Boys soccer: Elgin, Dundee-Crown battle to a draw

This wasn't your typical September nonconference boys soccer match. Not with rivals Dundee-Crown and Elgin both sporting undefeated records.

The players were into it and so were the fans. Cards were turning faster than at a Vegas blackjack table.

When the smoke cleared, both teams maintained their unblemished records after playing to a 2-2 draw at Memorial Field in Elgin.

"Last year was a slew of cards and rough play and the same this year," said Elgin coach Dave Borg. "They're a good team."

The visiting Chargers (6-0-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 11 minutes on goals by Julian Ajroja and Roland Dearborn, but the Maroons battled back.

Omar Lopez converted a penalty kick to make it 2-1 at halftime. Andy Zavala's goal in traffic in the 47th minute evened it up for Elgin (5-0-2).

"We went into the locker room at the half and I told my guys that usually in this situation I'm nervous, but not with this group," Borg said. "We have all the confidence in the world. I said that if we get one relatively early, we're going to walk out of here with at least a tie."

"We knew it was going to be a physical game and that both teams coming into this were playing well," said Charger coach Rey Vargas, who was sent off with a red card early in the second half. "We knew it may get a little crazy and it sure did.

"I was asking him to make calls because I had two guys go down with injuries. Neither one was a foul and both guys got hit pretty hard. All I was asking him to do was make calls. I'm going to protect my players."

Ajroja's goal on a free kick from just outside the box got the Chargers on the board just 7 minutes in. Shortly thereafter, Dearborn raced in on a breakaway. He floated a shot just over Elgin keeper Martin Jimenez Estrada to make it 2-0.

Lopez got the Maroons on the board with his PK. He deked left and got D-C keeper Damian Smiech off his feet, then fired almost into the center of the net.

Shortly after the break, Zavala pounced on a deflected pass and fired it in on the ground to tie it up.