From high school to the World Cup, penalty kicks can unnerve the steeliest soccer player

CHICAGO - With the Illinois state championship game scoreless after 100 minutes, Barrington High School midfielder Tina Teik stepped up to the penalty spot, 12 yards from the goal, to take her turn in the shootout that would decide the title.

She blocked out the hollering crowd and remembered a teammate's advice to treat the shot as if it were just a pass. She had taken penalty kicks since she was 8 and always aimed in the same direction. If she struck the ball well, it wouldn't matter if the goalkeeper guessed right.

This time, though, Naperville North keeper Amanda Johnson moved before Teik, 17, even swung her leg. Johnson snuffed the shot, one of two saves she made in the shootout to deny Barrington a third straight championship (the Fillies' previous titles had come via