Larkin nets regional crown

ROCKFORD -- Once Larkin found the net, the goals came pretty quickly.

The Royals scored three times in the last six-and-a-half minutes to defeat South Elgin 4-2 and win the Class 3A Rockford Guilford boys soccer regional championship at Wedgebury Stadium here Monday night.

Erik Rodriguez had 2 goals and an assist and Tony Hernandez add a goal and an assist for the Royals. Josue Medina added a goal for Larkin.

The Royals (16-7-1), who won their second straight regional title, play Rockford Boylan at 5 p.m. today at Barrington.

South Elgin (9-7-2) took a 2-1 halftime lead on goals by Alberto Bustamante and Mike Kozielek.

The Royals spent much of the first half in South Elgin's end, but could not find the back of the net.

“That was the worst half of soccer we played all year, that first half,” said Larkin coach Ken Hall. “I don't know if we were tight; I think we might have been a little too confident. Once we decided to get ourselves back in the game, we started playing much better.”

Medina got Larkin on the board on a breakaway with 22:50 left, then the floodgates opened. A free kick by Manny Aguilar beautifully set up Rodriguez's first goal to tie the game.

Two minutes later, Hernandez got the ball in the crowd and fired it in putting the Royals ahead.

“Even the last minute counts in a game,” said Rodriguez. “You never know when you're going to get an opportunity and you've got to put it away at this stage of the tournament.”

Rodriguez added an insurance goal with 13 seconds left.

“When they scored that first goal, I knew we could still hang on and work hard,” said South Elgin coach John Uvegas. “We just basically sat back a little bit too far. We needed to mark up a little better. They just had a lot of open space and it seemed like the pressure got to us.”

The Larkin defense, led by sweeper Alex Sanchez and goalkeeper Santiago Guerrero, kept the Storm at bay.

The game was postponed by Saturday night's storms. Monday night was dry, but with a stiff breeze from the southeast all 6 goals were scored with the wind.