Elgin, Larkin all tied up

With her team down a goal with four minutes left against crosstown rival Larkin, Elgin freshman Brenda Acuna knew if Maroons' coach Alicia Knoll called her into the match, the end result would be much better for the Elgin girls soccer team.

So instead of being stuck on the sideline, Acuna approached her coach and made the first of two bold statements.

"I had been watching and we had a couple of good plays but we missed and I said 'I think I could do it,' " said Acuna. "So I told (Knoll) 'put me in' and she put me in."

No less than 2 minutes later, Acuna's second statement came. Her shot that leaned a little bit off her right foot from 20 yards out of the midfield with 2:25 remaining found the back of the net inside the right post past Larkin keeper Bernice Gomez (6 saves), and sent the game into a 2-2 tie in Upstate River action at Memorial Field Tuesday night. The tie helped the Maroons (1-1-1, 0-0-1) avoid a second-straight loss.

"You have to love someone's tenacity who's like 'I'm ready, give me three minutes, I can do something,' " Knoll said of Acuna's heroics. "It just felt right."

The tying score capped a 2-goal comeback for the Maroons, who spoiled the Royals' season debut and a game well in hand for Larkin (0-0-1, 0-0-1), which jumped out to a 2-0 lead 25 minutes into the game.

"I just saw the ball bouncing all over. (Michelle Perez) just put it back and I knew if I didn't take the shot no one would," said Acuna, describing the play. "We feel the rivalry, at least not giving them the win is good."

Larkin, which came out eager in the first half and controlled the tempo with 5 midfielders, was led by the sophomore scoring duo of Karina Trujillo and Stephanie Nunez. Trujillo's goal came right out of the gate in the 4th minute off a rebound in the box while Nunez, just inside the right of the box, booted in a cross from Valeria Sanchez in the left corner in the 25th minute right by Elgin keeper Hannah Demel, who had 7 saves.

But after freshman Brittany Dazzo's left corner kick bounced its way in over Gomez in the 29th minute, Elgin grabbed the momentum, used a pep talk at the half and found a way to get through a rugged Larkin team that ultimately came in touch with the rigors of the season's introductory game.

"I think (Elgin) had a little more energy and we had a couple people out with cramps and it just hurt us a little bit there," Larkin coach Ken Hall said. "I thought the last 15 minutes of the second half we were really struggling to keep pace with them and I think that was the deciding factor."

Elgin broke even in shots (5-5) in the second half with Larkin, which led overall 12-7. But the Maroons won three more free kicks, one more corner and created more unselfish chances in the second half thanks to better communication.

"We needed to stop blaming everyone else and take some of the blame ourselves," Knoll said of her halftime speech. "And they started to realize a little more."