Boys soccer: Elgin, Huntley, Glenbard West among weekend's regional winners
When Elgin played South Elgin during the regular season, the Maroons were without their leading scorer, Eduardo Nava.
With Nava in the lineup on late Saturday afternoon at the Class 3A Elgin regional final, his talent was on full display. He needed less than two minutes to respond to South Elgin's early strike from Ashton Kerrigan. Elgin won 4-1.
He scored another on a 24-yard free kick and another while gaining possession deep the box before tapping it home to finish with a hat trick.
"He's a difference-maker that allows the other guys to play at a high level," Maroons coach Jimmy Romano said. "I was very happy with how the guys responded, especially after giving up the first goal. We didn't put our heads down and at halftime we knew what we needed to do in the second half."
Freshman Alex Vallarruel also scored for Elgin.
Huntley 1, Dundee-Crown 0:
The Red Raiders handled the Chargers 4-1 earlier this month but found themselves scoreless after 80 minutes of regulation and a pair of overtimes during Friday's Class 3A Huntley regional championship.
Despite Hudson Nielsen missing his attempt for Huntley, Jack Bakey followed with the first of what would prove to be three consecutive saves during the shootout, while Finley Williams, Gavin Eagan and Kyle Paler were good on their tries to lead the Red Raiders past their familiar FVC foe.
Glenbard West 1, Geneva 0:
PK shootouts appeared to be a theme of sorts across the IHSA regional finals on Friday with a handful of games needing the special session to claim a winner.
The Hilltoppers got a pair of huge saves from their goalkeeper, Jack Harrod, and edged the Vikings 4-3 in the shootout to win the Class 3A Geneva regional title, the program's first since 2014.
"Playing for 100 minutes, there's a lot going through my mind," Hilltoppers coach Phil Wycik said. "One mis-hit and my team is down and then 18 seniors are done. That's the love of the game and the hate of the game and at the end of the day either we were moving on or they were moving on."
Hinsdale Central, 3, Mt. Carmel 1:
Trailing 1-0 at the half, the Red Devils rallied to victory during Friday's Class 3A Hinsdale Central regional championship.
"Proud of the boys," Hinsdale Central coach Mike Wiggins said. "I wish every youth player who grows up playing this great game could experience what our fans at this great school created tonight in an amazing comeback."
Luca Davies added to his record-breaking season with his 26th goal this fall.
"Luca did what we knew he could do, as he has all season and got us back in it with such a big goal to even the score," Wiggins said. "What's amazing is less about the number of goals, but the significance of so many of them."
Ardit Abdullai scored the go-ahead goal and Robbie Rocque added insurance.
St. Charles East 2, Conant 1:
Senior brothers Marc Walker and Jake Walker provided the assists on goals from Aiden Maloney and Garrett Melton and the Saints rallied past Conant in Friday's Class 3A Glenbard North regional title game.
Timothy Christian 3, Wheaton Academy 1:
The Trojans, who edged the Warriors in a PK shootout to take third in the state in 1A last season, once again got the better of them this postseason to win the Class 2A Wheaton Academy regional late Saturday night.
Crystal Lake South 1, Lake Forest 0:
Nolan Getzinger's second-half goal lifted the Gators to their sixth straight regional title during Saturday's Class 2A Crystal Lake South regional championship
Streamwood 6, Grant 0:
The Sabres got a pair of goals from Luis Vega and others from A.J. Sabanovic, Merced Availa, Andy Benitez and Jose Pena as they cruised to victory in Friday afternoon's Class 3A Streamwood regional final.
York 3, Glenbard East 2:
With hopes of advancing to state again fading with the scoreboard reaching single digits in minutes remaining and the Dukes trailing 2-0, things did not look good for York during Friday's Class 3A Schaumburg regional. A pair of late goals in the final eight minutes of regulation turned the game completely around. The Dukes pushed the game into overtimes before winning in a shootout.
West Chicago 2, St. Charles North 1:
The Wildcats surrendered a goal just two minutes into the action of Friday's Class 3A Addison Trail regional final, but rallied behind a brotherly effort. The Wildcats started three sets of brothers, which included seniors Rafael Posada and Aldo Alfaro and who each scored. Alfaro had the first assist while Posada's younger brother, Leonardo, assisted Alfaro. In addition, Alfaro's younger brother, Alan Alfaro, was a key part of a defense that shut down the North Stars for the final 78 minutes.
Other 3A area regional championship game scores included, Naperville Central 4, Bolingbrook 1; Naperville North 2, Plainfield East 0; Romeoville 4, Metea Valley 3, 2 OT;Oswego 2, West Aurora 1, 2 OT;Lyons 5 Downers Grove North 1; andRound Lake 2, Larkin 0. In 2A, scores included, Benet 3, Nazareth 0; Belvidere North 1, Burlington Central 0; and Rockford Boylan 5, Kaneland 0.y, Westminster Christian, the area's last remaining 1A team, watched its season come to an end after a 3-1 loss to Richmond-Burton in Saturday's Oregon sectional semifinal.