Larkin, Streamwood will battle for regional soccer title

Somehow, someway, Larkin defender Inno Simental had 5 assists alone on throw-ins heading into postseason play.

And somehow, someway, Moises Raya managed his only goal of the season on a header off a throw-in.

The boys soccer postseason calls for some unconventional ways of winning sometimes as both No. 2 seed Dundee-Crown and No. 3 Larkin would know very well in consecutive years, but the fact that Simental assisted twice on goals off throw-ins and Raya headed in the game-winning with 6:36 remaining of a 2-1 Royals win in a Class 3A Streamwood semifinal matchup Wednesday will definitely add to the tale that ties D-C and Larkin together in postseason action.

"It was something we just worked on in practice, we did it throughout the week in practice and last week and it's the second time I've got a goal like that this season," Raya said. "I noticed that he was throwing further so I tend to step back more. I kind of knew where he was throwing it eventually, they left me open and I just put it in."

Simental's pass was a launch from the far right sideline just a few yards off the goal. It seemed to stymie the momentum from D-C (12-9-1), which had just gained it back 8 minutes earlier in the 55th minute off a nice 15-yard strike from Julian Ajorja to tie the game at 1-1.

Simental also manufactured a similar pass in the first half during the 38th minute that Abel Saenz booted home as both throws allowed Larkin (8-10-5) to advance to Saturday's 3 p.m. regional final at Millennium Field against Elgin Area School District U-46 foe Streamwood, which defeated Elgin 2-0 in Wednesday's first game.

"Obviously with our throw-in with Inno it's a weapon and we scored off both of them," Larkin coach Ken Hall said. "We attacked the ball, we just played really well."

Said Simental about his approach: "I've got to be 100 percent in, I've got to throw it in all the way, give it everything. I'm just aiming for my teammates, aim for their heads."

Larkin won a slim advantage on shots 9-8 and the Royals drew more corners 7-4. But D-C had its chances throughout. At one point in the first half the Chargers had a 3-2 break down the field and Hoff Campbell's shot went wide. Ajroja and Jeremy Jareckyj had chances to score as well but back-to-back yellow cards in the final 9 minutes monkeyed with D-C's mojo and ended the Chargers' season on a 4-game losing skid.

"We could have put the game away in the first half. We squandered it away and two dumb mistakes cost you, not just a goal but the game," D-C coach Rey Vargas said. "The calls, that slows the game down a little bit and you're trying to get the pace and we were playing at a high pace. The whistle blowing a lot really doesn't help."

Streamwood 2, Elgin 0: The Sabres (13-5-2) were able to shake off the specters of last season's postseason with a convincing win over the Maroons in the first game of the doubleheader. The Sabres walked into last year's playoffs as the top seed but this time avoided an upset as Donnie Sosa chipped one in from the center of the box on a one-touch finish in the 9th minute off a Blerim Shoboni pass and Alan Camarena put some spin on his 22nd goal of the season, a free kick 2 minutes before half from the near right corner 25 yards out.

"The guys who were on the team last year still had those demons on their shoulders from last year, including me," Sabres' coach Matt Polovin said. "To get (this) win definitely helped a lot, especially with the young kids on the team, to be able to see a game with that magnitude, the speed, the physicalness of it, what it means on your home field. It's a great learning lesson as well."

Camarena wouldn't take extra credit for the extra spin he put on his ball that sealed matters but Sosa remembers losing to South Elgin in last year's regional final and wanted no part in it this year with Elgin.

"It was nightmares last year," Sosa said. "We just came and learned from that bad experience and came more hungry to win something."

Streamwood owned a 12-7 shot advantage but Elgin might be the ones having nightmares on the chances it saw fall down the wayside. The Maroons (8-12-2) missed on Joel Chavez's header in the 22nd minute from point-blank range and on a cross with 11 minutes left in the first half. Richard Sosa had a chance to cut the lead in half had his shot not gone wide of the right post.

"We just didn't convert our chances. We put two of those in it's a game," Maroons' coach Dave Borg said. "It's tough in every game of the playoffs because it's a rival. I'd love to be playing Rockford East right now but I'm not because we don't get that. We get five teams that are basically in the district so every game is a battle. It's not fair to the number one seed."