Boys soccer: Streamwood blanks Larkin for regional crown

Larkin and Streamwood tied this year in their Upstate Eight Conference meeting, and through the first 40 minutes of their matchup in Saturday's Class 3A regional championship game they were still deadlocked.

The second half was a different story. