Boys soccer: Downers Grove South advances with upset

No. 12 seed Downers Grove South (7-13-1) upset no. 4 St. Ignatius on Saturday, winning the Class 3A St. Ignatius regional title, 2-1.

“Definitely a slow start from us,” Mustangs coach Chris Hernandez said. “We looked half asleep the opening minutes and their goal came off a corner less than four minutes in. St Ignatius came out hungry and we were not ready.”

Brennan Free’s penalty kick, earned after Samuel Ceballos was fouled, drew the Mustangs even.

Zeke Hall-Taylor scored on a wide rebound for the game winner after Ryan Ording took a shot after cutting in from the right.

“I am proud of the response of our team,” Hernandez said. “Back-to-back games where we have had to come from behind to tie and then win a game late in the game. We talked about mentality being the key to the game and the second half. Belief we can respond to a goal.”

The Mustangs get Morton next on Tuesday in the Class 3A Hinsdale Central sectional semis.

“Now we see a very strong Morton team,” Hernandez said. “We will definitely be relying on the boys having a strong mindset going into what is a massive test.”

South Elgin (20-3-1) yielded three goals in the final five minutes of Saturday’s Class 3A Elgin regional championship, but held on for a 4-3 victory, the program’s first regional title since 2012.

“Very well deserved,” Storm coach Jerzy Skowron said. “These boys are incredibly hungry and motivated. One of their goals was to win titles this season, and this is their third. Happy to have sectionals at home, so should be a huge advantage for us in the next round. Should be an exciting week coming up.”

Pelon Munoz had a hat trick and Matt Lipp converted a PK to lead the Storm. Jack Schmidtke and Emiliano Morales had assists and goalkeeper Dany Moscoso had four saves.

The Storm will host Bartlett on Tuesday in the Class 3A South Elgin sectional semifinals.

The Hawks (15-7-1) upset Rockford Guilford, 4-3, in double OT, to win Saturday’s Class 3A Rockford Guilford regional. What a gift it had to be for Bartlett head coach Anthony Glorioso, who missed the game because he was getting married.

Bartlett beat South Elgin, 2-1, when the teams met in conference action on Sept. 16.

West Chicago (15-5-4) defeated Elk Grove Village (11-5-4) on Friday, winning the Class 3A Elk Grove Village regional championship, 2-0.

“The boys moved the ball very well and created many opportunities,” Wildcats coach Jose Villa said. “They were dangerous throughout the game. The intensity was high for the full 80 minutes.”

Kuba Slupski had assists on the goals to Leo Posada and Abraham Salinas.

“Great work by the entire team,” Villa said. “Great effort by our back line (Diego Bustos, Peter Bovey, Nathaniel Gómez, Huge Martinez) to get the shutout (for goalkeeper Alvaro Martinez).”

The Wildcats battle Leyden on Wednesday in the Schaumburg sectional semifinals at 5 p.m.

Leyden defeated Glenbard East, 3-0, on Saturday to win the Class 3A Leyden regional.

West Aurora (15-7-1) got past Plainfield Central, 3-1, to win Saturday’s Class 3A West Aurora regional.

Carlos Sandoval scored on a tap-in from Lucho Medrano Cardenas for West Aurora's first goal. Aron Musonda converted a penalty kick and Avian Cerda scored off a Mike Morrow assist for the Blackhawks who will battle Naperville Central (15-2-1) in a semifinal during Tuesday’s Class 3A Naperville North sectional.

Naperville North (20-0-4) only scored once, but it was enough for the Huskies to beat Waubonsie Valley (8-9-4) to win the Class 3A Romeoville regional on Friday night.

Jack Bouska earned the shutout in net and Josh Pedersen scored in the 1-0 victory which was the 34th regional title in program history. The Huskies also blanked the Warriors, 2-0, on Sept. 30.

The Huskies will take on Lockport at home on Tuesday in a sectional semifinal. The Porters (15-2-2) overwhelmed Benet (11-5-3) in Friday’s Metea Valley regional championship, 7-2.

