Tigers have enough left in their tank

After a game on Saturday and another on Sunday spent running around the expansive pitch of Toyota Park, the physical resilience of a high school soccer player finds its limits.

"I'm cramping up just sitting here. My legs are shot," said Wheaton Warrenville South's Eric Shrigley, sitting in a postgame interview room in Bridgeview.

Shrigley suffered those cramps gladly, the cost of the Tigers 2-1 victory to capture their third title in four years in the Pepsi Showdown -- the largest high school boys soccer tournament in the Midwest and third largest in the country.

The 39-team field boiled down to the Tigers (12-2-1) and Lincoln-Way Central (13-2-1), which came into Sunday's game with a 10-game winning streak and 60-plus goals scored this year.

"Even I had a little doubt playing in my mind," said Tigers coach Guy Callipari of the explosive Knights. "Give credit to our guys for persevering through the initial onslaught."

That onslaught lasted for the first eight minutes, which had the Tigers scrambling. The Knights' Matt Ducci punctuated the pressure by bending in a corner kick at the eight-minute mark.

The Showdown title game followed a sold-out Chicago Fire match -- and nerves got the better of the Tigers (12-2-1) early.

But Ducci's goal sparked their attack, and the Tigers played the better possession game from that point.

"The first 10 or 15 minutes were like a larger-than-life experience," said Tigers goalkeeper and tournament MVP Randall Babb. "Everyone wants to play baseball at Wrigley Field, and this was kind of the same thing for us. That goal was a huge wakeup call."

Increased pressure resulted in a game-tying goal from the Tigers' Ricky Munguia from 12 yards out, on a pass Shrigley slid over to him two minutes before halftime.

Two minutes into the second half, the Tigers' Nico Galto scored what proved to be the game-winner on a diagonal serve sent to the far post by Tyler Carey.

"I like making my runs to the back post, the ball ended up on my foot, and I just tucked it away," Galto said. "It's probably the biggest goal I've scored."

Scott Larson, Tim Litterio, Andy Guerrero, and Will Parkin played key roles in slowing the Knights, while Galto, Shrigley, and Munguia led a relentless Tigers' attack.

"Coming back from a 1-0 deficit, they showed a lot of class and a lost of poise, in coming through," Callipari said.

Shrigley was also named to the all-tournament team, along with Wheaton Academy's Lucas Young.