Boys soccer: Late goal from Melick lifts Jacobs past Crystal Lake South
Fortunately for Jacobs, Noah Melick got a second chance.
After missing a golden opportunity minutes earlier, Melick buried a shot in the back of the net with 3 minutes left to carry the Golden Eagles past Crystal Lake South, 1-0, in the semifinals of the Class 3A Streamwood boys soccer sectional at Millennium Field Wednesday.
The Golden Eagles play for the sectional title Friday at 5 p.m. against Streamwood, which defeated Hampshire 1-0 in Wednesday's second semifinal.
The defenses dominated for more than 75 minutes as the Fox Valley Conference rivals battled it out for a spot in the sectional final. Jacobs had a prime opportunity to take the lead when Melick raced in on a breakaway. Gators' keeper Brandon Gorka came out to cut down the angle, but Melick got behind him and found himself facing a wide open net. But he admittedly rushed the shot and it just missed to the left.
"I felt the pressure on my back, so I freaked out a little bit and just got a little tap on it," said Melick. "I knew right then it was going wide."
Missing that chance just made him more determined.
"That got me to the point where I said, 'I've got to finish it. My team's depending on me right now, I've got to finish.' Hey, it was a battle for 80 minutes. Found a way."
He got his chance just minutes later as he again closed in on the net.
"I found an opportunity to cut in with my right foot," he said. "I was going to take it on my left, but I saw the keeper come out, too, so I got a little toe on it and got it under the keeper."
"One of the things we preach is that the game is 80 minutes long and over the course of 80 minutes we're going to get our chances," said Jacobs coach Anthony Cappello. "We'll take our chances when they come. Sometimes you get more chances than others, but this game we didn't have too many chances. South did a very good job. They defended very well. When our chances came, we only got two good looks, and took one of them."
The game flowed back and forth for the first 75 minutes. The Gators had a flurry of chances in each half. Midway through the second half, the Gators tested Jacobs keeper Preston Krahl and the Jacobs defense.
Alex Canfield drove in on a breakaway, but Liam Armstrong got in front and broke it up. A shot by Nikolas Getzinger missed just high, and Krahl had to dive to stop an attempt from point-blank range by Brad Grabowski.