Boys soccer: Elgin finally finds success vs. Larkin
The Cubs and Cardinals weren't the only teams writing the next chapter in a storied rivalry on Tuesday night.
And while the latest Larkin vs. Elgin meeting on the soccer field obviously pales in comparison to what was happening on the north side of Chicago, it might be hard to convince the players or raucous crowd in attendance at Memorial Field of that.
Much like the Cubs for the first time in a long time it was the Maroons getting the best of their arch rivals from the west side with a 5-1 Upstate Eight River win.
Elgin's Jonathan Ramirez added to his single-season school record with a pair of goals to give him 36.
"They have had our number now for several years," Elgin coach Dave Borg said of Larkin. "But we really felt we had a chance to turn that around tonight. We have nothing but respect for them and they are a good team that was playing real well coming in, so we knew this wasn't going to be easy. But this was an opportunity for us to make our season even more special with getting a win over them."
The Maroons set the tone right out of the gate when Omar Gonzalez scored just 1:38 into the game. Gonzalez was playing in his first game at forward.
Elgin added another goal just over 10 minutes into the game when Ramirez scored on a penalty kick to make it 2-0.
"We came out with the kind of high energy and high intensity that we have been asking them to come out with all year," Borg said. "We wanted to get our best athletes in a position to score. Our speed was a big factor in the first half."
Ramirez and Jesus Lopez added goals in the first half to put the Maroons up 4-0 at halftime.
"We haven't beaten them in a long time so we knew we had to come out strong," Ramirez said. "We gave it everything we got and even when we got the lead we kept pushing. It's big win for us."
Jonathan Morales added a goal late in the second half for the Maroons.
The win gives Elgin (15-6-2, 2-2-1) momentum heading into its final regular season game against St. Charles East before starting regional play next week.
The Royals (8-6-6, 1-3-1) had lost just once in their last 10 matches.
"They forced us out of our game," Larkin coach Ken Hall said. "We like to play a possession game, but too often we were trying to do too much individually and were out of position. You can't do that against a team like them. They have a lot of speed and they made us pay."
Roberto Escobar scored the Royals' only goal in the second half. The Royals did have an 11-4 shot advantage in the second half.
"It was a much better effort in the second half," Hall said. "We actually had some real good opportunities to get right back in the game when it was still 4-1, but just couldn't get it in the net."