Top defensive standouts from the Illinois state series

<strong>GK [player_tooltip player_id="41725" first="Shannon" last="Clark"], Benet, Jr.</strong> Clark had an excellent series. From the beginning, she showed no fear and played heavily off her line. Some people might think this is risky. But it worked out great for the Redwing defense. In the 15th minute against Deerfield, she made a terrific 1v1 stop. She also stopped a breakaway in this game during the second half. The next day, I saw her display some excellent hands and distribution. She moves around well in the box. Her ability to stay on her feet after shots and crosses can lead to quick counter attacks. <strong>GK Julia Straub, Metea Valley, Jr.</strong> She didn’t get a whole lot of action against LWC, but her performance against Barrington was one to remember. Straub made the eve of the weekend in around the 45th minute to keep the game scoreless. The shot was going directly into the top right corner, but she tipped it away. Straub made several more saves that half as Barrington applied a tremendous amount of pressure against her and Metea. When the shootout came around, she made two important saves that helped them win the 3A state championship. <strong>D [player_tooltip player_id="22094" first="Christine" last="Erdman"], Lincoln-Way Central, Jr.</strong> I didn’t know much about her until this series. Although mainly playing outside back, I saw her in several roles. She even played as a winger for a little bit. She’s smaller but super versatile with great lateral movement. I never saw her give up on a play and made several nice tackles to stop scoring chances against Metea Valley. <strong>D Justyce King, Metea Valley, Sr.</strong> The older sister of Tyra, Justyce doesn’t get as much credit as a center back. She played a big role in their two shutout victories this series. She did a great job keeping the back line intact. Blocking two shots in the final minutes in the semifinal was one of her highlights. In the championship, she forced a couple of tough shots for attackers that went off target. <strong>D [player_tooltip player_id="40971" first="Ellie" last="Sanchez"], Barrington, Jr.</strong> Sanchez was the most impressive player on the Barrington back line last weekend. Barrington’s defense did not allow a goal throughout the state playoffs (excluding penalty shootouts). Sanchez was definitely a big part of that. I saw her display so many skills in those two games. She has excellent ball control and vision. I saw her play nice through balls and switch the field when necessary. Her ability to force attackers to go specific ways was important too. Sanchez’s best play came in the state championship. A player was dribbling in space down the right side, and she stepped in to make an extremely impressive tackle. <strong>D Brynn Presley, Triad, Sr.</strong> Pressley played a big role on the Knights’ back line. Against Benet, she played some nice balls up to the midfield and prevented several counter attacks with her strength and versatility. I saw her also clear out several crosses in both games this weekend. Triad concedes only one goal en route to another state championship.