Timothy Christian advances to championship game
NORMAL - Ben Lodewyk made a big penalty kick save on Tuesday to get Timothy Christian down to the Class 1A boys soccer tournament.
He found another trick up his sleeve in goal on Friday at the state semifinals. His diving save during the penalty-kick shootout moves the Trojans onto Saturday's championship game.
Timothy Christian got past Harvard 10-9 in a thrilling penalty-kick shootout at the Corn Crib after regulation play and overtime ended 1-1.
The Trojans (19-4-1) will next play Columbia (20-3-2) for the state title at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Eagles won the other semifinal over Herscher 3-0.
The Tigers will take on Harvard in the third-place game at 3 p.m.
Lodewyk secured the victory for Timothy Christian on the 10th round of kicks. He made the save with dive to his right, stopping Hornets goalkeeper Humberto Hernandez on his PK attempt.
"Everyone was going to the right, so I figured he would go to the right," Lodewyk said. "So I took my chances to the right. As soon as he kicked it, I knew it was coming towards me. I just reached out and got it. I was just going crazy after that. Being down at state, it was huge."
The teams played through 80 minutes of regulation, tied at 1. They remained tied through 20 minutes of overtime. Into the penalty kick shootout, both teams each made nine straight kicks until the 10th round. Timothy's Jason Kwak made the game-winning kick, followed by Lodewyk's game-saver.
"I'm excited for these players that have put a lot of work in all season long," Timothy Christian coach Joe Grit said. "These are memories that these kids are never going to forget. It's a really exciting time, and I'm glad I can be a part of their lives. We can create memories that can last a lifetime."
Tyler Vlasek put the Trojans on the scoreboard first in the 24th minute with his 27th goal of the season.
"I think I dribbled through one guy and he kicked it off his own player," Vlasek said. "Luckily, I ran onto it. I saw the goalie come out. I was able to slot it in. It's a big goal and it's kid of exciting."
Harvard (22-5) found a tying goal late in the second half at the 75-minute mark. Diego Hernandez sent a shot from outside the box that was deflected off one of the Trojans' defender head and found the back of the net.
The Trojans earned their way downstate with a penalty-kick victory over Chicago Latin at the Benedictine University supersectional. They seemed to take something from that finish and carry it over to this one.
"To be honest, I believe it did help us," Grit said. "You went through it once. You're never going to be completely calm, you're always going to have nerves. I think the guys felt in a sense that we got through this before. We trust our goalkeeper, and we trust our kick-takers, we can get this done."