Schaumburg turns back Glenbard North
Andrew Ralston and Alexis Flores both scored first-half goals as No. 10 seed Schaumburg asserted itself against a youthful side from Glenbard North.
It was too much for the seventh-seeded Panthers, who fell 2-1 late Tuesday after a fierce comeback effort against the host Saxons at Gary Scholz Stadium.
Schaumburg (8-4-2) next faces Lake Park (17-1-4) in a Class 3A regional final at 5 p.m. Friday.
"Tonight was proof that a 2-0 lead is the most dangerous to protect, and you have to hand it to (Glenbard North)," said Schaumburg coach Hamid Mehreioskouei. "They really came after us after pulling one back."
Ralston put the hosts ahead just three minutes after the opening whistle when the Panthers (9-6-3) failed to clear the area after a corner. The junior made the visitors pay when he was on target with a viscious half-volley.
Flores, who had been the Saxons' keeper until five games ago, fired in his fifth goal since the change when his angled strike got by keeper Nathan Chalus at 16 minutes after Flores beat a pair of defenders on the dribble.
"We didn't defend well at the start, and in doing so, we were chasing two goals all of a sudden," said Glenbard North coach Gregg Koeller, who was without two key starters, Zach Jones, and Koeller's son Danny, who both were battling the flu.
Mehreioskouei's team enjoyed plenty of the possession in the first half-hour as all-state midfielder Jessie Lopez ran the attack flawlessly to help put the Saxons keep the pressure on before the break.
On two chances, Misael Vargas' crossfield serves fell to teammate Jakub Gonda, but neither found the back of the net.
"If we put in just one of those, we're likely having a much easier time of it in the second half," said Mehreioskouei.
The Panthers staged a wonderful fight-back just after intermission when Eleke Bonsi took advantage of a poor decision along the back by Schaumburg to beat Edgar Aliva, who came far off his line in hopes of turning away Glenbard North's co-captain. The 43rd-minute goal seemed to take the weight off the shoulders of the Panthers the rest of the way.
"I was so happy for Eleke because we had to move him back to help us out," Koeller said. "He's been anxious to get back up top, and we did just that during halftime - and look at him - he scored right away for us."
The pressure from North only continued, thanks to some terrific work from Gio Duenas, Bonsi and others. Duenas had the best opportunity to tie it, but Aliva went aloft to push a Duenas drive over the bar at 52 minutes.
"Avila and Jason Schoo, who won a ton of 50-50 balls in the air, might have been the difference for us tonight because Gregg's guys put so much pressure on us, especially from their midfield," said Mehreioskouei.
Koeller was disappointed in the outcome, but certainly not the effort.
"There was no quit in the guys tonight, and I couldn't have asked for anything more from a young team, which was also shorthanded as well," said Koeller. "It's tough to say goodbye to my two captains, Eleke and Zach (Jones), who came to me and said he was going to warm up and go in - this was from a guy who was as sick as a dog, and has been playing on a torn MCL. And he went out an played with so much heart and proved to be an inspiration to this team during that entire second half."