Elgin, Larkin fight to a scoreless draw

Elgin goalkeeper Osiel Ravadan thought he had allowed Larkin to take a late lead Tuesday.

Instead, Ravadan recovered to pounce on the ball before the Royals' Erik Rodriguez could get off a shot as the crosstown rivals played to a 0-0 tie at Memorial Field.

"The last thing on my mind was, 'That was a goal,' " Ravadan said.

With just under 8 minutes remaining in regulation, Rodriguez and Ravadan met at the same time trying to get to a long ball that went over the Elgin defense. Ravadan was outside the Maroons' penalty area so he couldn't use his hands. The two collided and the ball got behind Ravadan. Rodriguez had a look at an empty net, but took a dribble inside the penalty area before taking a shot, allowing Ravadan to recover and jump on the ball.

"I saw him crawling on the ground," Elgin coach Dave Borg said. "He doesn't quit."

Ravadan only had to make 2 saves as the Royals (1-7-1, 0-1-1 Upstate Eight) were shutout for the second consecutive day. They lost 1-0 to Belvidere North on Monday.

"We've been having a little difficult getting some offense," Royals coach Ken Hall said. "A little bit of non-movement on our part was the biggest problem we had. We're standing there waiting for something to happen instead of creating something."

Elgin (4-2-2, 0-1-1) had several good scoring chances, including hitting the crossbar and a post. Raul Hernandez took a corner kick with 19 minutes left in the second half and bent the ball more for a shot than a cross. Larkin goalkeeper Omar Hernandez got his hands on the ball. The ball then hit the underside of the crossbar, bounced in front of the goal line and cleared by the Larkin defense. Cuauhtemoc Estrada had the ball near the end line with just under 13 minutes remaining. His tough-angle shot hit the inside of the far post, but no Elgin player was in front of the net for the rebound.

"We took a step tonight," Borg said. "They've given it to us the last five, six years. What do they say? Baby steps. Maybe next year we get them."

Hernandez finished with 9 saves to get the Royals in the match.