Boys soccer: East Aurora ousts Naperville North in sectional final

Sophomore forward Jerry Hernandez had a simple thought as he warmed up for the biggest game in the East Aurora boys soccer program’s history.

“I was just envisioning us playing our hardest,” he said. “And me scoring.”

That’s exactly what happened Friday night.

Hernandez scored a great goal with 1:59 left in the second half and the host Tomcats eliminated defending state champion Naperville North 1-0 in the Class 3A East Aurora Sectional championship game.

It’s the first sectional title for East Aurora (14-6-3), which advances to play O’Fallon (11-5-4) in the Normal Community Supersectional at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

“It feels amazing,” Hernandez said. “Me and my team worked so hard to get here.”

The fourth-seeded Tomcats worked even harder to slowly wear down the fifth-seeded Huskies (13-4-5), who entered the game on a 10-game unbeaten streak.

The toil paid off when senior midfielder Max Plascencia sent a lead pass to Hernandez in the left side of the box. Hernandez dribbled into space, swung his left leg and ripped a 15-yard shot under the crossbar for his fourth goal of the season.

“I took two or three dribbles, hit it with my weak foot,” Hernandez said. “I saw the keeper was off his line a little and shot and scored.

“It felt unreal. I couldn’t believe it went in. I was celebrating with my guys.”

That included East Aurora’s Carlos Fabela, a senior goalkeeper who was thrilled but not stunned by what he had witnessed from the other end of the field.

“I’ve played with Jerry since I was 8 or 9 years old,” Fabela said. “I always knew he had it in him, but in all honesty, he’s had a crazy growth spurt athletically.

“Two years ago, he was nowhere near where he was this year, and this year he came out to prove himself way different.”

Last year, Hernandez was on the freshman team while East Aurora’s varsity won only five games. Now, he’s one of 13 underclassmen, including six sophomores, helping the Tomcats make history.

“I’m glad to be a part of this team and help them be successful,” Hernandez said. “A lot of our guys play club with each other. We have a lot of chemistry. We have passion.”

The Tomcats also have a talented goalkeeper in Fabela, who finished with four saves and also took two of his team’s 12 shots. He had a 66-yard free kick that was saved by Naperville North goalkeeper Ziden Elganzouri and a 71-yarder which barely missed the left post.

But Fabela’s biggest play came with 25:55 left in the second half when he lunged to his right to deflect a wicked 15-yard shot by senior midfielder Diego Hernandez around the post.

“Diego is my friend as well,” Fabela said. “We trained together since 11, 12 years old. I know him real well. It’s not even just playing with him, it’s studying.

“I’ll tell you right now, if we would have gone to PKs this game, I knew where everybody would have shot. I had them all written down. It was a lot of studying outside the field.”

Thanks to Hernandez, penalty kicks weren’t necessary against the Huskies, who had won two previous playoff games in shootouts and five state titles, including four in the past decade.

Afterward, the Tomcats dumped a bucket of ice water on East Aurora coach Nathan Parry, who has coached in the program for 25 years,

“It has sunk in a little bit,” Parry said. “The water down my back is definitely a reminder, but this is just crazy.

“Naperville North, you say their name in the soccer world and everyone knows. I love the effort and the attitude that these boys put forth. The environment we had was great.”

Naperville North coach Jim Konrad confirmed the loss stung even though the Huskies exceeded preseason expectations.

“Obviously, we hate to lose,” Konrad said. “We just weren’t good enough (Friday night).

“We had two or three great chances and we left them on the table, and their kid hit a great shot. Their kids played super classy.”

Beating the Huskies was a great victory, but Fabela pointed out that the Tomcats, whose only previous sectional final appearance was in 1996, aren’t finished.

“They’re the defending state champs,” Fabela said. “We beat them, which tells us we can go a long way. We’ve seen where the state championship level is at and we’re up there.

“We celebrate tonight. Starting tomorrow, we lock in for Tuesday.”