Boys soccer: Dundee-Crown dumps Jacobs to claim FVC crown
To say that Tuesday's Dundee-Crown vs. Jacobs boys soccer match had everything would truly be an understatement.
Because in actuality, it was a Fox Valley Conference championship for the ages.
With more twists and turns than a Six Flags roller coaster and a relentless rain that certainly had its influence on both teams, Chargers reserve Daniel Perez denied Jacobs a late comeback and provided D-C an undefeated FVC championship with his game-winning goal in the 75th minute for a 4-3 win over the defending champs in rain-soaked Algonquin.
Not only did D-C stay undefeated at 17-0-2, but the top-seed in the upcoming Class 3A Streamwood sectional gained some major momentum for the postseason after knocking off the reigning champs by going 8-0 in the FVC while also taking home Hononegah's Indian Cup to boot.
"It couldn't have been any better than this, it really couldn't have been," D-C coach Rey Vargas said. "Rivals and everything on the line for us in the sense of the rivalry that's going; it was just a great game. Sloppy but great."
What bolted more drama into the match besides a slick field due to the rain was the mutual agreement made in Hononegah on Sept. 16 to let Tuesday's game determine the champion from that tournament.
Both had won their tournament matches and found themselves pitted against each other, but the common opponents let Tuesday decide matters and both didn't disappoint.
Perez came off the bench in the final minutes and capitalized on a shot that was mishandled in the box due to the rain which led to an easy chip from the left of the box for the game-winner with just over 5 minutes left on the clock.
"I happened to be at the right time at the right place," Perez said. "Anyone could have had that opportunity and I just happened to be in the right place and we did it as a team. That's why I love this team; we went undefeated this season and I think we did a good job. We worked well together."
The previous 75 minutes were a treat in itself. Dundee-Crown jumped out to a 2-goal lead thanks to goals by Michigan State-bound Julian Ajroja in the first 23 minutes of the first half.
Jacobs cut it to 2-1 on Joey Berreles shot on a rebound near the right bpost before Mario Solano made a great heads up play in front of the net and got his head on the ball for a 3-1 D-C lead late in the first half.
But as D-C knew, Jacobs wasn't one to give up.
"We told them to not to get too comfortable regardless of what the score was," said Vargas of Jacobs' comeback ways this season. "We just have to keep fighting and we let them back in the game and we knew that it could happen."
And it did. Colin Walsh sank a PK on a hand ball in the box with 3:27 left in the first half and then Wisconsin-bound Noah Melick tied the game on Walsh's assist in the 55th minute.
"I thought we created plenty of opportunities to win the game," said Golden Eagles coach Anthony Cappello, who saw his team end the regular season at 12-6-2 and 6-2 in the FVC. "Both teams played real good but yeah, I thought we created enough chances to win, and they created a couple chances and we didn't take ours, and that's what happens."
And with so much on the line, and with late wins over McHenry and Prairie Ridge in their back pocket, Ajroja gave his team a rallying cry.
"I told the guys not to give up," Ajroja said. "Because there's a lot of teams that will have someone put two goals on you, tie it up and (they) just give up. You would think the other team would have all the momentum but we just turned it around and got the momentum back."
The Chargers did and Perez brought home the title in clutch fashion.
"He's done that a couple times," Ajroja said of Perez. "He did that three games ago, scored two goals to win it for us, he's been coming in clutch for everybody."