Boys soccer roundup: Leyden, Stevenson among regional winners
High-flying Leyden continues to be a winning machine after the Eagles (18-2-2) delivered another victory to advance into sectional play.
The No. 2 seed beat ESSC co-champion Notre Dame 3-1 Friday afternoon in an intense regional final in Franklin Park at the Eagles soccer park at its east campus.
"(That) was the hard fought game that we expected. They were physical and played that offside trap really well until we finally broke through in the second half to take over the game," said Eagles senior Christian Esquivel.
"We were not able to solve their (trap) even after spending a lot of time training for it yesterday. But the guys stayed with (it) until we put a couple of goals in on them in the second half," added Eagles coach Mark Valintis, whose club will face Maine South on Tuesday in its sectional semifinal at New Trier.
The home side had most of the play in the first half, missing a pair of quality chances at the open, then took control just after the intermission when the Dons (14-4-1) were forced to play a man down after a red card.
Jesus Ramos, who bagged a hat trick Tuesday, netted the first goal at 47 minutes, which was followed shortly thereafter with a Stefano Andrino goal.
Jakub Zujko tripled the Eagles’ advantage in the 55th minute with the Dons pulling one back six minutes from time.
Maine South would avenge a late September 4-1 loss to No. 3 seed New Trier with a 1-0 victory on Friday night in Park Ridge to send the reigning 3A state champion out of the tournament.
The Hawks (13-6-3) claimed its first regional title since 2014 when Wyatt Kelleher smashed his effort in at the back post off a terrific crossfield free kick from teammate Oscar Podraza in the 31st minute.
It will be a Hersey-Stevenson contest on Tuesday in a sectional semifinal at the Patriots’ home park in Lincolnshire.
MSL champion Hersey prevailed on penalties on Friday to earn the regional crown at Barrington.
The No. 3 seed Huskies (13-3-5) played 100 minutes of soccer against No. 6 Libertyville with neither side finding the back of the net to send this contest into shootout.
Once there, the Huskies converted their first four spot-kicks, while the Wildcats managed to net two to give Nate Mabry and his mates a 4-2 advantage, and 1-0 victory to advance.
"(Two) defensive minded teams out there today so it wasn't a surprise it was decided in pens," said the Huskies terrific central defender Mabry.
"There weren’t too many quality chances all throughout. But for us, I'm glad we have an all-state caliber keeper in Adrian Smakowski."
Smakowski stopped one spot-kick Wildcats (10-3-5) attempt, while teammates Ray Reyes, Johnny Antoniou, Adam Bugaj and Nik Van De Mark were perfect from the spot.
No. 7 seed Stevenson (11-4-5) claimed its fourth consecutive regional title, and 16th in program history, when it beat regional host and No. 2 seed Rolling Meadows 3-2 (4-2 pens) on Saturday.
Jack Bacher cancelled out goals from Alex Kociubinski and Eltayeb Mahmoud to send this match into pens, where the Patriots quartet of Brady Meng, Mohit Damodaran, Tony Mo and Konstantinos Papamichos ensured victory.
MSL runner-up Conant (11-8-2) used a Ben Schaefers goal near the half hour to defeat division rival Schaumburg 1-0 to claim its own regional title Friday night in Hoffman Estates.
Next up for the No. 6 seed is No. 2 Bartlett (12-4-5) at the St. Charles North sectional on Tuesday after the Hawks beat St. Charles East 1-0 to collect it first regional title since 2015.
"It was a typical hard-fought, old-fashioned match with a MSL rival, not a lot of quality either way, but a whole lot of grit and toughness," said Conant coach Jason Franco.
Eric Plaza earned the assist on a superb diagonal ball.
"Our backline were the stars of the game while our keeper JD Becerill had a great game for us tonight," added Franco.
Palatine (11-7-4) would concede three second half goals within three minutes to top seed Glenbrook South (18-1-3) in Glenview Saturday afternoon. This will set up a Glenbrook North-Glenbrook South sectional semifinal on Tuesday at Stevenson.
In Class 2A, No. 4 Wauconda (12-6-1) won a hard-fought 2-1 victory over league rival Grayslake North to lift the Woodstock North regional trophy and advance into Tuesday's sectional semifinal against No. 8 Harvard (17-4-3) which captured its own regional title on Saturday over Cary-Grove.
Sam Jurczyk's second half double, with helpers coming from Antonio Valdes and Mario Torres, would be the difference.
"(North's) keeper was amazing, especially in the second half, with three or four outstanding saves to help keep them in the game," said Bulldogs coach Tim Miller.
The Knights (11-5-3) would draw close with a PK in the 76th minute which made for an intense final few minutes of regulation.
No. 9 Vernon Hills (5-13-1) saw its season end at home on Friday evening when No. 2 Prairie Ridge (15-4-1) outscored the Cougars 4-2 to win its second straight regional title.