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Bella DeMaio has had to spend a large portion of her Lemont career worrying about whether she would be able to breathe correctly on the soccer field.
Slowed by a medical issue the last two seasons, DeMaio overcame that hurdle to have a huge senior year playing alongside her twin sister, Ava. The icing on the cake was getting to cap off everything at the state finals.
“I was diagnosed with vocal cord dysfunction,” Bella said. “When you run, your vocal cords are supposed to open but mine close. It’s been really challenging because obviously soccer is a lot of running and it causes problems breathing.
“That was a big speed bump in the road. Getting past that has been huge and it’s been a lot of fun this year. Getting to state my senior year, it meant so much.”
DeMaio played a big role in Lemont making it a memorable final season for retiring coach Rick Prangen. The state championship dreams were derailed Friday, however, as Crystal Lake Central dominated on its way to a 5-0 win in a Class 2A semifinal at North Central College in Naperville.
Madison Weil had three shots on goal and Allison Tilly made three saves for Lemont (23-2-1), which lost for the first time since its March 18 season opener against Marist.
Lemont will take on Wheaton St. Francis (12-5) at 9:30 a.m. Saturday in the third-place game.
“We know that only two teams can finish the season with a win and the seniors want to make our last game a great one,” Bella DeMaio said.
Friday’s game certainly didn’t go as planned as Crystal Lake Central (21-2) scored just 25 seconds in and rolled from there behind Loyola recruit Addison Schaffer, who had a goal and three assists.
A big swing came late in the first half with Lemont looking to cut into a 2-0 deficit. Weil got free on a breakaway but was denied on a kick save by sophomore goalkeeper Charlotte Wallner. Crystal Lake Central quickly countered and Jordin Gaunaurd scored to make it 3-0.
“If you finish that and make it 2-1, it’s a different game,” Prangen said. “Then 30 seconds later, it’s 3-0. That’s tough. Everything went wrong for us this game but Crystal Lake Central was the better team.”
That doesn’t take away from a memorable season for the DeMaio twins, who were both four-year varsity players. Bella made a big mark her freshman year before the breathing problems slowed her down, limiting her to short stretches of playing time the last two seasons.
This spring, she was determined to be ready, focusing on breathing exercises. She scored 14 goals and dished out six assists, much to the delight of Prangen.
“We weren’t sure what we were going to get out of Bella this year and we got a lot out of her,” he said. “She scored two goals against Mother McAuley in the sectional semi, so that was huge.
“Bella and Ava are both great, positive kids.”
The twins will go their separate ways for college, with neither planning to play sports. Ava is attending DePaul, while Bella got to play at her future school as she will go to North Central.
“It’s our last time playing together after 15 years, so doing it at state, it’s something special,” Ava said. “We’ve always been close and this is the last thing we do together at Lemont.”
For Bella DeMaio, it was a great final chapter.
“Soccer has been a huge part of my life,” she said. “When the medical issue happened, I was really down in the dirt. Pushing through it was really important. I gained a lot of resilience.
“Now, coming here to state … wow. When you push through things, it gets better.”
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Slowed by a medical issue the last two seasons, DeMaio overcame that hurdle to have a huge senior year playing alongside her twin sister, Ava. The icing on the cake was getting to cap off everything at the state finals.
“I was diagnosed with vocal cord dysfunction,” Bella said. “When you run, your vocal cords are supposed to open but mine close. It’s been really challenging because obviously soccer is a lot of running and it causes problems breathing.
“That was a big speed bump in the road. Getting past that has been huge and it’s been a lot of fun this year. Getting to state my senior year, it meant so much.”
DeMaio played a big role in Lemont making it a memorable final season for retiring coach Rick Prangen. The state championship dreams were derailed Friday, however, as Crystal Lake Central dominated on its way to a 5-0 win in a Class 2A semifinal at North Central College in Naperville.
Madison Weil had three shots on goal and Allison Tilly made three saves for Lemont (23-2-1), which lost for the first time since its March 18 season opener against Marist.
Lemont will take on Wheaton St. Francis (12-5) at 9:30 a.m. Saturday in the third-place game.
“We know that only two teams can finish the season with a win and the seniors want to make our last game a great one,” Bella DeMaio said.
Friday’s game certainly didn’t go as planned as Crystal Lake Central (21-2) scored just 25 seconds in and rolled from there behind Loyola recruit Addison Schaffer, who had a goal and three assists.
A big swing came late in the first half with Lemont looking to cut into a 2-0 deficit. Weil got free on a breakaway but was denied on a kick save by sophomore goalkeeper Charlotte Wallner. Crystal Lake Central quickly countered and Jordin Gaunaurd scored to make it 3-0.
“If you finish that and make it 2-1, it’s a different game,” Prangen said. “Then 30 seconds later, it’s 3-0. That’s tough. Everything went wrong for us this game but Crystal Lake Central was the better team.”
That doesn’t take away from a memorable season for the DeMaio twins, who were both four-year varsity players. Bella made a big mark her freshman year before the breathing problems slowed her down, limiting her to short stretches of playing time the last two seasons.
This spring, she was determined to be ready, focusing on breathing exercises. She scored 14 goals and dished out six assists, much to the delight of Prangen.
“We weren’t sure what we were going to get out of Bella this year and we got a lot out of her,” he said. “She scored two goals against Mother McAuley in the sectional semi, so that was huge.
“Bella and Ava are both great, positive kids.”
The twins will go their separate ways for college, with neither planning to play sports. Ava is attending DePaul, while Bella got to play at her future school as she will go to North Central.
“It’s our last time playing together after 15 years, so doing it at state, it’s something special,” Ava said. “We’ve always been close and this is the last thing we do together at Lemont.”
For Bella DeMaio, it was a great final chapter.
“Soccer has been a huge part of my life,” she said. “When the medical issue happened, I was really down in the dirt. Pushing through it was really important. I gained a lot of resilience.
“Now, coming here to state … wow. When you push through things, it gets better.”
Continue reading...
