Boys soccer: Huntley fends off Timothy Christian

It was the classic confrontation between David and Goliath.

This time, Goliath prevailed.

Huntley, with an enrollment of 2,866 students, produced enough offense to knock off Timothy Christian, enrollment 346, 3-1 in second round action of the PepsiCo Showdown boys soccer tournament in Huntley Tuesday night.

"We enjoy playing teams that are bigger than us like Huntley," said Timothy Christian coach Stephen Fernandes. "We knew we were the underdogs. They are a very talented, classy team that really challenged us. We did a good job of possessing the ball, but we had some costly defensive breakdowns that hurt us. This game was a learning experience for us."

The Red Raiders (7-2) struck first as Luke Loprieno scored off an assist from Brandon Ruffner with 25:35 remaining in the first half. But the Trojans (4-2) responded with the game-tying goal by Jimmy Allen with 20:46 left in the first half.

The game was tied until the 22:23 mark of the second half when Adam Kaster scored on a header to give Huntley a 2-1 advantage.

Loprieno's second goal of the game with 4:41 remaining gave the Red Raiders a 3-1 lead.

"Brandon gave me a great pass on the first goal and the second goal was on a turnover," said Loprieno. "Timothy was a tough team and we had to play well to beat them. We were able to get some good scoring chances and our defense was solid. We have been playing well lately and seem to be improving every game."

Huntley outshot Timothy Christian 14-6. Trojan goalie Noah Marrera kept the Elmhurst school in the game with 11 saves.

Huntley coach Kris Grabner alternated goalies, using Michael Parks (4 saves) in the first half and Andrew Fulcer (1 save) in the second half.

"Right now we want to use two goalies, one in each half," said Grabner. "We want to equally distribute the minutes between the two goalies. We will have one keeper come playoff time."

Grabner praised his team's play and the talent level that Timothy Christian possesses.

"We played very well tonight and made a lot of progress," said the Huntley coach. "We created a lot of scoring chances and were able to finish. Our defense played well and our two goalies did a good job. Timothy Christian has a lot of talent for a small school. They are very well organized and well-coached. They will do very well in the playoffs against teams their size."