Boys soccer: Salinas scores late, sends West Chicago past Leyden and into sectional championship game
Abraham Salinas said “Hey.”
The tireless, relentless West Chicago senior midfielder then made hay seconds later Wednesday afternoon, scoring the game-winner in the Wildcats’ 2-1 upset of top-seeded Leyden in a Class 3A Schaumburg boys soccer sectional semifinal at chilly (and, at times, frigid) Gary Scholz Stadium.
“That’s all I heard him say,” said West Chicago senior midfielder Aiden Durbin of the word — a gentle order from one teammate to another — in the 71st minute.
“He said, 'Hey,' and I passed him the ball.”
The delivery traveled 7 yards.
So did Salinas’ shot that scooted to the right of Leyden senior goalkeeper Julio DeSantiago.
“Our team’s hard work led directly to that goal,” Salinas said.
It was his 22nd goal of the season.
“Abraham was composed in the box,” Wildcats coach Jose Villa said after his club avenged a Sept. 15 loss (also 2-1, this one at the Streamwood Fall Classic) and improved to 16-5-4. “That was a quality play, the way Abraham finished.”
Fourth-seeded West Chicago, 12-0-4 in its last 16 matches, faces seventh-seeded Schaumburg for the sectional championship at 1 p.m. Saturday after the Saxons edged Hoffman Estates in penalty kicks in the second semifinal.
All three goals in Wednesday’s first sectional semifinal were scored against a challenging wind. Leyden’s Eagles (19-4-1) got on the board first via senior back Rogelio Herrara’s 3-yard header off senior forward Ryvin Del Pilar’s textbook corner kick in the 19th minute.
Herrara timed the set piece perfectly, using the center of his forehead to thump the ball past Wildcats junior keeper Alvaro Martinez.
West Chicago had its best first-half chance in minute 14. Senior forward Kuba Slupski rocketed a shot off the hands of DeSantiago, the rebound rolling right to Durbin, whose ensuing shot banged off the crossbar.
The Wildcats earned a slew of free kicks in the first 40 minutes but found themselves trailing 1-0 at intermission.
“We talked at the half — talked about fighting through, about persevering,” Villa said after West Chicago snapped Leyden’s winning streak at 8 games. “Our boys never gave up.
“Leyden,” he added, “is a great team, with great players. (Coach) Mark Valintis does such a nice job over there.”
The Wildcats knotted it at 1-1 in the 58th minute. That goal’s major performers: Salinas and Durbin. Salinas’ sheer hustle led to a free kick, not far from a corner-kick patch.
Salinas then took the free kick. The ball pinballed between a pair of players planted near the far post before squirting free to an alert Durbin, who poked a 5-yarder past DeSantiago.
After Durbin and Salinas combined again to notch the clincher 13 minutes later, keeper Martinez came up huge on a Leyden free kick with a little more than a minute remaining and the contest reaching a frenzied pitch on the pitch.
Martinez elevated and, with both fists clenched, jabbed the dangerous cross over the crossbar.
Leyden battled fiercely until the end, and then some. With the scoreboard showing 0:00 on the Eagles’ final possession, the center referee ordered 3 seconds be returned to the clock. That allowed sophomore midfielder Francisco Almazan to boot the Eagles’ final free kick of 2025.
Almazan’s kick ricocheted violently off the frame of West Chicago sophomore midfielder Julian Lopez. It must have stung the Wildcat as the clock melted, once again, to 0:00.
But Lopez showed no hint of pain, raised his arms a la a football ref after a touchdown, and sprinted to join his mates at midfield for a euphoric celebration.
“West Chicago was on, really on, from minute one,” said Valintis, adding his sides had faced West Chicago squads six times in four years, each matchup winding up as intense as a win-or-go-home match.
“Jose’s players,” he added, “are so good at pace, at passing, at making things happen.”