Deja vu: Neuqua beats Waubonsie in overtime again
For those who missed the Neuqua Valley boys soccer team's 3-2 overtime win over Waubonsie Valley last month, the Wildcats gave an encore Tuesday night in a Class 3A regional semifinal hosted by the Warriors.
Billy Heniades tallied his second goal of the game with 1:37 remaining in the first overtime to give Neuqua a 3-2 victory again and a spot in Saturday's regional final.
The Wildcats (10-7-1), seeded third in the Metea Valley sectional, will play sixth-seeded Batavia at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the regional final.
Heniades, located about 8 yards from the goal post closest to the team benches, got the ball from Michael Moser, who scored Neuqua's other goal, and his well-placed shot stayed on the ground and out of reach of two defenders to give the Wildcats the lead in extra time.
"I had one defender running with me and I just had to get to the ball," Heniades said. "We're always working hard no matter what."
However, the rules dictate that two 10-minute overtimes be played regardless of scoring, so Waubonsie still had a chance and Neuqua could not let up.
"The momentum was going our way. But there's no golden goal. We had to play 20 minutes," said Neuqua coach Arnoldo Gonzalez.
The game began looking like an easy night for Neuqua against the 14th-seeded Warriors (4-14-1).
Heniades opened the scoring 2:52 into the contest after receiving the ball from Moser. Heniades muscled his way through two defenders and made good on a 15-yard shot.
Almost six minutes later, Josh Kolzow made a shot that Waubonsie goalkeeper Les Krutchen dove for and stopped. But there was a rebound that Moser grabbed and deposited into the net to make it 2-0.
"It's a winner or go home situation. And especially against a fierce rival, it amps it up to another level. At that point (the Warriors) were not out of it," Moser said.
Slowly, Waubonsie got its offense going and the Warriors finally got on the scoreboard with 11:20 left until halftime. Leo Mendoza connected on a direct free kick that went into the opposite end of the net. Just more than four minutes later, he assisted on Giacomo Parrino's 35-yard shot that was also well-placed into an opposite corner of the net.
"There were no adjustments. It was more about effort. The effort has to be there, and we came back and had opportunities. (The Wildcats) had opportunities and capitalized them," said Waubonsie coach Jose Garcia.
Winning goalkeeper Jonathan Kesler made 9 saves for Neuqua.