Boys soccer: Huntley, South Elgin advance to sectional final

Goals were in short supply Tuesday at the Class 3A Huntley sectional.

In fact, when Huntley’s Tyler Murray scored with just more than 13 minutes left in the second semifinal of the night, it represented the first goal in regulation or overtime.

Murray’s goal held up and the Red Raiders advanced to Saturday’s final with the 1-0 victory against St. Charles North. In the opener, South Elgin got past St. Charles East 1-0 on penalty kicks after 110 scoreless minutes.

It looked like the second game might be headed for extra time as well until Murray pounced on a loose ball in front of the net and knocked it home. The sequence began when a Huntley cross hit a North Stars player in the crease.

“Brodie (Rocha) was going up for it,” Murray said. “I just yelled, ‘Mine.’

“I was having flashbacks from last year, losing in overtime, and right when I shot it I knew it was going right through the keeper’s hands. I was like, ‘This is it.’ That late in the game it felt so good to get it.”

Huntley’s defense made it stand up and the Red Raiders now find themselves in the sectional final on their own field.

“It feels amazing, especially not only losing last year, but being up 2-0, letting two goals in in the last 10 minutes, the losing 4-2 in overtime, it felt so good to put it away in the last 15 minutes.”

In the early game, both teams had limited chances. South Elgin’s Joaquin Vega had two breakaways, including one in which he found himself behind the St. Charles keeper, but couldn’t quite connect.

In the shootout, Huxley Kapoor, Sam Arville and Brendan Szerlong scored for St. Charles East. Pelon Munoz, Adam Kiel, Julian Torrez and Gonzalez found the back of the net for South Elgin. Storm keeper Danny Moscoso came up with a pair of huge saves after notching a shutout through regulation and overtime.

“I think we had 12 corner kicks and 18 deep throw-ins and didn’t get on the end of much,” said St. Charles East coach Vince Dinuzzo. “They did a really good job defensively limiting us in the run of play.

“It’s tough not to concede a goal and not move on.”

Storm coach Jerzy Skowron didn’t mind waiting a little longer for the win.

“Here, it’s survive or die, right?” he said. “And to be able to do it against a team like them, which has been ranked in the top 10 all season long, I think it’s just a testament to the kids that we have on our team. It’s that never-say-die attitude that they’ve had all season long and they’re not ready to go home yet.”