Boys soccer: Round Lake stuns Buffalo Grove

Over the last few years, Round Lake's boys soccer team hasn't gotten much respect when it came to seeding the sectional.

This year, the Panthers enhanced their schedule with more games on the road, better competition and matches on turf. They started the postseason with a .500 record but have won two in a row.

The shocker came Tuesday, as No. 15 Round Lake stunned second-seeded Buffalo Grove 3-0 in the semifinals of the Class 3A Highland Park regional. The Panthers opened tournament action with a 3-2 home victory over No. 18 Rolling Meadows.

Carlos Navarette-Rojo scored a pair of goals and Ivan Guerrero had the other for Round Lake (11-9-2), which will play No. 10 Lake Zurich in Saturday's noon final. Panthers keeper Ulises Nuno earned a clean sheet by making 11 stops.

"We finally got it," said Round Lake coach Hugo Tellez, whose team shared the Northern Lake County Conference championship with Grayslake North. "We got a seed that (said) nobody respected us. That opened (the players') eyes a little bit. This team is starting to believe what we're doing."

Buffalo Grove (14-5-2) defeated Fremd 2-0 for the Mid-Suburban League Cup last Thursday. The Bison had numerous chances against Round Lake but came up empty. The Bison played without starting goalkeeper Adam Sempoch, who warmed up but had a sore back and couldn't start. Raman Kudrautsau took his spot.

"We could have easily had four or five goals," Buffalo Grove coach Darren Llewellyn said. "But (Round Lake's) goalie came up with some huge saves. The boys came out here not so interested the first half, but the second half were going after it and pounding them. It's our fault because we didn't finish our chances."