Boys soccer: St. Charles North holds off Metea Valley
It may not have been the prettiest second half but St. Charles North's boys soccer team withstood a late challenge by Metea Valley Tuesday night.
Junior keeper Piercarlo Ricossa (6 saves) stonewalled Metea Valley's Michael Lothridge from point-blank range off a free kick from Ryan Barry with 45 seconds remaining in regulation to preserve the North Stars' 1-0 triumph during the second round of the PepsiCo Showdown in St. Charles.
A few moments earlier, the North Stars (6-1-3) avoided another narrow escape on a potential hand ball call in the box.
"It was a tough call," said Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson. "Credit them for getting the goal and the shutout but it was an awesome game. It was real competitive."
North Stars coach Eric Willson admitted his team's play over the final minutes needs to improve down the line.
"I'd like to see our soccer IQ a little better toward the end of a game," said Willson. "I'd put that on the coaches. We have to do a better job of teaching game management."
Despite the late-game scare, the victory advances the third-seeded North Stars to uncharted territory.
"At the end of the day, we're in a spot that we've never been in this tournament and that's the Final Four," said Willson. "We're happy to be there."
St. Charles North will face second-seeded Wheaton Academy (6-0-2) Thursday in West Chicago.
"We've been to a lot of Elite Eight's but we've never been to a Final Four (in the PepsiCo Showdown). We'll play anybody at this point. We're just glad to be playing," Willson said.
Senior co-captain Jonathan Acevedo scored the game's lone goal in the 7th minute on a penalty kick following a hand ball call in the box against a Metea Valley defender.
"I felt comfortable taking it," said Acevedo, who faked to his right before delivering the ball into the left-hand side of the net.
"We went to penalty kicks last game (2-1 win over Lane Tech)," said Acevedo. "That was the first time taking one (this season) so I was fine taking it in a game."
The North Stars wasted several scoring opportunities in the first 40 minutes, outshooting the Mustangs 15-3 but only putting 5 shots on goal against Metea keeper Kevin Branch (9 saves).
"I think we felt at halftime that we really had the run of play," said Willson. "If we could have capitalized on a couple more of those opportunities, we could have put the game away in the first half but we didn't.
"You do that against a real hardworking team like that (Metea Valley) and all of a sudden you're in a battle for 80 minutes."
Robinson found plenty of positives in defeat.
"We'll continue to keep fighting," said the Mustangs' coach. "A week ago, we probably would have shut down after that first goal but we kept battling and slowly gained momentum in the second half. I was really proud of the way the boys played."