when senior goalkeeper Guevara Alsheikh could hardly believe she was the one making the big saves for Sandburg.
She wondered if it was a dream.
“It was really shocking when I made those saves,” Alsheikh said. “It was like, ‘Wait, that was me?’ I didn’t think there was any way I could make those saves.
“It didn’t feel like it could be really happening. I shocked myself.”
Indeed, Alsheikh came through with the game of her life as the Eagles clinched the conference championship.
She made 11 saves through regulation and overtime and another big stop in the penalty-kick shootout, which host Sandburg won 5-4 in six rounds to earn a 1-0 victory over Lockport.
The win allowed the Eagles (10-8, 4-0) to take the outright SouthWest Suburban Blue title.
“She definitely came up huge when we needed it the most,” Sandburg coach Tom Kubowicz said of Alsheikh. “There were multiple times where I held my breath because I thought the ball was going in and she came up with a huge save.
“That energized everyone. We felt like, ‘All right, nothing’s going to get past us. Let’s go out and win it.’ ”
Sandburg overcame the absence of top scorer Karli Ferguson and key defender Rosie Richardson, among a group of missing starters, and found a way to win despite an 11-1 disadvantage in shots on goal.
Mary Gallagher scored the decisive penalty kick in the sixth round of the shootout. Gabby Dittmer, Erin O’Connor, Maeve Durkin and Rudana Hamadeh also converted PKs for the Eagles.
Meghan Mack, Megan Posmer, Sarah Matuszek and Abbey Mack scored in the shootout for Lockport (12-6-1, 2-2).
Alsheikh made one a stop in the PKs, lunging to her right to deny Karolina Stasik’s shot in the second round and get the Eagles back