Metea Valley senior forward Tyra King was a picture of calm as she waited to take the penalty kick on Tuesday.
The serene appearance was just a mask for the fury she about to unleash.
King took a couple of strides toward the ball and sent a ferocious kick screaming into the lower left corner of the net. Naperville Central goalkeeper Emma Dram guessed correctly and lunged for the ball, but she couldn’t stop it.
“When I take a PK, I try to hit it with as much power as I can,” King said. “Because if she reads it, she still won’t be able to get it because of the speed of the ball.”
King’s goal, which came with 8:36 remaining in the second half, gave the host Mustangs the lead for good in a 2-1 victory that clinched their second consecutive outright DuPage Valley Conference championship.
“It felt pretty good to get us that goal to give us the DVC championship,” King said. “I just came back from a concussion, and then getting double-teamed a lot and pushed around a lot was pretty tough, so it was good to get that PK and get our team the lead.”
King, a Northern Illinois recruit, scored a team-leading 20 goals last year, helping the Mustangs win their first state championship. She had two goals in a conference-clinching 4-1 win against Naperville Central and a goal and an assist in a 2-0 victory against Lincoln-Way Central in a Class 3A state semifinal.
But while the top-ranked Mustangs (15-0-3, 5-0) have continued rolling this season, King has been frustrated by injuries, including the concussion that caused her to miss six games, and the attention of opposing defenses that have often double-teamed her, especially since leading scorer Jordan Lange went down with a foot injury.
“It’s been pretty rough since they’re constantly on me, constantly tackling me, so I kind of can’t do the same things I was doing last year,” King said. “I can’t take the line and get as many goals as I did last year. So now I’m kind of working as the player that moves into space to create opportunities for other players so they can get a goal themselves.”
One of those players is Lucy Burk, who scored the tying goal just four minutes after Lauren Thorne had scored off a pass from Bella Brozek
More Top Picks Best Motion Sensor Night Lights For Hallways
to give the Redhawks (8-5-1, 3-2) a 1-0 lead at the 24:05 mark of the second half.“Tyra has always been the one I look up to most on the field, no matter where I am, especially in club or even high school, just because of the bond that we built on and off the field,” Burk said. “Just seeing her come back from what she’s been through this season is really inspiring.”
King isn’t 100%, but she’s gritting it out.
“I had knots in my shins when I got cleated in the shin, and then these are also new cleats, so my toenail is kind of half off right now,” she said. “I’m kind of struggling, but I’ll hopefully heal and be ready for (playoffs).”
Despite all of the obstacles, including some excruciatingly close missed shots, King still has managed 11 goals and five assists in 12 games. She’s second on the team in both categories, two goals behind Lange and one assist behind Burk and Lily Senese.
“We need her to score,” Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley said. “We need her to be the player that she is. Tyra had lots of confidence to step up and just bury (the penalty shot), so it was really nice to see.”
Burk wasn’t surprised.
“She’s a great all-around player,” Burk said. “I think she can do everything well — honestly, everything.”
But King rarely needs to do it all, as evidenced by the latest win.
“A lot of teams, when they get scored on, they usually put their heads down, and usually it ends up getting worse and the other team ends up scoring again,” King said. “My team, we’re so gritty. We work so hard.
“We just came back even harder than they did and got those two goals. I’m really proud of them.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.