Moreno goal lifts Elgin past Huntley in OT
The overtime rocket off the left foot of Elgin sophomore Carlos Moreno was to Elgin boys soccer what a glass of water is to dehydration.
The Maroons had not scored a goal since Oct. 1 against South Elgin - a 6-match scoring drought - but they finally cashed in when Moreno made the biggest play of the season to lift Elgin to a 1-0 sudden-death victory over Huntley in a Class 3A Huntley regional semifinal Wednesday.
The 5-foot-6, 130-pound defender stole a Huntley pass 35 yards from the net, dribbled once and launched a pinpoint laser of a shot to the upper left corner of the net beyond the outstretched arms of diving 6-foot-5 Huntley goalkeeper Kevin Montelongo with 2:28 left in the first overtime.
"It was amazing," Moreno said. "I just shot it out of nowhere... When that guy passed it I anticipated and I just shot it."
Moreno's second game-winner of the season advanced Elgin (5-10-4) to the regional title match against Larkin (7-15-2) on Friday at 3:30 p.m. The cross-town rivals played to a scoreless draw on Sept. 15. Elgin has never won a postseason trophy in boys soccer.
It was only fitting for a defender to score the game winner. Moreno and fellow defenders Candelario Buzo and Erwin Hernandez limited Huntley (8-12-2) to 4 shots at goalkeeper Osiel Ravadan, and they helped clear 3 Huntley corner kicks.
"(Moreno) has been our most solid player all year," Elgin coach Dave Borg said. "I mean, he's all over the field. We call him S.T. because all he does is make slide tackles. Here he scores from about 25 (yards). He had another one earlier this season from about 38, so he's capable.
"It's been a rough 6 or 7 games for us because we haven't scored but the monkey's off our back, and we don't play anybody better than when we play Larkin. The kids love playing Larkin. I have to give credit to Huntley. That was a great game. It really was."
The Red Raiders turned in a hard-nosed defensive effort, led by its defensive corps of Matt Heiden, Aleksander Rys, Dimitri Tsoukalas and Ignacio Solorzano. They played the entire match, limiting the Maroons to 6 shots, and Montelongo made 5 leaping plays to either snare or punch away Elgin crosses.
Huntley's best scoring chance came with six minutes left in the first half. Junior Eduardo Mejia ran for a through ball headed toward the Elgin keeper. Mejia and the sliding Ravadan collided near the top of the penalty area, and Mejia popped up first and shot. The ball rolled perilously close to the left goal post until an Elgin defender swept the ball toward the sideline when it was just feet from the goal line. Seconds before the winning goal Solorzano swept away an Elgin push to the 18-yard line and sent it to a teammate at midfield. However, the next pass was intercepted by Moreno, who stunned everyone on the field with his winning boot.
"The last thing I thought was that they'd score on a goal like that," Huntley coach Kris Grabner said. "I saw them warming up and I knew they had some guys who could strike the ball but, I don't know, that was from about 30 yards out, maybe a little more. He hit a great shot.
"I saw the game ending with a through ball that broke us down, not with a loose ball that ends up 30, 35 yards from the goal and a guy striking it into the wind into a corner. Kevin made a great effort at it, just couldn't quite reach it. When you've got a 6-5 (keeper) and he makes a good step on it and doesn't get it, it's a great shot."