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.
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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 in it after their first shooter missed.
“My main goal was just to get that ball,” Alsheikh said. “I didn’t look anywhere else but at that ball.
“I’ve just been dedicating myself to this team, and after this game, it’s only up from here.”
Alsheikh made a huge save in the opening minute of OT when she got her body in the way of a hard shot from Raven Rogers, who had an open look from 10 yards.
This season, Alsheikh has been splitting time in the net with junior Alana Galvin, a competition she said has made her better.
“It’s been good,” Alsheikh said. “It’s giving me the chance to step up and show the team that I want it more. I still love (Galvin), though. It’s pushing me because I want to be that goalie in the playoffs.
“If we make it to state, I want to be the one out there playing.”
O’Connor made a big non-goalie save late in the first OT, blocking Posmer’s shot off a rebound after Alsheikh made the initial save on Anna Domina.
“That non-goalie save was the play of the game,” Lockport coach Todd Elkei said. “That was one of the best plays I’ve seen all year.
“We had a ton of chances, but chances are only half of it. You have to put them away and you have to execute, and we didn’t do it.”
Matuszek, Meghan Mack, Katie Cavallo and Karolina Skubisz had strong games defensively for Lockport in front of goalkeeper Claudia Dobrzanski.
O’Connor, Kayla Siefert, Sydney Gunkel and Grace Pittacora, meanwhile, led the defensive effort for the Eagles.
Alsheikh, however, was the star.
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“I could not be more thankful for her,” O’Connor said of Alsheikh. “I could not be more proud of her and all the hard work she’s put in to get to this point. You could just see her keep improving and learning new techniques over the last few games.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.