51ºÚÁÏ

The O’Fallon senior came up huge once more in her final game for the Panthers during Saturday night’s Illinois Class 3A girls soccer state championship game against Naperville North, scoring with 5.7 seconds remaining in the first overtime.

The Panthers held on for a 1-0 victory and are state champions for the third time in five seasons.

“So I knew I was like at the center of the field and my back was to the goal, so I didn't know, like how far out I was, but I knew I could get around the defender,� Tredway said. “And (senior) Taegan (Benson) played me like a perfect ball, but I was able to turn and just hit a shot and it just luckily went right through the keeper's hands up top.�

Tredway also scored the game-winning goal for O'Fallon (23-1-1) to beat Barrington in Friday’s state semifinal.

She assisted on the goal that earned them a state title in 2023. The recipient, Kiley McMinn, even texted Tredway earlier in the day.

“I got a text from Kylie this morning and it was like, ‘You’re killing it,’ and ‘You can do this,’ � Tredway said. “And I feel like that pressure, like that motivated me a little more. And it's like, I kind of had the feeling that I could get this goal. I could move up from assisting the winning goal to making the winning goal.�

Panthers senior Claire Nieroda said the team knew it had the talent to win a title.

“We've all worked so hard for it,� she said. "From the first day we were in the classroom together for a meeting we knew what we could do and we knew that we were capable, we just had to keep working together. And throughout the entire season we have just been working on our team defense and just staying together, and having mental toughness, and I feel like we showed all that today, and that's how we got it done.�

Shutting down Naperville North standout Claire DeCook was key.

“They were a really good team,� O’Fallon senior defender Addison Baldus said. “I mean, they were very direct and they really wanted the ball to their forward up top, and we did a good job (defending) her. They had some chances, but all together in the end, we shut them down and we didn’t let them score.�

Tredway finally found a way to break the scoreless action.

“There’s no way to express how much I love my little Allie,� O’Fallon senior defender  Lailyn Patterson said. “I play club with Allie and she scores all of our goals for club as well. She’s always there at the top trying her best.�

It’s the third state title for the Panthers since 2021. They won that year as well as in 2023.

“God has really put in our community a great group of soccer players and parents and just the program itself has really done well,� Panthers coach Justin Judiscak said. “We’ve been very blessed in all the people who have been involved with it.�

Naperville North came out strong and was applying pressure early, which the Panthers were able to sustain.

Those dangerous situations seemingly dissipated as the game progressed.

“We’ve definitely had our games where it’s like we get rushed and excited when we’re tied,� Tredway said. “But I feel like this game we did a really good job of staying calm and composed when we got the ball and finding feet and not just like bombing it down the field.