Lincoln-Way East’s Hedrick shows she can also score goals with a game-clinching PK against L-W Central
From the time she first started playing soccer until now, LincolnWay East’s Mia Hedrick has never been too interested in glamorous things like scoring goals.
Hedrick, a senior defender, has always been more into shutting people down.
“I’ve been playing defense all my life,” she said. “I started when I was 8 years old, and I didn’t want to be the girl who went up and scored. I was totally fine with playing in the back.
“I think defense is cool.”
Hedrick turned in her typical dominant defensive performance Tuesday night.
But she also showed she can unleash quite a shot when needed, converting the clinching penalty kick as the Griffins won the shootout 4-2 for a 1-0 win over Lincoln-Way Central in a Windy City Ram Classic semifinal at Reavis in Burbank.
Kara Waishwell, Ellie Feigl and Elizabeth Burfeind also scored in the shootout for Lincoln-Way East (4-0). Mattea Arroyo made two saves through regulation and overtime and one in the shootout to record the shutout.
The Griffins will take on Lockport (4-0) — a 4-1 winner over Lincoln-Way West (3-1) — at 6 p.m. Thursday in the championship game of the 32-team tournament.
Flynn Meyer made two saves for Lincoln-Way Central (3-1), while Lila Hadley and Jaylin Sustr scored in the shootout.
On the victory-sealing goal, Hedrick ripped a line drive off the bottom of the crossbar into the net.
“I was pretty confident,” Hedrick said. “We practice those all the time. I knew my girls had my back. We’re all very supportive of each other.
“I knew even if I missed, I have the best goalkeeper who can save the next one. So I wasn’t too worried.”
While Hedrick looked like a high-scoring striker on the penalty kick, defense is certainly her specialty. She wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Defense is very dependent on communication,” Hedrick said. “If one person is out of the loop, it all falls apart. When you’re a central defender, you really have to make sure everyone works together and I like playing that role.”