Aurora Central Catholic gets regional title shot
Ricochets and crossbars can be your best friend, but also your enemy. Wednesday it was Aurora Central Catholic’s partner-in-crime.
The Chargers scored the first 2 of their 5-straight goals on plays such as a ricochet that Enrique Anaya booted 12 minutes into the match just in front of the net, and a shot from David Petesch that caromed underneath the top crossbar with enough English to land inside the line.
That was just the beginning of a 5-1 Class 1A St. Edward regional boys soccer win for the Chargers, who advanced to Saturday’s regional final at 11 a.m. to play No. 1 seed St. Edward at Greg True Field in Elgin.
Petesch finished with 2 goals and 1 assist, his second goal coming on a penalty kick just before the end of the first half. Brett Cerzak and Matthew Hollon each added goals early in the second half and ACC’s only blemish was a breakaway goal allowed to Elgin Academy’s Julian Romano with 14 minutes to play.
Elgin Academy (3-12-1) heads home while the Chargers (8-11) will attempt to avenge a 4-1 loss to the Green Wave earlier this season.
“We played really well today, advancing the ball up the field, playing the sidelines well,” Petesch said. “It should be a different story against St. Edward (Saturday). They’re going to be a little bit tougher. We’re going to need be to energetic the whole time and needing to make runs on time and completing passes.”
ACC coach Eric Cournaya was pleased with many facets the Chargers displayed Wednesday, especially possession. ACC outshot Elgin Academy 13-9.
“I definitely liked our style. (We) possessed the ball, which is the style I’ve been trying to get through to these kids all year,” Cournaya said. “We have had times where we have come up flat and given up goals and let teams back in. We have to come out strong, get one or two more in, put them away and then that way then we can go on from there.”
Style points weren’t in favor of Elgin Academy, which had opportunities in the first half but was called for offsides during its best chances on some long passes. That hurt Elgin Academy coach Juan Silva’s strategy so to speak, which was attacking from outside-in.
“That was my strategy, to play on the outside and take shots on the corner of the box,” Silva said. “We didn’t get lucky and that was my idea to get to the wings and put the ball right into the corner of the 18-yard box and take shots from there.
“The (forwards) had opportunities, we made a couple mistakes on the back and the players started getting tired,” said Silva, who also spoke of his team’s lack of depth.
And while ACC showed good energy throughout and knocked it around a bit, its defense played hard by making smart decisions and clearing the ball, which is one of the many things the Chargers will be looking for on Saturday against the Green Wave.
“That was one of those games where we weren’t possessing or playing our style, more individualized,” Cournaya said of the previous meeting with the Wave, where mental errors were costly and a few bounces didn’t go ACC’s way. “Hopefully we take this game as I told the guys and build and work and do the same things the next couple days in practice. It should come down the same way Saturday.”
Genoa-Kingston 3, Westminster Christian 1: Robert Kleczynski scored Westminster’s goal in the Warriors’ Class 1A regional semifinal loss to the host Cogs.