Libertyville falls, but not without a battle

Libertyville was trailing by a goal, and the scoreboard clock at Toyota Park in Bridgeview showed only two ticks left in the second half.

But the Wildcats - namely goalkeeper Andrew Bitta - engineered an amazing miracle to tie the championship of the Pepsi Showdown.

Even though the Wildcats (13-2-1) eventually lost 2-1 to Morton on penalty kicks, there was no denying the unbelievable deadlock in regulation.

"I really hate to lose on kicks," said Wildcats coach Andy Bitta. "That's the way the game is played. Still it was great game for this team.

"It was a phenomenal goal we scored. I've been coaching for 32 years and never seen anything like that in my life."

With 10 seconds left in the second half, the Wildcats had a free kick near midfield. Sam Kaplan launched the ball into the penalty area, where numerous players were going after it.

"We had enough deadball plays earlier," Kaplan said. "I knew it would work and something could happen at some point."

In the middle of the scrum was Wildcats' keeper Andrew Bitta, who had left the goal and sprinted all the way to the other end of the field.

Bitta, who has played volleyball the past three years, leaped and connected on a header for the tying goal.

"I just made a run to the back post and the ball nicked off my head," said Bitta, who is 6-feet-3 with a vertical jump of 30 inches.

"The ball just went down and over the line.

"I'm not sure if I can really explain it. I still can't believe I scored. It's so exciting for a goalkeeper to score. I've never scored a goal in high school."

The match continued for a pair of scoreless 10-minute overtimes.

Morton (13-1-2) prevailed 6-5 in the shootout. Mustangs keeper Kenny Kucinski (7 saves) made a deflected save on the sixth kick, and Xavier Corona beat Andrew Bitta (8 saves) for the match-winner.

Morton netted its first goal in the 49th minute when Joel Salmeron knocked in a header off a Ivan Chavez pinpoint cross.

"I'm still in shock after (Libertyville) scored with two seconds left," said Mustangs coach Mike Caruso. "We were just able to come out ahead going through the overtime and the kicks."