Boys soccer: Dundee-Crown falls in sectional semis
Opportunity after opportunity came Dundee-Crown's way in its first boys soccer sectional appearance Tuesday night in Huntley.
Unfortunately for the Chargers, Rockford Guilford did more with less.
D-C (14-8) put 11 shots on goal to the Vikings' 3 but it was Guilford's Raul Pulido who scored his 35th goal of the season in the 46th minute on a rocket from 25 yards out dead center to eliminate D-C 1-0.
Guilford (17-4), which was outshot 13-12, will take on Jacobs in the Class 3A Huntley sectional final Friday at 6 p.m. while the Chargers will go home thinking about how just 1 shot could've changed their playoff fate.
"We had plenty of opportunities to put them away," D-C coach Rey Vargas said. "I thought we broke them down several times where we had open looks to get shots off and we did but we missed wide or the goalie did a good job of kicking that ball out. I thought there were several times where the ball was bouncing in the box and just couldn't get the ball in."
One of the keys for D-C was whether or not it could exploit the fact that Guilford liked to go in high on counters, that might leave the Vikings vulnerable on the defensive end.
That was apparent throughout as the Chargers got whatever through ball or pass over the top with ease. But when it came down to finishing, it just wasn't happening.
D-C's first chance came right away on forward Julian Ajroja's shot in the box go wide in the 2nd minute. Midfielder Mario Solano followed up with 2 shots off goal in the 13th and 19th minutes and Ajroja missed on a shot wide via a pass over the top in the 29th minute. Ajroja even bent a perfect shot that started left and nearly went in as it sailed to the right post but was pushed away by Vikings keeper Omar Diaz for 1 of his 2 saves in the 31st minute. Midfielder Jeremy Jareckyj also had a chip shot 2 yards from the right post blocked 3 minutes before the half.
"Things weren't going our way," Ajroja said. "There was no reason why we couldn't finish, we just didn't."
On the flip side Pulido's shot 6 minutes out of halftime seemed to be one of the tougher shots all night. Moving up the middle of the field, forward Diego Bolanos found the Vikings' most potent scorer, who ripped it in traffic just above the box for the game-winner.
"He's unpredictable and extremely fast," Guilford coach Javier Saavedra said. "He's one of those forwards that can be the difference in any particular game."
"They had one chance," echoed Ajroja.
D-C had multiple stretches during the final 30 minutes that nearly tied things up. One came on a chance Eric Martinez started just off the left post that Ajroja missed wide right in the box. Gerardo Estrada had a second chance off the rebound that went wide in the 53rd minute and Ajroja's shot from 10 yards out in the 73rd minute just lifted high above the left post. With 30 seconds to go Ajroja's shot felt good off his foot from 15 yards but it sailed wide past the far left post as D-C's last hope.
"My left foot's been bothering and I tried doing something with my right and it was a decent shot just an awful feeling it didn't go in," Ajroja said. "I'm gonna take the blame for (the game) but we played hard. It was a good season, I'm proud of the guys no matter what. I just wish we went farther."