Chase Bergeson has gone into each of Lemont’s playoff games trying not to think about the fact that any of them could be her last soccer game.
But now the senior midfielder, who plans to attend Iowa and not play competitive sports next year, knows that her final game will be on the final day of the season. On the biggest stage.
And she’ll get to share the moment with her younger sister, Ava, a junior defender. Chase could not have scripted it any better.
“I can’t put into words how amazing of a feeling it is to know that it’s my last game Saturday at state,” Chase said. “That’s kind of the worst part about the playoffs, especially when you’re a senior. You never know when your last game is. But now I know.
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“To do this with all these girls — and my sister — it’s an unexplainable feeling.”
Chase Bergeson played a big part in her team reaching that ultimate destination. She scored a huge goal Tuesday as Lemont rolled to a 3-0 win over Geneva in the Class 2A Kankakee Supersectional.
Illinois-Chicago recruit Gabriela Kuruc continued her dominant postseason with two goals and an assist while Madison Weil added two assists for Lemont (23-1-1), which clinched the seventh state trophy in program history and first since 2018.
Allison Tilly made 10 saves for the shutout, getting plenty of help from a defense led by Ava Bergeson, Ava DeMaio, Emma Heinz and Isabella Bradac.
Lemont will take on Crystal Lake Central (20-2) at 12:30 p.m. Friday in a state semifinal at North Central College, trying to continue a memorable final season for coach Rick Prangen.
“It’s magical,” Prangen said. “Obviously for me, for selfish reasons, to go back to the Final Four and get a trophy in my final year, it’s storybook stuff.”
Chase Bergeson helped write the story, dampening the hopes for Geneva (15-7-1) with a goal to make it 2-0 with 28:36 to go.
Kuruc took a corner kick and sent a dangerous ball into the box where it was knocked around before Bergeson poked it home for her eighth goal of the season.
“It was a huge moment,” Bergeson said. “I’m not a top scorer on the team by any means, but to give us that edge, going from 1-0 to 2-0, it changes everything. It changes the whole energy of that game. To help out in any way I can is huge.”
It was also a thrill for her sister.
“It’s very exciting,” Ava said. “I always feel so excited for her when she scores. She’s my sister, so I love when she scores. That one was a huge moment for her and our team.”
Weil and Kuruc connected on the other two goals for Lemont. While those two are the stars, Chase Bergeson is the backbone of the team.
“You’ve got to get a couple things right to be successful as a team and one of them is leadership,” Prangen said. “Chase is a great leader. She’s not a rah-rah leader, but she leads through hard work and the girls respect her. She’s our organizer.
“She’s one of the hardest-working kids I’ve ever coached.”
Ava Bergeson also appreciates the manner in which her older sister guides the team.
“She’s a great leader,” Ava said. “She’s not the loudest person, but the way she is, she’s just nice about everything. Everybody listens to her. Nobody brushes her off or anything. Everybody likes her.”
For Chase Bergeson, it just comes down to keeping her teammates on steady ground. By doing that, she’s led them to the hallowed ground of state.
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“If I’m showing up nervous, then they’re just going to feed off that energy,” Chase said. “ I want to be like, ‘OK, you missed a pass. That’s fine. Get the next one.’
“I try to be the rock of the team.”