Glenbard East (8-6-3) dropped a 3-0 game to Leyden in Saturday’s Class 3A Leyden regional final after the Rams advanced on Tuesday with an upset, 3-2, win over York.

Wheaton North (6-13-2) couldn’t make it two straight upsets, falling 1-0 to Hoffman Estates during Saturday’s Class 3A regional title game. The Falcons knocked off Lake Park, 2-0, during Tuesday’s semifinal and the Lancers went undefeated in the DuKane Conference this fall.

Glenbard West (19-8-1) got doubled up, 4-2, by Schaumburg in the Class 3A Glenbard North regional final on Saturday.

Class 2A

Fenton senior Javier Villarruel’s shot in the first OT was denied by the Elmwood Park goalkeeper during Friday’s Class 2A Elmwood Park regional championship, but senior Hugo Vidal was there to play the carom to put the Bison into next week’s Class 2A De La Salle B sectional.

The Bison (11-4-5) will face Fenwick on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

Marmion (15-5-4) has outscored its two post-season opponents, 14-0, winning the Class 2A Marmion regional with a 6-0 victory over Aurora Central on Saturday.

The Cadets have to make a lengthy trek on Tuesday to battle Rock Island in the Class 2A Galesburg sectional semifinals.

“Excited about the regional but we know we are capable of more,” Cadets coach Anne Iwinski said. “We are taking one game at a time and are coming together at the right time.”

Jordan Peinado scored twice, Jayden Linares and Emilio Morones also scored and

Jamin Berman and Kevin Aguilar converted penalty kicks in the victory over the Chargers.

Mauro Alanis, Nate Voelkner and Berman had assists while Chris Tapia and Dane Feuerborn shared the shutout in net.

Timothy Christian doubled up Chicago Back of the Yards, 2-1, to win the Class 2A Timothy Christian Regional on Friday night in Elmhurst.

The Trojans will face Cristo Rey Jesuit on Tuesday in the Class 2A De La Salle sectional semifinals.

Hinsdale South beat up on Providence Catholic, 5-1, to win the Class 2A Hinsdale South regional on Friday night. The Hornets will stay at home and take on Chicago Kennedy in a sectional semifinal on Tuesday.

Wheaton Academy edged Crystal Lake South, 2-1 in double OT, to win Saturday’s Class 2A Wheaton Academy regional.

Carlton McClure scored both goals for the Warriors, including the game winner with a minute left to avoid the shootout. McClure followed in a shot from Mason Brooke that Crystal Lake South goalkeeper Noah Dunteman initially saved for the game winner.

The Warriors (19-3-1) will face Harvard on Tuesday in the Class 2A Geneva sectional semifinals.

Glenbard South dropped a 4-1 regional final to De La Salle in Saturday’s Class 2A De La Salle regional title game.

Burlington Central came up short, 2-0, to Boylan Catholic in Saturday’s Class 2A Burlington Central regional championship.

St. Francis (8-4-3) led early but Solorio Academy rallied past the Spartans, 4-1, in the Class 2A Chicago (Noble/Mansueto) regional final.

Class 1A

IC Prep rolled to a 5-1 win over Chicago Noble/Gorder on Saturday to win the Class 1A IC Prep regional.

Alan Salgado scored twice and Szymon Gibes, Sawyer LaSage and Ryan Grant also scored.

“We displayed personality and determination throughout the game to win our school’s first regional championship,” IC Prep coach Miguel Garcia said.

Westmont rolled over Chicago (Horizon/Southwest Chicago) on Friday night to win the Class 1A Westmont regional.

Maxwell Hoover and Edwin Rodriguez both scored twice and Martynas Bobrevicius, Adam Dubiel and Kacper Angielczyk also scored for the Sentinels.

On Friday, Lisle survived Chicago Richards, 3-2, after Alex Bakowicz, Frankie Zifcak, Liam Waggoner, Arav Amin, Blake DeBuhr and Lucas Cates converted their attempts for the 6-5 decision in the shootout. Zifcak scored twice in regulation and Cole Geist and Liam Waggoner had assists. Nico Barajas saved two penalties in the shootout.

