Johnsburg hands Richmond-Burton first KRC girls soccer loss since 2019

RICHMOND – Liz Smith stopped and took in the moment as she stood along the Johnsburg sideline on Richmond-Burton’s soccer field Tuesday.

When the final buzzer sounded from the scoreboard, her Skyhawks teammates gathered, screamed and hugged each other. As soon as Smith realized what had just happened, she joined them in the celebration, hugging whomever she saw.

[ Photos: Johnsburg vs. Richmond Burton girls soccer ]

It was a surreal moment for Smith and the Skyhawks in their third match of the season. Johnsburg not only had just beaten Richmond-Burton 2-0, but the Skyhawks had handed the Rockets their first Kishwaukee River Conference loss since 2019.

“It’s great for the team,” Smith, a senior, said. “We have such a young team, so coming into this and winning, it just means so much because we’ve been working for this since my freshman year. It’s just crazy that we finally beat them, and I’m just excited for the season that we have in store for us.”

R-B had dominated the KRC over the past four seasons. The Rockets won 35 straight KRC matches in the regular season and in the KRC Tournament, suffering their last KRC loss to Woodstock in April 2019.

The 2020 season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tuesday felt like years in the making for Johnsburg. The Skyhawks had come the closest to beating the Rockets over the past couple of seasons. R-B held on to beat Johnsburg in a shootout in the 2023 KRC Tournament championship, then came back to win their first meeting last season.

Over the years, R-B felt like a mental hurdle Johnsburg couldn’t clear. On Tuesday, the Skyhawks finally got over it.

“To come out here and to put it on them, it just felt like a relief,” sophomore Charlie Eastland said. “We’ve wanted this, we deserved this for so long. It’s always been a mental battle for us. So to come out here and to step past that line and get over that line, it was really amazing for us as a team.”

The Skyhawks (2-1, 1-0) did it by using their speed and aggressiveness. After the Rockets controlled the pace for the first 15 minutes, Johnsburg broke through when Smith created a fast break. She split through the Rockets defense to score with 21:20 left in the first half.

The pressure continued and Eastland made it 2-0 with 3:21 left in the first half after she broke through on a run and scored. Johnsburg ended the match with nine shots on goal, six coming in the second half.

“We try to use that to our benefit,” Smith said of the team’s speed. “I think that was a perfect example of what we’ve talked about in training, and we just executed right there. I just think that’s great passing.”

In a way, Rockets coach Casey DeCaluwe was relieved his team lost Tuesday. No, DeCaluwe didn’t want R-B (0-2, 0-1) to lose and for the streak to end. But he felt this year’s roster, which is filled with a large number of newcomers, carried the pressure of the streak with them.

“It’s great for the team. We have such a young team, so coming into this and winning, it just means so much because we’ve been working for this since my freshman year. It’s just crazy that we finally beat them and I’m just excited for the season that we have in store for us.”

—  Liz Smith, Johnsburg senior

Tuesday felt like an important moment for the Rockets to move on from the past and build for this season.

“Every day has got to be a building block,” DeCaluwe said. “This was just a step. I think we get better because of it. So I don’t look at it as a negative. I look at it as things that we can do to learn from our mistakes.”

Both teams hoped to use Tuesday’s match as a building block for the rest of the season. If history repeats itself, the two could meet again in the KRC Tournament and the postseason like they did last year.

But for at least a night, the Skyhawks wanted to take in the moment. They appreciated what they had accomplished and what it could mean for their future.

“I honestly think it’s opening the floodgates in a way because this is the hardest game mentally and physically, but mainly mentally for this team,” Eastland said. “So to be able to come out with a win on them, it is amazing for us. I’m just so excited to see where this season takes us.”