Late goal lifts Huntley over Jacobs

Just in time, Huntley finally put a shot into the opponents' net.

Aimee Wronski scored with 1:59 remaining in regulation to give the Red Raiders a 2-1 win against Jacobs in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division girls soccer action in Huntley Tuesday afternoon.

Before Wronski's tiebreaker, the teams had traded own goals.

Wronski had been frustrated all evening by double- and triple-teams. But with time running down, she made a run up the left side, found a sliver of daylight, and fired a shot into the far corner.

To do so, she used the Golden Eagles' aggressive pursuit against her.

"I just saw that the girls were all coming at me and that I had no one on my right side," said Wronski. "So I just turned and let the ball through. It was a great ball and I did my job to put it away."

Huntley shuffled its lineup and changed formations to try to compensate for a recent rash of injuries. Three regulars didn't play Tuesday.

"We're trying to sort things out with the injuries and everything," said Huntley coach Kris Grabner, whose team moved to 15-3 for the season and 5-1 in the Valley.

"We think we found something toward the end, moving people around, and found a way to beat them."

It was another frustrating loss for the Golden Eagles (6-7-1, 1-4), who lost their seventh one-goal game of the year.

"That comes with knowing how to win," said Jacobs coach Anthony Cappello. "The one time you overcommit or the one time you step in, that's the game. It's an unforgiving game. 80 minutes. One mistake in an 80-minute game and you get beat."

Jacobs took the lead 4 minutes into the second half when the ball caromed off a Red Raider and into Huntley's goal.

Jacobs returned the favor with 7 minutes left in the game.

After a slow-paced first 70 minutes, things picked up considerably in the closing minutes.

With about 5 minutes left, Jacobs' Kristen Smith had a shot at an open net, but just missed wide right. Minutes later, Huntley's Taylor Henning-Fletter hit the crossbar with a potential game-winner.

The Huntley own goal continued a bizarre trend.

"That's our fourth own goal this year," said Grabner. "I've never even seen two (in a season)."