Boylan ends Jacobs' regional run
ROCKFORD - Even in the final seconds of what ended as a 2-0 loss to Rockford Boylan, a determined group of Jacobs fans - standing above a "Go Jacobs" sign, kept up their repeated chant of "Let's Go Ja-cobs."
Like those fans, the Golden Eagles kept at it for the full 80 minutes. So even though Jacobs was defeated, it left an indelible mark on this year's Class 3A tournament, an experience that ended with Saturday's sectional championship match.
"I just think we worked really hard as a team," Jacobs senior Mark Kyszka said. "It's always a good thing to see good team camaraderie like this. Everyone's coming up to each other. A lot of times, everyone keeps to themselves."
Kyszka spoke with the halting voice and red eyes of an athlete who was devastated that his season was over - one that finished with a 14-8-4 record. But there was also steel behind his words, the same spirit that oozed from the Golden Eagles fans and the team for which they were cheering.
"This season, we became a good team," Kyszka said. "We always worked together and I'm going to miss that. I appreciate all the fans for coming out. We're always going to work, no matter what, because you never know what's going to happen."
In a match that had all the flow of a switchback mountain road, Jacobs failed to overcome the string of fouls, stoppages and lost possessions. And although the Golden Eagles trailed for the vast portion of the match, they were unable to make inroads on the Boylan defense.
"They play direct," Jacobs coach Jim Dzialo said. "They make it hard. They've got some good athletes. I didn't see a weak player on their team, where we have a couple of holes. They got the better of the play and they were the better team. But like I said, I'm proud of my boys."
Boylan opened the scoring in the 9th minute of play. Rocco Taglia sent in a long throw-in from the left wing and Victor Zamora met that ball and headed into the goal.
"We were coming out to try to maintain the game for 20 minutes and make it a 60-minute game," Kyszka said. "That just threw everything off."
Throughout the first half, the Titans were the team that came closest to scoring a second goal. In a flurry midway through the half, Boylan forced Danny Trevor to make sharp saves and had a Nick Schultz shot that hit the woodwork and went wide.
"He made some big saves in the first half and the second half that kept us in it, absolutely," Dzialo said.
If the first half was disjointed, neither team was able to apply any glue to piece things together in the second half. Boylan had marginally more possession, but true goalscoring chances were hard to come by.
"We've got a couple of guys we look to on the break," Dzialo said. "But we're a possession team. We didn't show that tonight because they had good pressure on the ball."
As the half progressed, Boylan sat back in a defensive posture but loosed for chances to spring forward in a counter attack, On one such lightning strike with 18 minutes left, Zamora shot wide of the left post from the right wing. Two minutes later, Brian Klazura shot high.
That pressure culminated in the match-killing second goal with 15 minutes to play. Zamora sent a leading pass to James Howe, whose initial shot was blocked by Trevor. The ball came right back and bounced off Howe and into the net.
So while Boylan advances to meet St. Charles North in the Barrington supersectional on Tuesday, Jacobs' season is finished.
"I just told them I'm really proud of them," Dzialo said. "There was a period at the end of the season of three weeks where we did not lose. We did a nice job in the regional. I'm happy with what they did."