Girls soccer: Elgin holds off Dundee-Crown

Two very specific things stood out for the Elgin girls soccer team during a 3-2 Class 3A Streamwood regional win over No. 4 seed Dundee-Crown Tuesday at Millennium Field.

One, head coach Alicia Knoll now has proof for future Maroon soccer players why it's so critical to never give up on a play, especially since she preached that sentiment all season.

And two, Elgin's girls surely know how to make things interesting, even if it means flirting with disaster.

Forward Brenda Acuna never quit on a shot in the box and her second effort on a rebound with 14 minutes left put No. 5 Elgin up 3-0. Her quick instinct, as she recovered off the ground quickly near the left post, proved to be huge as Dundee-Crown (9-10) rallied twice in the final 7 minutes and nearly tied it with 4 minutes left.

"We can't let fans go home unhappy," Acuna said lightheartedly, as the senior helped Elgin into Friday's 4:30 p.m. final against top-seeded Crystal Lake South, a 3-1 winner over No. 7 South Elgin in the game prior.

"I wasn't purposely trying to make it interesting," Knoll said, cheerfully. "That's what my team likes. They like a good game. But they pulled it off and that's all that really matters in the end."

And all's well that ends well. Up 2-0 thanks to a penalty kick by Kylie Graves on a handball in the box during the 19th minute and Makenna Downing's goal in the 61st minute, Elgin (12-7-4) was truly in the drivers seat in the 66th minute and had it won when Michelle Perez slotted a ball to Acuna on a rush down the left side during the makeup of Elgin's third goal.

Acuna, who slid on a poke shot on D-C's goalkeeper, was the first to the ball after it deflected above Diana Santillan-Ceja and tucked it inside the left post for what appeared to be the nail in the coffin.

"I tripped over her and I just saw the ball out of her hands and I just got up," Acuna said. "It gave us a sense of relief at that moment. We were 1-0 at the half and to be 3-0 we were kind of sure we had it and that play showed to never give up on a play and to keep going until it's really over."

But the Chargers were thinking the same thing. Seven minutes later on a corner, Braylin Mensik headed one home to make it 3-1. Then Sam Christensen made 3-2 with 4:32 left on the clock as she fired a shot to left of the box near the 18 line that ricocheted off the right post and zagged in.

"I was just a little disappointed that the intensity couldn't be there for the whole game," said D-C coach Sebastian Falinski, who knew the game was much closer than the score appeared. "That's why it's a little tough to swallow with the girls playing so hard. I just wish the intensity was there the entire 80 minutes. I think it could've been a different ballgame."

Much different had Katelyn Skibinski's shot in the box during 75th minute wasn't stopped by Elgin goalie Hannah Erickson, who launched herself forward to make one of her 4 saves.

"You could tell in their eyes they were going for it," Erickson said. "I was just ready for anything and luckily it worked out. I could see she looked up so I wanted to take up as much forward to cut it off as much as I could."

And while Elgin, which was outshot 10-7 and scored 2 goals into the wind, doesn't look at the last 7 minutes as a negative especially with South on the docket coming up.

"A big team goal for us is to win regionals," Acuna said. "This is a big step for us. We're not ready to go home after Friday. We want to keep going. And this is a big confidence boost."