Junior midfielder Bre Herlihy scored the biggest goal in Lincoln-Way East girls soccer history.
If that wasn’t exciting enough, the assist came from her twin sister, Emily.
It was the type of play the sisters have connected on hundreds of times. They’ve done it messing around in their yard, in practices and games — and Tuesday, in the biggest moment of their soccer lives.
“She always assists me, so I just feel like we had to do it,” Bre Herlihy said. “We’ve always played those long balls. We’ve done it plenty of times. I knew they had a high line and I knew I had to take that opportunity. I knew she’d kick it past them and I pounced on it.
“It was our moment. I felt like we were meant to do it.”
The goal in the ninth minute was all the Griffins needed to secure the first state trophy in program history with a 1-0 win over Hinsdale Central in the Class 3A Andrew Supersectional in Tinley Park.
Mattea Arroyo made three saves to record the shutout for Lincoln-Way East (21-4), which will take on O’Fallon (19-3-1) — which beat Plainfield North 2-1 in a penalty kick shootout — at 7 p.m. Friday in a Class 3A state semifinal at North Central College in Naperville.
Emily Herlihy was key in a dominant defensive effort against the Red Devils (16-8-2). She teamed up with Camden Cosich, Mia Hedrick and Hannah Tokarski.
Then there was that moment with her sister.
“It was awesome,” Emily said. “I just knew she was going to get past them and score. We’ve done it so many times. I just looked at her and I knew she was going for it.
“It’s surreal. I’ve never been this happy before.”
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The goal came off a free kick from a seemingly nonthreatening spot 75 yards from the net.
Emily played the ball long down the middle of the field, where Bre collected it, sprinted around the Hinsdale Central defense and broke in on net. Her shot went off the leg of goalkeeper Katherine Skinner and in.
“Bre’s an all-stater,” Lincoln-Way East coach Mike Murphy said. “She deserves it. She’s scored some great goals for us in her three-year career. Emily has that super long boot.
“They work together all the time and it’s great to see. For them to get the goal and assist in this game, I couldn’t be prouder.”
Senior midfielder Brooklyn Mortell praised the way the Herlihy twins find each other on the field.
“From early on this season, we saw the Herlihy sisters have that dynamic duo,” Mortell said. “Starting off with a goal at the beginning of the game, I think it’s astronomically different from if they would have scored on us. I’m extremely proud of them.”
Mortell said she had an idea that this Lincoln-Way East team could be special way back before any games were played.
“I think it was our first pasta party,” Mortell said. “We played spikeball and it was really competitive, but I think the bonds between the girls are the biggest thing. It’s more than just soccer for us. We’re all best friends. Our group chat before this game was crazy.
“We all got that rush from winning the regional and the sectional and we saw how far we can go. We all play for each other, and I think that’s what shows at the end of the day.”
When it comes to bonds, the Herlihys believe there’s nothing quite like the one shared between twins.
“We’ve played together our whole lives and we just know what each other is going to do all the time,” Bre said. “I think it works perfectly.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.