Dundee-Crown comes back to stay unbeaten

Dundee-Crown’s unbeaten boys soccer season was in jeopardy Tuesday afternoon after the Chargers fell behind McHenry 2-0 in the early going, but D-C calmly rallied for the victory.

Ivan Sanchez scored the game-winner with just over 13 minutes remaining and the Chargers held on for a 3-2 victory in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division action in Carpentersville.

Ben Stone and Ivan Sanchez each had a goal and an assist as the Chargers pulled out the victory

Goals by Evan Hying and James Mulhall in the first 13 minutes got the Warriors on top. D-C controlled the ball for the most part, but couldn’t find the back of the net until William Campos scored off a Sanchez assist in the 25th minute.

“We just came out flat and they deserved the goals they got,” said Charger coach Rey Vargas. “They earned it. It was just a matter of us settling down a little bit and playing our game. In the second half we really did that and we took the pressure to them. We just had to take care of business.”

D-C (14-0-1, 2-0) continued to dominate in the closing stages of the first half. Campos had several chances from close range, but couldn’t convert, just missing wide right on one occasion and having a couple more shots stopped.

Stone finally tied it up with a shot on the ground from 20 yards out. That was how it stayed for more than 15 minutes, with neither team generating many chances, until Sanchez finally found the range. Stone notched the assist on that one.

The Chargers survived one final scare when goalkeeper Jose Gonzalez stopped a free kick from close range late in the game.

Vargas said the Chargers aren’t giving in to the pressure of maintaining their undefeated record.

“Obviously, we’re a bigger target because everybody wants to be the team that knocks us out,” he said. “We can’t worry about those things. We just need to show up to play the game that we’re playing and not worry about anything else other than just being productive on the field.”