West Aurora knocks out Batavia
If West Aurora needed any reminder of how quick a season can end in the postseason, the Blackhawks got that lesson minutes before they took the field Tuesday night in the Class 3A Plainfield North regional.
The Blackhawks, with a No. 5 seed and the school record for wins heading into postseason play, watched No. 4 seed Naperville Central emerge with a miraculous win in the first semifinal, overcoming a 2-goal deficit with seven minutes to play, scoring in the final seconds to force overtime of their win over Oswego East.
West Aurora didn't need those kind of heroics, though a second-half goal by Mitch Albrecht helped No. 12 seed Batavia knot the game. Junior Mario Alvarez had the answer, a goal with 13 minutes left to give West Aurora a 2-1 victory and end Batavia's season at 9-8-4.
With the win, the Blackhawks (18-3-2) advance to Saturday's regional championship at 2 p.m. against their DuPage Valley Conference foe Naperville Central, who defeated West Aurora 2-0 earlier this year.
"It's going to be a good DVC battle for the right to go to sectional," West Aurora coach Joe Sustersic said. "Now it's our time. It's going to be a nice tough match. We've got our work cut out for ourselves."
Alvarez, playing outside-mid for the first time this year, scored the game-winner on an assist by Victor Alfaro.
"Coach told me to just do what I had to do," Alvarez said.
"I just wanted to keep my 11 best offensive players in there and I thought let's put Mario out there and try to get the shot done and it worked," Sustersic said.
After neither team got much going in the first 10 minutes, West Aurora gradually began to take control. Jomar Mendoza provided one of the Blackhawks' best early chances with a shot that missed wide.
The Blackhawks' pressure paid off with 16:03 left in the first half when Alfaro beat the keeper from 12 yards out for a 1-0 lead, a score that held for the next 33 minutes.
"That was a result of lack of marking up," Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. "If you give West Aurora time and space they shoot it very well."
Batavia's best first-half chance came with seven minutes left on a blast by senior Martin Vierecki, which missed tying the game at 1-1 only when Blackhawks keeper Abel Diaz dove to save it. Seconds later Albrecht had a little space but his shot went wide.
There weren't many good opportunities for the Bulldogs after that. Only saves by Ty Witkowski on a pair of Alvarez shots kept the Bulldogs within 1-0.
Both Diaz and his Batavia counterpart Ty Witkowski drew praise from their coaches for their play.
"He's been making those key saves," Gianfrancesco said.
Batavia got on the scoreboard with 23 minutes left on Albrecht's goal, assisted by sophomore Cody Witkowski.
Gianfrancesco says goodbye to seven senior starters - Albrecht, Ty Witkowski, Vierecki, Ty McCoy, Hyrum DaSilva, Jordan Carey, Will Munson and Mac Sellers. He also has talent to build around in sophomores Calvin Baez, Eduardo Cuatle, Anthony Torres and Cody Witkowski.
Ty Witkowski, Sellers, Carey, Munson and senior Steve Lauman off the bench all played their best matches of the year Tuesday night, according to Gianfrancesco.
"I thought we came out and played pretty well and really challenged them," Gianfrancesco said. "I thought we had them scouted pretty well."