Boys soccer: Streamwood’s halftime lead slips away in 2A state semifinal setback

Streamwood lost goalkeeper Alex Garcia to a red card after he came out of the box attempting to defend a goal-scoring opportunity with 1:05 remaining in regulation in a tie game against De La Salle during Friday’s Class 2A state semifinal at Hoffman Estates.

That was a devastating blow for the Sabres who controlled the first half, but surrendered the game-tying goal with 4:03 left in the game and then allowed goals in each of the overtimes during a 4-2 double OT loss.

Streamwood (13-11) will attempt to rebound on Saturday morning against Rock Island in the third-place game.

“You know, it's one of those games where, like they say 2-0 is like one of the worst scores you could ever have,” Sabres coach Matt Polovin said. “And, you know, I was hoping we were gonna get one (goal) early in the second half and maybe try to put them away a little bit. I think it would have helped us, though, as I thought there were a lot of chances we had that we missed early in the game.”

The Sabres stunned De La Salle with a corner kick from Josue Lopez that set up their first goal. The senior curled it deep into the box where Max Galvan was able to get a touch among the crowd for the 1-0 lead with 27:51 left in the first half.

“I flicked it on and then it bounced around and went in,” Galvan said.

Lopez blasted a 28-yard free kick with 40.5 seconds left in the first half that nicked off the outstretched hand of De La Salle goalkeeper Jahir Anaya but not enough to deny its place in the back of the net.

That gave the Sabres a 2-0 lead and a great deal of momentum heading into the second half, but they could not sustain it against a De La Salle (24-3-1) squad whose only losses have come against 3A squads. The Meteors’ losses are to Lyons, a South Elgin team that won a regional and a St. Laurence squad that took the field in the 3A semifinal game that followed on Friday.

“I mean, it didn't help going down a man with the red card with our starting goalie, too,” Polovin said. “But I think (sophomore) Adrian (Sobarnia) who came in for him, that was his first minutes of the whole season as a backup goalie, and, you know, he tried to do everything he could, but we just kind of ran out of steam. I guess Cinderella finally lost her slippers or something.”

Jayden Farley’s 28-yards strike with 6:39 left in the opening overtime gave the Meteors a 3-2 lead. Alex Panduro’s insurance goal with 7:23 remaining in the second overtime extended it.