Dundee-Crown squeaks out another win

Larkin fought back from 2 goals down to tie Dundee-Crown, but the tie lasted only 22 seconds.

Eduardo Arellano scored his second goal of the game with 17:14 left to play Saturday to lift the unbeaten Chargers to the 3-2 nonconference boys soccer win in Carpentersville.

If the game was a preview of the teams’ first-round regional matchup, it should be a pretty good one.

Paul Buch and Arellano scored to give the Chargers (18-0-1) a 2-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes. The Chargers’ intensity seemed to flag a bit after that. The Royals seized the momentum late in the first half. Griffen Perez and Tito Velazquez had excellent chances, but both were stopped by D-C keeper Jose Gonzalez.

Gonzalez got some help from his defense, too, with Jason Wind stopping a breakaway that appeared destined for the net.

Velazquez finally broke the ice for Larkin, taking a cross from Jesus Avila and putting it into the open net.

The Royals (8-9-3) tied things up when Ricardo Nava headed in a loose ball from close range with 17:36 to play.

The tie didn’t last long, as Arellano took advantage of a mistake deep in Larkin territory, coming in alone on the goal and burying a shot from about 10 yards out.

“You make a critical mistake, turn the ball over in your own end, and that’s what happens,” said Larkin coach Ken Hall. “They’re a great team, they haven’t had a loss this year, and you can’t make mistakes like that and expect to beat them.”

Neither team got many opportunities after that. An apparent goal by Salvador Rodriguez that would have given the Chargers some insurance was disallowed.

“We started off the game strong and then kind of gradually went down,” said Chargers’ coach Rey Vargas. “Even in the second half we looked a little flat. We let down and let them tie it up, but I’m glad we were able to come back and get that go-ahead goal.”