Elk Grove wins first regional title
Exhiliration as well as exhaustion brought Elk Grove senior Rafal Borys to his knees late Saturday afternoon.
And Borys' penalty kick brought his excited teammates rushing toward him after he capped the latest chapter in a historic season for the Grenadiers' boys soccer program.
After 80 minutes of regulation time, 40 minutes of overtime and the nerve-wracking penalty kicks, Elk Grove coach Joe Bush cradled the first regional plaque in program history after a 2-1 win on its home pitch over Conant.
“It feels great,” Borys said after finishing the Grenadiers' 5-3 edge in penalty kicks. “I'm tired 120 minutes, but it's definitely worth it.
“I was so happy I felt like crying. My legs were shaky but I had to stay strong. I did it for my team and I couldn't let them down.”
Ben Stram, Nick Jordan, Irving Cruz and Cesar Rodriguez also made their penalty kicks and senior keeper Frankie Ortiz calmly handled his first shootout as the third-seeded Grenadiers (14-6) advanced to Tuesday's Class 3A Schaumburg sectional semifinal.
Ortiz had missed 8 games with a dislocated shoulder but helped get it to penalty kicks with his diving stop of Thomas Kozlowski's blast in close late in the fourth overtime.
Then in penalty kicks, Ortiz surged out off his line at the second shooter from sixth-seed Conant (11-9-1) and the attempt sailed wide.
“That plays a big role, getting in the other player's mind,” Ortiz said. “I felt confident we would win it. We have good shooters who know their stuff.”
Shivam Patel, Zach Conrad and Nathan Cornell converted Conant's penalty kicks.
“When you go to penalties, it's the soccer coin flip and we were on the wrong end of it,” said Conant coach Jason Franco. “It's frustrating because we fought so hard to get back in the game and fought hard in overtime.
“It was a hard-fought game and it's sad to have a loser in a game like this.”
Conant had the run of play for most of the first half backed by the strong southwest wind. But a mistake in the back on a free kick from midfield by Jordan turned into the 15th assist for the coaches' all state pick. Ernesto Rodriguez scored off the loose ball just 2:04 before intermission.
“We wanted to take that one-goal lead the whole way,” Borys said. “They pressured us a little bit and it was hard. They're a good team.”
Conant finally broke through with 7:36 left in regulation. Michael Zentner's free kick from 50 yards went to Michael Miller in the left side of the box and he found Billy Belmonte for the equalizer.
But Elk Grove overcame that and losing Rodriguez to a second yellow card early in the second overtime.
“The one thing this team has done all year is respond to adversity,” said Bush of a group that also won the program's first Mid-Suburban League division title. “We kept coming back to (a team-building trip in Wisconsin) it all year. They bounced back and leaned on each other and they really do love each other.”