Neuqua Valley triumphant

If Saturday goes as well as Friday did for Neuqua Valley forward Bret Hruby, he'll have a weekend story for the ages to tell his grandchildren someday.

Hruby had a hat trick, including the game-winning goal, in the Wildcats' 3-2 win over Champaign Centennial, in a Class AA boys soccer quarterfinal in Naperville.

The senior first scored on a bicycle kick from 6 yards out that tied the game in the 22nd minute.

"It was pretty much the only thing I could do to get it into the goal," Hruby said.

Champaign Centennial (21-3-3) went up 1-0 on a Kyle Bullock goal in the game's 20th minute at North Central College, before Hruby's goal on a feed from Paul Box. With his back to the goal, Hruby dropped to the ground and hit the second bicycle kick goal of his career.

He also hit one at last year's Quincy tournament.

"It wasn't as good, though," Hruby said.

Neuqua Valley (23-1-4) went up 2-1 in the 33rd minute, pouncing on a Bryan Gaul corner kick and hitting it in left-footed from 7 yards out.

The Wildcats led 2-1, but an unknown quantity in Centennial gave them all they could handle in the first half.

"It's about matchups … we had more problems today, defensively, than we usually do," said Wildcats coach Jim Johns. "They kept possession quite a bit against us, and it was hard for us to connect passes when you're playing defense."

The Chargers tied the game in the 65th minute on a Victor Martinez goal, and the Wildcats needed a lift. Seven minutes later Hruby gave it to them.

Gaul sent a corner to the far side that Tanner Fink headed back across the goalmouth. Hruby -- at 5-foot-8 -- was there to head in game-winner from 5 yards out.

"He's a gutty guy," Johns said. "Bret is all hustle and work. That guy has got to be playing in college somewhere. He just works, works, works."

"I was getting nervous toward the end, because it was tied 2-2 and Centennial was playing well," Hruby said. "I just wanted to score so bad."

"Even if we're down a goal, like we were today, we want to come back. There's no letdown. We're always fighting."

Friday's win puts the Wildcats in a 9 a.m. semifinal today against Rockford Boylan, a 4-2 winner over Lemont on Friday. The Wildcats have a few banged up players heading into the semifinals, and those players fought the good fight Friday.

"Gaul is out there gutting it out, and Box had some problems. It was a good performance by everyone," Johns said. "Everybody gives everything they've got."

Hinsdale Central 2, New Trier 1: Hinsdale Central's Mark Knight may have been tongue-tied after his squad's 2-1 double-overtime win over defending state champion New Trier, but that's what scoring a game-winning goal in a Class AA quarterfinal boys soccer game can do to you.

"I don't know what to say. I don't have any words for it," Knight said. "Best feeling ever."

Knight's goal in the game's 94th minute put his squad into today's semifinal against Barrington at North Central College, guaranteeing his program its first state finals trophy since Hinsdale Central won the state crown in 1975.

Hinsdale Central (20-6-1) weathered a New Trier attack that earned a 12-5 edge in shots on net, but the Red Devils had a secret weapon that the Trevians (21-3-1) didn't on Friday: goalkeeper John Shakon.

"Beating a team like New Trier twice in a year -- that's something substantial," said Red Devils coach Mike Wiggins. "They took it to us pretty good. But that's big-time, what John Shakon did tonight."

What Shakon did was make 9 saves on the night, and no less than five of them were spectacular. The senior went parallel to the ground twice to snare shots out of the air, and he stuffed two more from point-blank range.

"When our defense gets beat, and you turn around watch a shot that you think is going to go in, and he just comes out of nowhere and makes a great save," said Red Devils senior David Tiemstra. "We're glad to have him back there."

Tiemstra scored the game's first goal on a header off a Greg Patterson free kick in the 65th minute. New Trier answered three minutes later with a goal by Chris Ritter.

The Trevians turned up the heat on Hinsdale Central after tying the score, but the Red Devils stayed calm and kept them out of net to the end of regulation.

"A goal is a goal. You just have to get up and let it go and keep playing," Shakon said. "If you dwell on the goal, you're mentally out of it, and when it comes time to make another save, you're not mentally there and chances are you won't make a save."

Four minutes into the second overtime period, the Red Devils' Jeff Graham hustled to the end line and earned a corner kick. Teammate Jason Loebig sent it in, Knight scored on a header and the Red Devils lived to play another day.

They'll take on Barrington (23-2) at 11 a.m. today, for a shot at a state title.