Larkin wins another regional crown

Raul Sandoval needed to score.

After Streamwood sophomore Roger Romero scored his first varsity goal off of a 58-yard direct free kick tying the Sabres and Royals in the Class AA Streamwood regional title game Saturday at Millennium Field, the Royals needed to rebound.

Sandoval gave the Royals the momentum they needed, scoring his 14th goal of the season off of a header from Steven Drew's corner kick with 27:45 left in the first half and Larkin never looked back. The Royals scored twice more in the first half and Sandoval added his 15th goal of the season in the second half as Larkin cruised to a 5-1 regional title victory. The win marks the first time in school history the boys soccer team has claimed back-to-back titles. No. 3 seeded Larkin will face Maine West, the winner of the Elk Grove regional at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Millennium.

"That second goal was the key," Sandoval said. "The first goal that they scored was a mistake. We showed them that we could score."

Larkin (16-5-4) scored a pair of goals within 17 seconds of one another to extend its lead to 4-1 in the first half. Carson McFadden scored off of a direct free kick to put the Royals up 3-1 with 20:54 remaining and AJ Southommavong (Luis Maldonado) made it 4-1 just 17 seconds later.

But it was Sandoval's tiebreaker that broke Streamwood (11-14-1).

"They got that goal and then we got down on each other," Romero said. "They were coming at us really hard. We just didn't have enough effort."

After defeating Larkin 1-0 during the regular season, Streamwood knew the kind of effort they needed to win.

"We were prepared for tonight," Sabres coach Matt Polovin said. "We just didn't execute the way we should have."

Sandoval scored the lone goal of the second half off of a header with 24:15 remaining. MaFadded set up Sandoval when he punched the ball into the air right in front of the net, allowing the junior to score.

"We have a ton of talent here," Larkin coach Ken Hall said. "We're as good as anyone if we play our game."

Larkin went up 1-0 very early when David Rodriguez scored 1 minute, 34 seconds into the game. Edgar Mondragon drove down the right side of the field and crossed the ball to Rodriguez, who quickly drilled it past Streamwood goalie Juan Ortiz (4 saves).