LEBANON, Ill. -- Amid the chaos of crying teammates, exasperated coaches and hot-under-the-collar fans, Megan Rabe never lost focus of the one thing that mattered most.

Her poise.

Moreso than anyone involved in the controversial ending of Thursday night's Class 2A girls soccer sectional semifinal in which Belleville Althoff beat Quincy Notre Dame 2-1 in the third overtime, Rabe had a right to be angry.

Not only had QND's junior keeper been kicked while she was down -- literally, she had the ball booted out of her hands while on the ground -- but her honesty had been called into question.

That hurt probably more than anything else for the mere fact it was her word against all others on whether the game-winning goal actually was a goal.

Rabe didn't think so.

"No," she said. "It never went in."

All she can do is stand by her story.

"You know you're going to get a thousand different stories," Rabe said. "Who knows what's right."

So much depends on your perspective.

None of the Althoff players questioned whether the ball went in. They took Megan Jaskowiak's word that it did. The Crusaders senior midfielder scored the game-winning goal by poking the ball out of Rabe's hands and into the side net.

"I'm not one to lie about a goal," Jaskowiak said. "Trust me."

Rabe knows that has to be said.

"If we were on the other end, we'd say the same thing," Rabe said.

Maybe. Maybe not.

You get the sense Rabe would own up to a ball not crossing the line or one that does but somehow gets overlooked not counted. She believes too much in her character to let a wrong stand without a correction.

Or to let the outcome of a game tarnish her integrity.

The postgame confusion over what happened near the goal spilled over to the stands where fan behavior resulted in local police being called to the site as a precautionary measure. Game officials were escorted from the field by security personnel.

Yet, Rabe ignored it all.

She spoke eloquently and truthfully to reporters, fully understanding why questions had to be asked. Not every 16-year-old, placed at the heart of a controversy, could handle themself with such maturity.

The fact is not every adult does.

Coaches love to say sports teaches life lessons, and in this case, it did. It taught everyone how actions speak just as loud as words.

-- mschuckman@whig.com/221-3366