The Lions will take on Chicago Hope Academy after the IC Prep/Westmont game at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Harvest/Westminster will take on Byron in the Class 1A Indian Creek sectional semifinals on Wednesday after surviving Somonauk co-op in a PK shootout during Friday’s Hinckley-Big Rock scoreless regional final.

Heitor Bannwart, Lucas Menezes, Brian Powers and Miles Meurer converted their attempts in a 4-2 shootout while goalkeeper Luke Bartolome made a pair of saves.

Lyons 1, Downers Grove North 0: With a Class 3A regional soccer title on the line, Lyons Township senior midfielder Luke Gough wasn’t about to quit on the ball Saturday.

Trapping a sidelines cross from Victor Sklaryk, Gough scored in the first half on his second attempt during the Lions’ hard-fought 1-0 victory over Downers Grove North in the 3A Downers North Regional final.

“(The goal was) a little lucky, a little bit of persistence and kind of just wanting it. I’m glad we got the win,” said Gough, fourth on the Lions with six goals.

“It’s not the prettiest (goal) but in terms of importance, this is definitely my most important goal this season so I’m really proud of that.”

The Lions (17-4-2), the No. 2 seed in the Hinsdale Central Sectional, advanced to Tuesday’s sectional semifinals against No. 3 St. Laurence (20-2-4).

While this is the Lions’ 12th consecutive regional title, they understood the challenges in again beating the No. 6 Trojans (12-13-1).

In their West Suburban Conference Silver meeting Sept. 23, LT won 2-1 on an overtime goal by Nick Reilly.

Gough scored with 8:02 left in the first half Saturday. LT led 18-9 in shots (9-1 on goal) and 9-2 in corner kicks but had few quality chances.

“They’re tough. They’re organized,” LT coach Paul Labbato said of the Trojans.

“I thought we did a nice job with our spacing, a nice job moving the ball, but their goalkeeper (senior Jack Quinn) and defense were really good and it was hard to score. Luckily we got one in the first half and held it out.”

Gough’s focus paid off. His first scoring attempt was unsuccessful, but the ball remained free in the crease.

“It was kind of one of those moments where you just kind of blank out. All of a sudden I see the ball rolling,” Gough said.

“Victor played a great ball off the throw. I could hear people saying (I was) offsides and it distracted me a little bit. I missed the first shot and all of a sudden I’m kind of bewildered. I look, the ball is right up front. I just toed it in. The key was just to stay with it, work hard.”

Defensively, the Lions continued their stinginess with starting goalie Joe Radcliffe and the back line of Gavin Sullivan, Ari Chen and Harrison Kittridge with help from midfielder Ryan Keenan.

This was the Lions’ 16th shutout overall and ninth in their 10 games since the first DGN meeting. The only goal allowed came in the 1-0 loss Oct. 14 at Oak Park-River Forest, which ultimately cost them a share of the Silver championship with the Huskies.

“I think we’re very organized in the back. We communicate a lot. We just dominate non-stop game after game,” said Sullivan, whose brother Collin played on the Lions’ 2023 state runners-up.

“We’re hoping to do what he couldn’t. We’re hoping to win the state championship.”

Downers North lost to LT in the regional final for the third straight year and second straight time 1-0.

The Trojans’ Braeden Page had their distant shot on goal in the 48th minute. But they played several dangerous balls, including senior Alexander Douglas’ throw-in at the crease in the final minute.

“I’m very, very happy with how we performed in that second half and how we answered after they were up 1-0,” Downers North coach Rafal Slomba said.

“I think we gave it our best effort. LT’s a great team. We had a great group of leaders, great group of seniors. They really wanted to get this program going with a step forward in the right direction.”

Behind 12 seniors and five key returnees, the Trojans improved from 4-19-1 in 2024. They nearly doubled their goals from 27 to 52 (19 by senior Oliver Davies) and were only shut out three times.

“The fact that we’ve turned this program around is the best part,” Quinn said.

“Now we’ve made this program a lot more enjoyable. I think our expectations are a lot higher now. I think we went out there every game knowing we could win, even if it was against an LT (or strong opponent). Our (improved) mentality, that’s what the seniors brought.”