Boys soccer: Jacobs will play for sectional title

Patrick Murphy had absolutely no interest in playing any overtime soccer.

So the Jacobs senior ensured that the Golden Eagles wouldn't have to endure any extra sessions.

Murphy's goal off a perfect cross from Noah Melick with 3:18 remaining gave Jacobs an exhilarating 2-1 win over McHenry in semifinal action of the Class 3A Huntley boys soccer sectional Tuesday night.

"What a great pass by Noah." said Murphy. "He put the ball in the perfect spot to kick it. I had a good feeling when I kicked it was going in the goal. They beat us in this exact game last season so this is a nice win."

Jacobs coach AJ Cappello praised Murphy and Melick.

"It was a brilliant goal by Patrick," said the Jacobs coach. "He got himself in the perfect position to kick the ball and he buried it. We told Noah he was trying to do too much by himself. He was totally unselfish with the pass. He saw the double team on him and gave Patrick a great pass."

The Golden Eagles (17-5-4) will take on Rockford Guilford for the sectional championship Friday at 6 p.m. Guilford, which lost to Jacobs 4-1 earlier in the season, advanced to the title game with a 1-0 win over Dundee-Crown.

The first half was scoreless until Daniel Buirge, off a pass from Melick, pushed a shot past McHenry goalie Jake King with 2:03 left.

McHenry (16-6-2), which was shutout by Jacobs 1-0 in a Fox Valley Conference matchup in McHenry on Oct. 6, knotted the match at 1-1 on an unassisted goal by Zac Gorniak with 27:38 left in the match.

"We went over a match and a half without a goal against Jacobs so it was important that we got a goal," said McHenry coach Tony Caruso. "We kept the pressure on them but we just couldn't get that second goal to get the lead. The kids played really hard and it was a tough battle for 80 minutes. We played with a lot of energy. Jacobs earned the win and was the better team."

Jacobs goalie Ethan Pickering registered 3 saves for the winners. His best effort came with 15:10 left when he made a diving save on a breakaway shot by McHenry's James Mulhall.

"Ethan has busted his tail off to be a good goalie," said Cappello. "He has made huge saves all season long."