Stevenson drops heartbreaker 1-0

Prior to watching his club take on Deerfield on Saturday in a regional soccer final at Buffalo Grove, Stevenson coach Mark Schartner said that any team in this sectional was capable of beating another in what he believed was perhaps the toughest field in the area.

Unfortunately for the fourth-seeded Patriots, Schartner would prove to be correct.

Deerfield's Hooman Shams thumped a header past diving keeper Ian Soos in the 113th minute as the Warriors edged Stevenson 1-0.

With that dramatic finish, No. 5 Deerfield (14-5-4) booked its place in the Lake Zurich sectional against No. 1 Barrington on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

"This is such a tough sectional, a sectional which has already seen the Nos. 2-and 3-seeded team eliminated, so you knew that it would take a small mistake to decide this match as well -- and it did to knock the No. 4 seed out as well," Schartner said

The Patriots (12-5-2) were unable to translate a numerical advantage into a goal, and they had a goal nullified on an offsides call just minutes after intermission.

"Obviously we thought we had put (one) into the back of the net when that offsides was called," Schartner said. But when you're not able to convert from so many chances (Deerfield) gave us with fouls and subsequent free kicks, well, you just know that can come back to get you in the end."

Deerfield, which had lost to Stevenson 4-1 earlier this season, could not take advantage of a strong tailwind early against Soos and the Patriots' backline of Colin Petkovich, Shawn Singh, Sam Polzin and Tiernan Keegan.

Pekovitch unleased a trio of free-kick strikes near the hour mark, but Warriors keeper Ryan Crane made the saves.

"Even with all of the pressure we put on them, Deerfield didn't fold and seemed to want (it) a little more than we wanted," said Pekovich, whose Patriots saw a five-match winning streak over the Warriors come to an end in his final high school match.

Nearly 40 extra minutes of soccer failed to break the scoreless deadlock until Shams slipped past his mark to drive home the game-winner off a superb serve over the top by Joey Glass.

"Maybe the (defender) misjudged the ball because of the wind, but when it came to me I just hoped that I could put it in," said Shams of his third goal this season.

"We proved all year long that we deserved the seed that we were awarded, but what is so hard now is to have to say goodbye to four-year guys like Petkovich and Dickson, and the 11 seniors that we have on this roster," Schartner said.