Boys soccer: Schaumburg dumps Conant in regional opener
No. 14 seed Schaumburg sent Mid-Suburban League rival Conant out of the boys soccer playoffs with a 1-0 victory Saturday morning at Gary Scholz Stadium.
Arnav Karnik's game-winner in the 51st minute ended the season for the No. 17 seed Cougars (2-12-1), who fell on tough times early in the season and never recovered the rest of the way.
"We expected a scrappy, hard-fought game because it was (Conant), it was kind of our version of an English Derby between two teams from the same city and that's the way it went for most of the way, so I'm glad we came out of it with the result we wanted," said Saxons co-captain Edwin Zuniga.
The Saxons, who will play No. 1 seed Lake Park (15-3-3) on Wednesday in a regional semifinal, entered Saturday on a five-game losing streak, in which coach Eric Sorby's team had scored 3, but conceded 13 goals.
"When we've been at our best, and been able to compete really well, it's been because we defend well, stayed compact and organized, and put forth a lot of energy for 80 minutes," said the Saxons' head coach.
"That's exactly what we did today, and now we move on where anything can happen."
There was nothing really going on in the first quarter hour as each side was unable to generate anything through the run of play in order to see their way through, and into the other's area.
Sota Ono, who led the Cougars with 11 goals this season, nearly found his 12th went his attempt was fired just wide of Saxons keeper Nick Labud but that was the only time in the first period he would be called into action, thanks to his sturdy back line led by all-MSL junior, Sam Bogner.
The Saxons (4-11-2) would start the second half on their front foot, nearly finding the opener if not for a terrific save by keeper Piotr Pyz, whose diving effort stopped Nick Marino.
Pyz would see his wonderful three-year career come to an end, but not before yet another strong 80 minutes of work between the sticks for head coach Jason Franco.
"Because of our overall record, (Piotr) was overlooked all year, but he's had another great year for us, and we'll miss him a lot," said Franco.
The Karnik goal came when Jason Shoo ran up the right side, sidestepped a defender then turned at the end line before connecting with his teammate.
Karnik did the rest when he unloaded a low drive that Pyz stopped initially but could not stop the attempt from finding the back of the net.
"After that goal, we sat in a little more, made sure to keep plenty of numbers behind the ball, defended, and played hard for the seniors so they and all of us could play again," said Zuniga.
Nice ball movement nearly led to a chance for Joshua Kaye until Labud came off his line to stop the Cougars' junior, who was at the center of the last opportunity from the visitors which Ono started near the midline.
"Today's effort kind of summed up our entire season," Franco said. "Not enough on either side of the ball, and not enough effort or energy for 80 minutes."