Kaneland wins in 4 OTs
It's that time of the year where you have some reasons to be scared of the dark.
With Halloween just around the corner, it's no surprise to turn on the TV and see movies about ghosts and goblins, sinister plans by Conal Cochran, or to be startled by a friend in a scary mask.
Who would've thought that it would be OK to close your eyes and score a thrilling game-winning goal though?
With 55 seconds remaining in the fourth overtime before penalty kicks would decide a winner, Kaneland's Jordan Escobedo shut his eyes and headed in a free kick from Alex Gil to give the Knights a 2-1 victory over Sycamore in Wednesday's Class 2A Sycamore regional.
“I didn't even open my eyes,” Escobedo explained. “I didn't even open them. The ball came to me and I didn't open (my eyes) until after it went in.”
The play came after a short timeout due to a Sycamore player being injured.
“We talked about setting up a play and having some time maybe helped,” Escobedo said. “They said the ball was going to come to me and it did.”
Kaneland (10-10-2) earned the right to play for a regional title at 4 p.m. Friday at Sycamore against Rochelle.
The Knights had to come from behind after yielding a goal in the first half and having no such fortune of their own in the first 40 minutes.
It was the third meeting between the school this season with the teams tying early in the season before the Knights won 2-1 on Oct. 14.
“We're undefeated against everyone in the regional,” Kaneland coach Scott Parillo said. “6-0-2 (overall) so anything can happen.”
Kaneland scored the equalizer with 21:32 remaining in the second half when Gil sent a nice pass to Chad Swieca near the penalty area. Swieca headed it in and the teams would remain scoreless for the next 57 minutes.
Both teams had their share of opportunities to score the game-winner in regulation and the overtimes but rushed shots and several nice saves by the goalkeepers kept each squad in the game.
Kaneland goalkeeper J.P. Minogue saved the Knights with 2:28 remaining in the second overtime but perhaps made his save of the game only 40 seconds into the fourth overtime when senior Adam Westerby had an open shot in the penalty area but Minogue was able to deny it.
“It's tough when it comes down to this but we played our hearts our and knew it would be tough,” Minogue said. “It's the third time we played and it was at (their) home so we knew it would be tough to beat them.”
The overtime experience was new for the Knights this season, but they were able to do it, even in the dark.
“Why were we waiting so long to finally do it?” Parillo questioned. “I'm proud of the guys. My hat's off to Sycamore. It's really bad that somebody had to lose this game but better them than us.”