Larkin trips up Waubonsie V. 1-0

Larkin senior Danny Hinterlong didn't really expect teammate Carson McFadden's cross to make it through a crowd of players in front of the Waubonsie Valley goal box.

But it never hurts to be prepared just case. So when the ball did find its way through to Hinterlong, the Royals midfielder buried a shot past Waubonsie Valley goalkeeper Sean Elvert to break a scoreless tie early in the second half. Hinterlong's tally ended up holding up as the only goal of the night in Larkin's 1-0 Upstate Eight Conference victory in Aurora.

"It was a surprise it got through," he said of McFadden's cross which had followed a free kick by Raul Sandoval set up by a Warrior foul. "But it was a good ball by Carson and I was able to put it in."

After a scoreless first half in which the Royals held a 4-3 edge in shots on goal, Larkin (13-1, 4-1) applied a little more pressure in the second half while the Warriors (5-8-1, 3-3-1) were guilty of a few too many fouls. Warriors coach Angelo DiBernardo, whose team was without injured star Nik Patel, felt his squad may have tired some after playing a solid first half against a strong Larkin club.

"Neither team created a lot of great chances but in the second half we got a little fatigued and we started to foul more which gave them some chances," DiBernardo said. "They took advantage of their chance."

Larkin coach Ken Hall would have loved an insurance goal or two but still felt pretty good once Hinterlong put his team on the board.

"We didn't play at our pace tonight," Hall said. "But I have good faith in our defense. We haven't allowed too many goals and we played solid on defense tonight."

Freshman Ryan Soloman started at sweeper in place of Patel and played well for the Warriors, but the hosts couldn't get on the board against goalkeeper Raziel Somarriba and the Royals defense.

Hinterlong's third goal of the year was the game-winner, but he agreed with Hall that it would have been nice to tack on a little more after the initial score.

Naperville North 3, West Aurora 0: When conference play begins in the DuPage Valley, Naperville North's boys soccer team knows to step up the intensity level.

Staked to a 1-0 lead in just the sixth minute of action, the Huskies held off West Aurora on Thursday night for a 3-0 victory, pushing their record to a perfect 4-0 in the DVC.

Senior midfielder Riley Breese assisted 2 Huskies goals, proving that Naperville North once again contains a formidable weapon in throw-in situations.

"We haven't really been scoring off the throw-ins this year," Breese said. "We had two last game and two this game, so it's starting to work."

Blackhawks coach Joe Sustersic acknowledged the dangers Breese presented when the ball rolls out of bounds.

"It just puts that much more pressure on you to execute. When a kid's in danger, instead of kicking the ball out of bounds and regrouping, it's not regrouping. I would say it's more of an asset than a corner kick," Sustersic said. "(Breese) puts it right on a dime. Both balls were right on a header."

Chris Boswell scored the game's first goal 5:03 in, lofting the ball just over West Aurora goalkeeper Stephen Walan's head to spot Naperville North a quick lead.

The Huskies (11-2-2, 4-0) padded their lead in the 27th minute, pushing the score to 2-0 after West Aurora (9-5, 2-3) suffered an own-goal.

"We had a few really good chances and we didn't finish," Naperville North coach Jim Konrad said. "When you're working and working and nothing's going in, and then you get a break - it lifts us and it demoralizes them."

Thursday's win gave the Huskies shutouts in all four conference games thus far.

"We've definitely stepped up our game in the DVC," Breese said. "We've been getting up for every game, and it seems like we've been working a lot harder."

A 2-0 halftime deficit took some wind out of the Blackhawks' sails, proving too large to overcome against the 16-time DVC champions.

"They executed; we didn't. We had some chances early on that we didn't want to finalize," Sustersic said. "It's difficult to play catch-up when you're playing against a quality team."

As an added bonus, Naperville North took home the Morton Pumpkinfest trophy - a prize from a tournament rained out three weeks ago.

"It's nice to win the Pumpkinfest tournament, but more importantly, it's a big conference win," Konrad said. "Conference is really important to us, and it's something we take a lot of pride in trying to win."

Other games: Elgin (3-13, 1-5) ended a 13-game losing skid as Omar Jasso and Ishmael Hernandez each scored to beat South Elgin 2-0 in Upstate Eight Conference play...Bartlett (5-7-2, 2-2) got a pair of late goals from Eric Kennebeck and Alex Ortiz to tie St. Charles East 2-2 in Upstate Eight Conference action...Huntley (5-4-2, 4-3) saw two goals from Nico Carbonara who led the Red Raiders to this 3-0 Fox Valley Conference Fox Division win over Grayslake Central. With 5 saves, Kevin Montelongo earned the shutout. Sean Tiapek also scored...Jake Moeller put Westminster Christian (7-6-1, 1-3) ahead, and Ryan Beachler added an insurance goal as the Warriors beat Chicago Christian in PSL action. Luke Carani assisted both goals, while Scott Saturik (10 saves) recorded the shutout...A late goal from Carey Bienert kept Crystal Lake South (8-9-1, 5-2) alive for overtime, but Dundee-Crown's Ricardo Carrillo scored lat to give the Chargers (7-8, 5-2) this 2-1 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division 2 OT victory. Wyatt Vucic scored DC's regulation goal. Eddie Fuentes (4 saves) was in goal for D-C, while Zach Dalzell recorded 8 saves for the Gators... A Luis Cabral goal lifted Jacobs (6-5-4, 3-3) past McHenry in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division action. Danny Trevor (4 saves) earned the shutout... With goals from Phil Hansen, Nick McDonald and Taylor Clarke, Cary-Grove (12-1-1, 6-1) defeated Woodstock 3-1 in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division play. Ben Alleva (3 saves) was in goal for the Trojans... With a goal and two assists, Ryan Warner led Burlington Central (6-8-1, 4-2) to this 3-1 Big Northern East win over Marengo. Charlie Schmidlin and Logan Krup added goals, while Kyle DeRaedt tallied 8 saves in goal... Shawn Sloan rallied the Vikings (12-2-1, 4-0) with two goals in the second half as they beat the Bulldogs 3-1 in Batavia. .