Boys soccer: Larkin, Dundee-Crown battle to a tie
On paper, Dundee-Crown and Larkin entered Saturday morning's nonconference boys soccer matchup in Carpentersville as evenly matched teams.
The result confirmed that.
The two teams, spearheaded by excellent goal keeping, battled to a 1-1 tie.
Larkin senior goalie Brian Arredondo, subbing for injured Jorge Nova (groin), collected 7 saves in the game.
Arredondo's best effort in the contest came with 27:33 remaining in the contest. D-C's Eric Martinez broke through the Larkin (7-3-1) defense for a breakaway shot but Arredondo was able to make a sliding diving save.
"We have been alternating Jorge and Brian all season long and it was supposed to be Jorge's turn to play," said Larkin coach Ken Hall. "Jorge came up with an injury and Brian was ready and prepared to play and played very well."
Junior D-C (6-0-2) keeper Damian Smeich equaled Arredondo's stellar play in goal with 6 saves.
Smiech's best save of the game came with 25:15 remaining in the first half. Larkin's Pierre Black, on a direct kick from 15 yards out, blasted a shot high on the net which seemed destined for a goal. Smiech leapt high and deflected the ball over the net for a highlight save.
"Damian has the perfect build for a goalie," said D-C coach Sebastian Falinski. "He is tall and lanky and can move very well. He is making the routine saves right now mixed in with one or two great saves every game. He is playing with a lot of confidence right now."
Larkin scored the only goal of the first half on a penalty kick by Johnny Bahena with 11:49 left in the first half.
"I was really happy we scored first and I was happy we were winning balls at the midfield," said Hall. "D-C came out in the second half and beat us at the midfield and was able to score. They are a good team and it was a good match for us."
D-C knotted the score at 1-1 on a goal by Mario Solano off a feed from Julian Ajroja with 21:38 left in the contest.
"It was certainly a tale of two halves," said Falinski. "We were flat and didn't play with a lot of emotion and I addressed that at halftime. We played soft. We played with much more intensity in the second half and put much more pressure on them offensively. We played much more like we are capable of in the second half."