Girls soccer: DeKalb denies Larkin regional crown
If the contrasting moods seemed magnified after Friday's Class 3A DeKalb regional title game it's because such plaques are rare for girls soccer at Larkin and for the Barbs.
That's why the 2-0 victory elicited such an enthusiastic celebration for host DeKalb, which captured its first regional at the Class 3A level. In fact, the Barbs (16-6-1) owned one for 2A in 2014 and a pair back in 1998 and 1999 during the single-class days of the IHSA.
For Larkin (15-8-0) a win would have meant only the second regional crown in school history, the other coming in 2006 when the Royals also won a sectional title before a Class AA supersectional loss. Unfortunately this was also Larkin's eighth time coming up short in a regional championship match.
Although little consolation in the aftermath, the 15 triumphs mark the second-highest number of wins in a single-season and clearly shows future promise for the Royals, who also fell short in 2016.
"We're a very young team using a lot of sophomores (six) and freshmen (eight) who played hard, so I'd say the future is bright," insisted Ken Hall, a veteran in his 22nd year coaching Larkin. "We're not quite used to playing on turf and had a couple bad breaks that hurt us. And we didn't generate enough shots."
Perhaps less significant in a scoreless first half, ultimately that imbalance caught up to the Royals. DeKalb owned a 10-3 advantage for overall attempts and a 7-0 edge in shots on goal, plus a 7-2 tally in corner kicks.
"Their defense is solid and was as good as any we faced," Hall added.
The shutout boosted DeKalb's record of clean sheets to 13 with only 15 goals yielded in 23 matches.
"It just seemed like our speed wasn't there so we weren't able to put pressure on their goalie," Larkin's Osiris Leon noted. Leon, signed by Wisconsin Lutheran and fellow co-captain Elizabeth Baeza, a North Park recruit, are two of five seniors for the Royals, who were seeded sixth among 17 schools in the Guilford sectional.
The offensive pressure paid off 5:21 into the second half for DeKalb when senior Madeline Hill finished a 17-yarder from left of center off a Christina Ryzhov cross. With that goal, Hill tied Ryzhov in goals for the Barbs at nine.
"That was just a great ball from Christina and I saw the back post empty and just went for it," Hill said. "Being our first-ever 3A regional title I couldn't be more proud."
DeKalb made it 2-0 with 21:36 still to be played when Linsy Franzene's chip pass bounced over the Larkin goalie and senior Bella Bettner headed home a 6-yarder into an empty net for her eighth goal.
The Barbs advance to Tuesday's 4:30 p.m. semifinal in the Guilford sectional to face Barrington, which won the Auburn regional with a 4-0 thumping of Rockton Hononegah.