Riverside Brookfield High School junior goalie Maya Tennicott won’t soon forget seeing the onrush of people – and then not being able to see from the bottom of the jubilation.
“I cried a little bit. My legs kind of gave out a little bit,” Tennicott said. “I just kind of rolled up in a ball [on the ground]. I literally couldn’t stand anymore.”
Tennicott was under the mammoth group hug after just making her fourth save in penalty kicks – this one the clincher – to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 home victory over Fenton, April 29. RBHS won 6-5 on 10 rounds of penalty kicks that decided the winner after regulation play ended in a 1-1 tie.
“I kind of blanked out. I don’t really remember much [except] when I made that save and I saw everyone running at me,” said Tennicott, smothered by teammates, RBFC girls youth soccer players and fans, which included several RBHS boys volleyball players.
“It felt nice to hear them chanting my name and the little kids made it better, the environment. That was fun.”
The electrifying victory ended a nine-match losing streak since beating East Aurora 2-1, April 1. The Bulldogs (5-12, 2-3 in UEC East) followed with a 6-0 victory at Ridgewood Thursday and lost at Glenbard East 2-1, Monday.
“I thought she was going to get trampled. I was like, ‘I hope Maya’s OK down there,’” RBHS senior Ella Caputo said.
RBHS shot first in penalty kicks. After the required five round ended tied 3-3, each following round was sudden death.
Tennicott’s final save followed a goal by sophomore Ruby Boyle that broke the 5-5 tie.
“It felt good to make that shot. My legs are still shaking,” Boyle said. “I was not supposed to take a penalty kick [at first] and then [R-B coach Ivek Halic] said, ‘You’re taking a penalty kick.’ It was pretty scary.”
Caputo, seniors Lucy Drenth and Katie Doyle and juniors Michelle Panduro and Mia Rodriguez also converted penalty kicks for the Bulldogs.
Panduro, who tied the penalty kicks 2-2, scored with 31:49 remaining in regulation on an assist from Caputo. Fenton (4-6, 1-3) tied the game with 2:39 left — its only shot on goal the entire game. In penalty kicks, Fenton had three chances to win. Two were stopped by Tennicott in sudden death. The other was shot over the goal at 3-3.
“It might not have been pretty, but it feels so good to finally just get a win, no matter how we do it. We fought until the end,” said Drenth, hampered by an ankle injury during warmups.
“It hurt but, you know, powered through. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
Badminton
Riverside Brookfield visits Naperville North and Lyons Township goes to York for IHSA sectional play Thursday. Top-four sectional finishers in singles and doubles advance to the state meet.
At their first UEC Meet, the Bulldogs finished seventh of 12 teams and had a 5-6 dual record.
Junior Rhea McDonald (No. 4 singles) and freshman Mariana Lozano (No. 5 singles) both finished third.
The Lions finished fourth at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet after having a 2-3 dual record.
Seniors Mia Graziano and Simone Brown (24-10) were third at No. 1 doubles. They qualified for state in 2024 and Graziano also went to state for doubles as a sophomore.