Boys soccer: Schaumburg edges West Chicago in sectional final; Schaumburg falls short in double overtime

The relentless pursuit of reaching the 3A state tournament for the first time in program history continued Saturday afternoon for host Schaumburg before an overflow audience at Gary Scholz Stadium.

Freshman Filip Tabaczyński bagged the only goal of the day, and a sturdy, organized and composed backline led by Matt Mianowany, in front of all-state candidate, keeper Anthony Say, kept a superb West Chicago out of the net to claim a 1-0 triumph.

The victory sends the Saxons (15-5-3) into its first supersectional Monday to face 2024 state runner-up Lane Tech (20-2-0) in Northfield on the campus of New Trier High School.

"There must have been 1,000 people here today for both teams, it was an exciting atmosphere, and for the Schaumburg soccer community, it was a great day to experience such an exciting game," said Say.

"(If) you had told me at the start of the season that we would be one game from advancing into the state tournament, I would have said there is no way that would happen," added senior Mati Krzanowski, himself an all-state candidate, and the 2025 MSL West POY.

"Schaumburg came in with a very good game plan, and when they scored that late goal before the half, it forced us to chase the game, and allowed them to carry out their game plan to perfection," said Wildcats coach Jose Villa, who was hoping to see his club to a second state appearance after leading his 2019 club to a state title.

Matt Meyer was plenty concerned in advance of this sectional final of the superb technical and attacking skill of the Wildcats, led by the wonderfully gifted senior, Abraham Salinas.

"I bet I've been up for the last 48 hours studying film of West Chicago, who probably has the most dangerous player I've seen this season (Salinas) and so many other weapons to keep an eye on," said the Saxons coach.

"But we devised what I thought was a very good tactical approach to this game that allowed them to possess all that they wanted, but staying organized, with smart tackling and a bend but not break attitude along the back, and the guys performed at a high level all throughout to help us win this game."

"We were super organized along our backline, and when we were in some trouble, we quickly got the ball out of our end, and with Anthony (Say) being his usual great keeper for us, we were able to beat a really good team today," said Mianowany, the Saxons terrific center-back.

The Saxons were able to advance into its own sectional final following a thrilling win in shootout over MSL West rival Hoffman Estates on Wednesday with a perfect five spot-kick conversions to earn a 3-2 victory.

GLENBROOK NORTH 3, STEVENSON 1 (2/OT)

Three days ago, No. 3 seed Stevenson stunned Barrington in the final seconds of overtime to force penalty kicks. Once there, they outscored the Broncos 4-2 in kicks to earn a 2-1 victory to move into the sectional final Saturday at Roland Goins Stadium on the campus of Hersey High School.

The Patriots (14-5-2), without their best player in Navaan Kistanna and teammate Brady Brunner, both unavailable to red cards in the Barrington contest, were able to rise up to give top-seed Glenbrook North all it could on this cold but sunny day in Arlington Heights.

Hayato Eto would find the opener at 30 minutes with a brilliant finish off a sensational ball from Matias Vrana, then hold off a Spartans club for the next 40 minutes.

However, Adrian Wiktorowski would equalize in the 71st minute to help turn the momentum in favor of the Spartans, who bagged two more during the second overtime to secure a 3-1 sectional final victory.

The Spartans (19-2-3) advance into the Barrington supersectional Tuesday at 6 p.m. to play South Elgin (22-3-1) whose marvelous season continues after its 3-2 overtime win over St. Charles North.

"I never once felt like we were undermanned with both Navaan and Brady unavailable today because we received a tremendous effort from every player, including guys like Cornell Birsan, Matias Vrana and Joaquin Guerrero, who up until the Barrington game had not played for us at all, but in that game, he put in our first spot-kick in shootout," said Patriots coach PepeJon Chavez.

"We did a great job of controlling the midfield, and almost all of the play leading up to and after Hayato's amazing goal, while keeping their best players from getting much of anything at Matthew Rutcosky, our keeper.

"But you could tell when they equalized that our legs were getting a little heavy, and I know for a fact not having Navaan and Brady made a big difference in the way we were able to play, and defend."

Ito would nearly double the Patriots advantage moments after his first goal, when, through sophomore Asher Lee, then Vrana, he was put through.

The Spartans were thrown a much needed lifeline on a looping ball into the box from Wiktorowski, and after a rather quiet first 10-minute extra session, the Spartans would dash the Patriots hopes with goals from Asher Avadek and all-state senior Jackson Lee.

"Stevenson had way more energy and purpose than we did for all of the first half, and into the first part of the second half, but we stood firm, and did not panic as we worked to get back level," said Spartans coach Paul Vignocchi.

"The one constant today was that defensively, led by Tommy Raptis, was outstanding, and it helped carry us through a rough stretch."

This is the 10th sectional title in program history for the Spartans, and first since 2023 when Vignocchi led the club to a 3A third-place trophy.