Boys soccer: Conant stuns No. 1 seed St. Charles North
Conant senior and starting outside defender Jason Fillingim had a busy second half against St. Charles North in Tuesday's Class 3A Glenbard East sectional.
Fortunately for the Cougars, it was on offense.
Fillingim scored the equalizer and assisted the insurance goal during an inspired 40 minutes that lifted Conant to a 3-1 victory over the top-seeded North Stars.
Conant (14-7), the sectional's No. 5 seed, seeks its first sectional title since 2002 against No. 3 Addison Trail (22-1) at 5 p.m. Friday. The Blazers defeated St. Charles East 1-0 in Tuesday's second semifinal.
Before Tuesday, Fillingim had one goal and two assists this season.
"I'm not really a big ball winner so for me it's just more fun (scoring)," Fillingim said. "Today was probably one of my better days putting the ball in. I've never really put (dangerous) balls in that consistently."
Conant tied the game just 2:53 into the second half when an unmarked Fillingim punched home Sota Ono's corner kick, the Cougars' first of the game.
With 25:13 left, Conant senior Noah Ozbag made a long dribble from the left of the goal just beyond the top of the box before ripping a shot high into the net. Senior Matt Biernat added his goal with 17:21 left as he headed in Fillingim's 40-yard free kick from along the right sideline.
Conant coach Jason Franco agreed it was the best half his team played all season.
"Considering the circumstances, the pressure to have to dig out of the hole, to score 3 goals on a team like North in one half, a real credit to our guys. They stepped up and answered the call and it was fun to watch," Franco said.
"Second half, we came out and I don't know what the difference was. We found an extra gear."
For the North Stars (15-4-3), it was the first time allowing more than 2 goals in a game all season. They struck early as senior Jonathan Acevedo scored with 35:43 left in the first half off a cross from the left sideline by senior David Gorniak.
After leading in first half shots, the North Stars occasionally applied pressure during the second half but had only one long-distance shot on goal.
"I think it came down to set plays and our inability to defend set plays," said St. Charles North coach Eric Willson, who graduates nine seniors. "You go up 1-0 at halftime and hope that's going to be enough but we just couldn't defend in the box."
Franco especially was pleased because the Cougars worked on free kicks at practice Monday. Surprisingly, Fillingim doesn't usually take all of them but rather Biernat.
In the 36th minute, Fillingim had another great free kick from 50 yards out headed home by Biernat, but the goal was nullified by an offsides call.
Fillingim's brother, Eric, was on the Cougars' last sectional team in 2006.
"We had a lot more confidence coming out in the second half. That was really big for us," Fillingim said. "Most of us are seniors. We've been talking about this ever since we were in eighth grade. It's a big thing for us and that's why we all just want it for each other, too."