Girls Soccer: Plainfield North shuts down Lockport

After scoring 45 goals during an eight-match winning streak entering Saturday, No. 8 Plainfield North is clearly an offensive powerhouse.

But just as important for the Tigers during their recent successful run was the fact that they had also posted six straight shutouts.

In Saturday’s quarterfinals of the Pepsi Showdown, Plainfield North struggled to find the net but again relied on its stellar defense.

The Tigers kept No. 18 Lockport off the scoreboard and captured a 2-0 win at Schaumburg’s Olympic Park that advances them to next Saturday’s semifinals at the same site.

Heather Handwork scored both goals for second-seeded Plainfield North (10-1-1), which also received a shutout in goal from Paige Polonus.

As a result of the win, the Tigers meet sixth-seed Lake Forest (8-2-1) in the semifinals. The Scouts edged Elk Grove 2-1 in overtime in another quarterfinal match.

“Our defense did a good job of keeping the ball out and not letting them get through balls,” Handwork said. “We know that we’re not going to score a lot against tougher teams like Lockport.”

Handwork scored about 15 minutes into the match, following an assist from Callie O’Donnell, to give the Tigers the only goal that they would need.

Eighth-seed Lockport (7-3), which had a six-match win streak halted, hung tough behind keeper Cortney Jerzy before Handwork scored in the final minutes.

“If we score two goals that’s great as long as we keep the other team from scoring,” Tigers coach Jane Crowe said. “So our focus has been on shutting teams out.”

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