Peralta carries Hoffman Estates past Glenbard East

Penalty kicks are a nightmare for every goalkeeper.

Well, almost every goalkeeper.

Hoffman Estates senior Christian Peralta saved two of four spot kicks while his teammates converted all four of their attempts to help the Hawks defeat No. 16 seed Glenbard East 2-1 on Saturday afternoon in Lombard to advance in the Bartlett sectional complex.

The No. 17 seeded Hawks (5-13-0) next face No. 1 St. Charles East (15-2-2) in a 4:30 p.m. matchup Tuesday in St. Charles.

"I was never nervous, because I had confidence that my teammates wouldn't miss," said Peralta, who first denied Librado Olivares, then Ulysses Sarabia in rounds three and four to seal the victory in this highly competitive play-in contest in the rain and cold at the Rams' pitch.

"Christian actually saved three PK's today, with the first time around, in regulation - so he really came up big for us when we needed him to," said Hawks coach Matt Sriver, who earlier watched the center official rule that Peralta had moved three steps forward, off his line, before stopping Omar Lopez.

Jackson Zetterquist stepped up and drove home the Rams' second PK chance in regulation to tie it at 62 minutes, quickly turning the run of play squarely in favor of Glenbard East.

"Hoffman had most of the play during the first half, but we got ourselves back into toward the end of the half and played much better until we fell behind," said Glenbard East coach Josh Adler. "But we never lost ourselves when we starting chasing the game, and that's a real credit to this team."

"That's the thing I noticed about (them)," Sriver said. "They didn't hang their heads after going down, and in fact, they came at us harder after the goal.

"They are very well coached, and my hat's off to Josh for the job he does over there."

Sriver had hoped his club would be sharp after an impressive 4-0 season finale victory at Elk Grove last week. Instead, the visitors struggled to find its normal pattern of Ricky Choi and Konrad Kieruzal enjoying most of the touches before connecting with Angel Sarti and Remzi Ahmeti up top.

"We couldn't find our rhythm for most of the game," said Sriver. "I don't know why, and today, when we got in close, we just weren't very sharp in that final third."

Still, the Hawks still were able to strike first, with the opener coming from Noe Padilla in the 57th minute when the sophomore ran through the Rams wall to redirect an Adam Schultz free kick.

Despite conceding the first goal, the Rams never were knocked off their stride, and with the home side targeting and finding Rodrigo Gomez up top with plenty of frequency, the pattern of the rest of the game had been set.

Juan Torres played a wonderful ball over the top to the speedy Rams striker, and with an step on his mark, Gomez was brought down just inside the box.

The next 18 minutes of regulation was wide open, with each side creating chances.

Peralta beat Torres to a 50-50 ball at 71 minutes, and in the process, Torres injured his ankle and was helped off.

Schultz had his hard-driven free kick stopped by Rams keeper Elvin Husetovic moments later, while the best chance of the final few minutes fell to Olivares, who unloaded a wicked strike at Peralta.

Both ten-minute extra session were played cautiously, although a well-paced ball flashed through the box by Sarti could have proved deadly had the Hawks been stationed at the back post.

Sarti and Jorge Bravo watched their spot kicks beat Husetovic, while the Rams were just as perfect when Zetterquist and Wes Altenburg went into the back of the net.

But the Rams were unable to beat Peralta on their next two, while Ahmeti and Choi finished with ease.

"I am just very happy for our seniors today, because they have seen their season end very quickly the past three years," said Sriver.

There was pride in the manner of play if not the result from a Glenbard East squad that starts four sophomores and one freshman.

"It's always tough to go out like this, but I am real proud of these guys," said Adler. "We got behind, but they have shown, despite their youth and inexperience, they never give up. Although that lack of experience has gotten the best of us, we still managed to be in nearly every game, losing a bunch of 1-0 games, while finishing up with a great effort today."