Boys soccer: Duratovic nets OT winner for Stevenson
Alem Duratovic scored a pair of goals, and the second couldn't have come at a bigger time for Stevenson.
The sophomore scored in overtime to give the seventh-seeded Patriots a 2-1 win over No. 9 Zion-Benton in the Class 3A Libertyville regional semifinals on Wednesday night.
Stevenson (11-3-2) earned the right to play top-seeded Libertyville (17-0) for the regional championship at 3 p.m. Saturday.
"I think everybody in the state wants to play Libertyville," said Stevenson coach Mark Schartner, whose team lost 3-2 to Libertyville during North Suburban Conference action. "There's a reason why they're undefeated. There's a reason why they are undefeated. There's a reason they're No. 1 in the state and No. 1 in the nation."
Zion-Benton (14-5-3) gave Stevenson everything it had.
"The was an unbelievable match," Schartner said. "But if anybody in our state has been following our conference, this is what we've been doing all year. I think we have the best conference in the state. This is another representation of really fine and hard-fought type of soccer. I'm not celebrating so much because we have so much respect for (Zion-Benton)."
Duratovic scored the winning goal in the 90th minute with 11.8 seconds left on the clock. He connected on a free kick just outside the box. The ball curved around a wall of defenders and into the back of the net for his eighth goal this season.
"I knew the keeper would go to his right," Duratovic said. "So I went to his left because I know the keepers cheat the other way. I caught him. I hit it lower right."
Duratovic opened the scoring in the seventh minute on a penalty kick after the Zee-Bees keeper had a tackle for a foul in the penalty area.
Zion-Benton tied the match in the 27th minute. Zach Paxton fed a ball to the right side of the box, where Nikola Josifovic hit a half-volley into the goal.
The Zee-Bees had a couple other chances in last 10 minutes of the half, but the Patriots keeper Zack Klaber made a couple of his 6 stops. Hunter Tam cleared a ball off the goal line to save a goal.
" (Zion-Benton) doesn't let up," Klaber said. "They were simple saves, but in those moments they were big."
The Zee-Bees had one of their best season in school history.
"It's not the way you want it to end, but we have a great group of guys that don't give up," Zion-Benton coach Cliff Pontillo said. "It's unfortunate that we played a fabulous team like Stevenson. Well-coached and great talent. We took them to two overtimes and if we played another 20 minutes, who knows what might have happened. We had our opportunities. The players gave me everything they had. This might be the most wins in school history."