Wrap-up: Saxons find way to win in OT

No one was going down easily on Wednesday night at the Conant Class AA soccer regional.

In the nightcap, No. 8 Schaumburg faced off No. 10 Sycamore and at the end of regulation it was 1-1.

But a few minutes into the overtime, as the third downpour of the evening hit, an indirect free kick by Josh Beard found its way into the goal for a 2-1 Saxons' win.

"We did it -- they're a great counterattacking team," said Schaumburg coach Hamid Mehreioskouei. "The field was wet. We're usually more of a playing team but every time we tried to do that, we'd lose the ball because of the slick surface. Our game plan was to play direct and make the defense work. It eventually paid off."

The No. 8 Saxons will play No. 1 Conant, a 7-1 winner over Taft, for the regional title at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Beard's big play was a big payoff for the junior forward.

"That was the most amazing hit I've had in my entire life," Beard said. "I knew it (was going in the net) right after it came off my foot."

Schaumburg (12-4) took a 1-0 lead midway through the first half on a goal by Erhan Caglayan.

However the advantage was short-lived with Brad Horton scoring 13 minutes later for the Spartans.

A lightning delay was good for the Cougars in the first semifinal as they led 3-1 when everyone took cover.

After the game resumed with just more 20 minutes to play, they unloaded their own display of power with 4 consecutive goals.

But it wasn't all Cougars (13-6) the whole game. Both teams were tied 1-1 after a close first half.

"The first 48 minutes were not very good for us," said Conant coach Tony Kees. "Sometimes a little break from Mother Nature can do you wonders and it did for us."

Conant spread out its offense, but back-to-back goals by Zach Raetzman in the second half put the hosts up 5-1.

"The first half was scary," Raetzman said. "But once we scored, (Taft) felt like it was over."

Eric Marofske scored a first-half goal that put the hosts up just six minutes into game. Bryan Neubauer scored the go-ahead goal with Kevin Reddington, Mike Marks and Frank Sylvester also tallying.

Josh Summers started in goal but a flying save put a bump on his head courtesy of the goal post. Scott Majercik came in to finish.

At Hersey: Junior forward Didher Machado ended the regular season as Wheeling's leading goal scorer.

He began the post-season in front, scoring the winning goal with 3:47 left in overtime in the Hersey regional semifinals.

Ninth-seed Wheeling (13-11) defeated a much bigger, eighth-seeded Highland Park squad, and will face Barrington at 1 p.m. Saturday for the regional title.

"I felt great," said Machado, who now has 13 goals. "It's great to score the winning goal. After I saw that I was by myself, I knew I was going to score the winning goal."

After a scoreless first half, Highland Park's Darren Park scored on a through ball that he redirected into the net with 16:49 left in regulation.

Twenty-one seconds later, Wheeling tied it up when Joel Del Toro scored on a flick header off of a pass from Trevor Rubin.

The same thing happened late in the half. First Wheeling went ahead 2-1. David Aranda started the play by sending a long pass into the right corner. The Wildcats worked the ball around until it landed on Ben Kresner's foot. He sent a low shot that hit the base of the far left post and ricocheted behind goalkeeper Alex Glabman with just 34 seconds to go.

But once again, the Giants didn't let Wheeling celebrate for long. Twenty four seconds later Jerry Smith scored an unassisted goal.

"It was a combination of (our speed) and Highland Park playing good defense," said Wheeling coach Ed Uhrik. "It took us awhile finding our touch. The field was pretty rough.

"We made some adjustments in the second half. We told them to play to their feet. I knew coming into this game it was going to be a weird night."

-- Kathy Rudolph

At Buffalo Grove: The host Bison played an inspired game for nearly 70 minutes in its Class AA regional opener against No. 5 Deerfield.

The Bison controlled the tempo and were out-hustling the Warriors while clinging to a 1-goal advantage.

But Deerfield's Brian Frankel scored a goal on a penalty kick in the 69th minute to force overtime.

Deerfield then had four opportunities in front of BG goal with senior Greg Ewing converting the final attempt with 3:14 remaining in the first overtime for a 3-2 win.

"We tried to get after it, but I just think it wasn't meant to be tonight," said BG coach Rick Schoffstall after his team's fifth overtime loss this season. "It's been hard, but the kids have been great."

Deerfield (13-5-4) advances to play No. 4 seed Stevenson (12-4-1), which defeated Crystal Lake Central 2-1 in two overtimes, at 2 p.m. Saturday for the regional title.

BG (6-14-2) was in good position with a 2-1 second half lead as keeper Mike McEvoy repeatedly denied Deerfield scoring chances.

But the Warriors just had too many opportunities on their game winning goal.

Joey Glass' first shot was deflected and Robbie Weis missed with a header. Glass followed with a shot off the crossbar and the ball found Ewing in front for score.

"A lot of mayhem in front of the goal," said McEvoy whose 13 saves included 2 in the extra period. "It hit off my shin and went in. This was the hardest we've played, and I wouldn't trade this team for anything."

The game was delayed twice due to weather and the second stoppage came right after BG junior Peter Farrow found the near post with a header for a 1-0 lead five minutes into the game.

Joe Duda's goal in the 35th minute put BG up 2-1.

"We found the pieces of the puzzle," added midfielder Frank Atchison, who assisted on both BG goals. "And had our best players on the field, we gave it our all and started playing together as a team."

Joey Gasso, Brian Justie, and Kevin Okamoto limited Deerfield's scoring opportunities in the second half, before the Warriors made their late charge.

-- Michael Eaken

At Jacobs: Second-seeded St. Viator (18-1-3) was stunned 1-0 by No. 17 Jacobs (9-15) on Mark Kyszka's goal with two minutes left in the second OT.

At Elmwood Park: Arturo Robles' second-half goal off Jaime Pacheco's assist led No. 7 Leyden past No. 12 Elmwood Park. Gerardo Franco had 6 saves for the Eagles.

Volleyball

Maine West assured itself at least a share of first place in the Central Suburban North with a 25-18, 25-16 victory at Niles North on Wednesday.

The Warriors (20-15, 9-1) own a half-match lead over Glenbrook North (8-1), which faces Maine East today in its final conference match of the season.

Alise Tupuritis led the Warriors with 8 kills, followed by Mary Kusner (3), Amanda Knipp (2), Kelsey Hargesheimer (2) and Liz Freeman (2).

Maine West tied for the CSL North title last year in coach Randy Tiller's first season with Maine East.