Boys soccer: Elgin edges West Aurora for UEC title
Elgin coach David Borg asked if it was a case of winning ugly?
Regardless of the definition, the Maroons pulled out a 1-0 victory Saturday at West Aurora which guarantees them the right to have an Upstate Eight Conference banner raising for the second straight year.
Yes both teams came in averaging 4.2 goals per match, so naturally it came down to just one goal scored.
Technically Elgin (14-1-2, 7-0-1) has a last league match on Wednesday at home against West Chicago, but even if the Maroons get upset - and assuming West Aurora (15-2-1, 6-1-1) finishes with a win at Larkin that night - the head-to-head tiebreaker for this year's top-to-bottom 10-school race favors Borg's crew.
While the UEC may have lost four tradition-rich schools, this were the top two teams in 2017 when there was a crossover showdown after Elgin ruled the River Division and West Aurora topped the Valley.
Not only did Elgin make a 1-0 halftime lead courtesy of Ramon Orozco stand up, the Maroons did so playing "a man down" for the last 22 minutes and keeper Martin Jimenez making a final save with seven seconds left.
As befitting a title showdown between two teams envisioned to reach the Sweet 16 based on their seeding for the postseason, both sides had notable scoring chances. To its credit West Aurora's defense kept one of Class 3A's most prolific scorers in Omar Lopez bottled up.
However, Lopez was still involved in the game-deciding play. Taking possession just inside the Blackhawks' box, three West Aurora defenders surrounded him and after dispossessed the ball only to have their clearing kick find Orozco open to unleash a 38-yard rocket into the right side of the goal.
"The (ball) came to me and I saw a lot of space with no one in front of me so I powered the kick and it felt good right off my foot," Orozco said in regard to his fourth goal of the year and second match-winner. "It feels special being in such a big match plus it's the same as what we constantly try to do in every practice."
While the fairness of several calls were debatable to both coaches, the timing and uneven nature of the whistles often contributed to an increasingly physical match. In total there were seven yellow cards and four injury stoppages.
"A couple (of the cards) were understandable, but some seemed unfair," Borg said. "To overcome playing a man down against a team that is really tenacious on offense and defense was tough. They're probably the only team we've seen that is faster than us. Thankfully Manny (Ramirez) was a beast for us and Orozco has been earning more minutes because of his play in the middle. It was like a triangle around Omar, but Ramon made them pay for the space left open."
West Aurora's Omar Marquez had a blast from off the end line and a header a couple minutes later that required Jimenez saves. One of the last stoppages came with 21:55 left in regulation and before the ball was put back in play, the Elgin keeper was carded and as protests continued, Olaoluwa Ajayi got a second yellow which then equaled a red-card expulsion.
Reserve goalie Jefferson Paulino logged a minute before Jimenez returned in time to be tested by a 15-yard pivot turn blast from Blackhawk top scorer Patience Yuha. After Elgin thwarted a couple more West attacks or exhaled after shots sailed high, Lopez virtually dribbled from box to box before a fourth defender got the ball away from him.
The Blackhawks had a free kick on which a collision between Andy Emile and Jimenez put the Maroon goalie on the ground, however, the senior leapt to his feet in time to stop a follow-up shot by Yuha.
"Knowing how big a game it was and that there was no space for error, I instinctively jumped up and made another block," Jimenez said. "I can't describe what an amazing feeling it was once the horn sounded."
It's the 13th straight (11-0-2) match without a loss for Elgin while West Aurora had a string of 15 (14-0-1) without a defeat ended.
"This was like a heavyweight boxing match," 18th-year West coach Joe Sustersic said. "This was two of the state's top 20 teams fighting for the Upstate Eight, both teams had quality moments. I can't be prouder of our effort. We had three sophomores playing 80 minutes of defense and we were minus five starters from the start of the season."