Reibel, Prospect stop Stevenson in PKs
Prospect rode its Reibel.
Goalkeeper Brad Reibel made 9 stops, including a pair during penalty kicks, and the second-seeded Knights fought off stingy No. 8-seed Stevenson 2-1 in the Class 3A Stevenson regional final Saturday night.
Prospect (19-0-2) prevailed 3-2 in penalty kicks, giving the Knights their first regional title in 30 years. They will next play Buffalo Grove (13-4-6) in a semifinal of the Palatine sectional at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
“In a shootout, you get lucky sometimes,” said Reibel, who also thwarted a penalty kick in a victory over Schaumburg in the Mid-Suburban League championship match. “You got to go in with confidence and say you’ve done this before. ... We found away to do it and it’s been the story of the season. We’ve had a lot of adversity and have fought through it.”
Prospect had its work cut out for itself against Stevenson (11-5-3).
“It’s a relief to win, but Stevenson brought an amazing game.” Prospect coach Kurt Trenkle said. “I don’t think we were quite ready to play at that level. The boys learned very quickly that they had to ratchet it up. We played a better second half, even though we had one bad mistake.
“This is a special group of boys,” Trenkle added. “It’s not one with one or two good players. There’s a number of them that fill roles and know what to do.”
Richard Lenke scored the decisive penalty kick.
“I did the same exact thing against Schaumburg,” Lenke said. “It came down to the last shot, and I stepped up and put it away.”
Prospect scored first in the 49th minute. Ihor Lehkiv delivered a free kick toward the goal and Matthew Burikas scored on a head flick.
Stevenson tied the game in the 63rd minute off a corner kick from Constantine Kuhlman, as Alex Smith scored his first goal of the season.
“I tried running in and following the ball.” Smith said. “I just put my head down and flicked the ball inside the back post.”
The Patriots had a strong run with a young team this season and managed to stay with the Knights all game long.
“It was hard fought with two well-coached teams,” Stevenson coach Mark Schartner said. “There was amazing athleticism out there.”
Grayslake Central advancesAsa Goldsmith, Isaac Longenecker and Phillip Longenecker scored goals, las Grayslake Central#146;s boys soccer team won its own Class 2A regional championship with a 3-1 win over Marian Central on Saturday.It was the Rams#146; first regional title since 2006, when they captured the second of back-to-back titles.Steven Anderson earned the win in goal for Grayslake Central, while James Garcia added an assist.#147;We played great soccer, the best soccer we have played all year,#148; Rams coach Mike McCaulou said. #147;I am so happy and proud of our boys for coming together this year when it counts. It#146;s been a while since we won a regional. We will enjoy it and go back to work Monday.#148;