Boys soccer: Fast start lifts Larkin past South Elgin

As the Larkin boys soccer team saw in the first game of the Class 3A regional at Streamwood Tuesday night, it was good to be the team that scored early.

And what timing it was for a team that had a hard time all season starting off on the right foot.

The No. 4 Royals advanced passed No. 5 South Elgin 2-1 in the nightcap of semifinal play at Millennium Field, and Larkin can thank goals by Eduardo Alvarado and Pierre Black, Jr. 3 minutes apart to give the Storm yet another Larkin postseason headache and a berth into Saturday's 3 p.m. regional final against No. 7 Dundee-Crown.

"We've been really poor starting games this year and come out kind of cold and kind of slow," Royals coach Ken Hall said. "We emphasized coming out strong and obviously it worked getting two goals rather easily."

Larkin (10-7-3) knocked out South Elgin (9-110 in the 2013 regional final, the 2012 sectional semifinal and the regional final in 2010. It was no different in 2016, as Black Jr.'s header came in the 1st minute while Alvarado's boot from the box gave the Royals the game-winner in the 4th minute.

"We play them almost every year in the playoffs so it seems and they tired of us beating them in the playoffs," Hall said. "I understand they want to go get us - it's always a heated battle. They're our next-door neighbors and it's not quite Elgin but real close."

Midfielder Chris Plantz provided both assists, as Larkin had an advantage in the early going with the possession.

"Something got a cross in and I just tried to make a run through," Plantz said of the first goal. "And I got my head on it and I flicked it up and Pierre was in the right spot for an easy goal and a wide open net and he put it away it. The second one we were just moving the ball, we had great movement off the ball and we were moving around. We had a good cross and it scrambled around and (Alvarado) got to put it in."

Larkin was outshot 9-8 as the Storm put pressure on the Royals, especially in the second half when Alex Ortiz crossed a beautiful pass to Javier Lujan, who sneaked it in left post at the 33:33 mark to close the gap a little.

But even with a man down as Larkin was waived a red card in the 60th minute, the Storm couldn't convert on 2 golden chances. One came on a shot 5 feet from the left post that went wide in the 53rd minute and another ultimately ruined by an offsides call saw 2 shots in final 15 seconds go astray, including the second shot that darted off the pole.

"We talked about how Larkin played and to concede like that, it took the wind out of us, it took us 25 minutes to get going," Storm coach Simon Brinklow said. "It's a playoff game and it's imperative to score first and start well. We didn't. But we really battled them and I'm proud of how they showed a great deal of character. Another day we would've scored three or four."