Boys soccer: Elgin Academy stuns Harvest Christian in 1A regional
When Harvest Christian jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening nine minutes of Wednesday's Class 1A Genoa-Kingston boys soccer regional semifinal, it looked like a recurring nightmare for an Elgin Academy squad that dropped a 9-3 decision to the Lions on September 18.
However, the resilient 7th-seeded Hilltoppers tightened up on the back line and utilized their speed up front to dominate the final 60 minutes of the match.
Highlighted by a hat trick from senior Julian Romano, Elgin Academy reeled off 5 unanswered goals to complete a stunning 5-2 comeback victory over the third-seeded Lions.
Elgin Academy (7-6-1) advanced to Saturday's 1 p.m. championship match against No. 2 seed Genoa-Kingston, which defeated Westminster Christian 3-1 on Tuesday.
"I knew we had this in us. We just calmed down in the back and from there we started to attack," said Elgin Academy coach Kevin Talbot. "Our best defense was going to be attacking and scoring goals and that's what we did."
"Our back line has a lot of new guys, but they played hard and everyone played for everyone else," said Romano, who bolstered his season total to 17 goals. "We didn't start well, but we didn't give up."
"We came out soft," said Harvest Christian coach Nate Baron. "In our minds we wanted to have possession and work to win the 50/50 balls, but the way we came off the bus was reflected in the game we ended up playing."
Harvest Christian (10-5-2) opened the scoring five minutes in when junior Raphael DeSouza tapped in a pass from Antonio Nevarez that bounced over the Elgin Academy defense.
Three minutes later, DeSouza notched his 26th goal of the season on an assist from Dane Crouse as they beat a charging Hilltopper keeper David Zuzevich to the ball.
Romano narrowed the deficit when he rifled home a pass from Dee Robinson into the top right corner midway through the first half.
The teams traded chances the remainder of the half, but the Hilltoppers earned the equalizer in the final minute off a corner kick, with Elliott Wittmeyer sneaking the ball past keeper Matthew Baron.
"Once we tied the score at halftime, that was the point where we knew we could do this," Romano said.
Elgin Academy grabbed the lead four minutes into the second half on a perfectly executed play. Patrick Westerhoff passed to Drew Wilmington, who made a strong run down the left side before sending a beautiful cross that led to Romano's finish.
"Romano has crazy speed and when you don't mark him up, he will make you pay," Baron said.
Karl Rauschenberger extended the Hilltoppers' lead to 4-2 in the 69th minute off Wilmington's throw in and Romano put the icing on the cake with a goal with 1:45 left.
Westin White, Mark Davila and Cesar Velazquez generated quality scoring chances for Harvest Christian in the second half, but Zuzevich punched a pair of shots over the crossbar while a few shots missed just wide.
"We had the opportunities in the second half, but we didn't put them in the net like we quite often do," Baron said.
"It really hurts because we felt like we had the group of guys and the heart to go downstate," DeSouza said.
While Harvest Christian experienced an unexpected end to its stellar season, the Hilltoppers realize they have an excellent opportunity to come away with a regional title.
"We have to play our game, keep our composure and attack," Talbot said.