Kieruzal helps save Hoffman

There wasn't a whole lot left in the voices of the Hoffman Estates faithful who spent nearly 120 minutes of soccer cheering on one save after another by keeper Sebastian Kieruzal on Friday night at Conant.

But you should have heard them roar when the senior stopped consecutive shots in shootout to help boost the No. 17-seed Hawks (7-13-1) to a 1-0 victory over the host Cougars (9-8-3) to advance in the St. Charles North regional.

The Hawks' co-captain turned away Kevin Stack, then Derek Wojcik, while Kieruzal's mates Brad Powszok and Omar Sanchez converted to give the visitors a 3-1 lead. Ivan Roa clinched in the fourth round by finishing his spot kick just under the woodwork to finish off the Cougars 4-2.

The Hawks next meet top-seeded Larkin next Tuesday at 4 p.m.

"Conant really came at us in that first (10-minute) overtime, and made a mistake or two, and my teammates helped to bail me out when that happened ... then I made up for those mistakes with a couple of saves," said Kieruzal.

Kieruzal made his first goal-saving stop on the night when he went to his right to turn away a Wojcik attempt. Throughout regulation, the senior keeper defended his box against piercing long throws from deep within the Hawks' end from Wojcik and countless corner kicks initiated by the Cougars.

The first of 4 scheduled 10-minute OT periods was all Conant, which orchestrated one dangerous chance too many for the Hawks.

"You just do not have a good feeling when you get into (shootout) after missing so good chances inside the box and then watching their keeper make some great saves at the same time," said Conant coach Jason Franco.

"I might have been lucky at times tonight," said Kieruzal, "but I'd rather be lucky than good in a match like this."