Boys soccer: South Elgin edges Bartlett on penalties, advances to sectional final
Instead of patrolling the net, South Elgin goalkeeper Christian Moscoso closed out the penalty kick round of Tuesday’s Class 3A South Elgin sectional semifinal match against Bartlett from the penalty mark.
The junior’s spot kick into the lower left corner of the net on the 10th round of the pens turned out to be the match-winner as the Storm edged the Hawks 7-6 in PKs. The two Upstate Eight rivals were knotted 3-3 after 100 minutes of soccer.
The Storm (21-3-1) will be looking to win their first sectional title in program history when it battles St. Charles North on Saturday for the South Elgin sectional championship. The North Stars beat Dundee Crown, 2-1, in Tuesday’s first semifinal.
“There’s not enough good things to say about these kids,” said South Elgin coach Jerzy Skowron. “These guys have fight and they have been doing it all season long. They grinded and they have never gotten the respect they deserve.”
South Elgin got on the scoreboard first during regulation scoring in the 25th minute. Jack Schmidtke finished Ben Krueger’s 35-yard free kick with a shot from the right corner of the box.
With 2:57 left to play in the first half, Bartlett’s Oliver Kosciolek tied the contest at 1-all. The senior corralled a Sebastian Kopanicak pass just outside the right post and sent it into the net.
The Storm retook the lead eight minutes into the second half on a close-in goal by Rodrigo Gonzalez.
Bartlett knotted the score again in the 50th minute. Kosciolek’s shot from the left wing hit the right post and rebounded into the net.
The Hawks pulled ahead a minute later on Sebastian Kopanicak’s strike from just outside the right post.
South Elgin pulled even with 8:32 left in regulation on Joaquin Vega’s strike from the right side of the box.
Neither side was able to score during the two overtime periods. With less than a minute to play, the Storm’s Alan Munoz just missed putting his team in front. His shot from just outside the right side of the box grazed the cross bar.
Bartlett finishes the season with a 15-8-1 record.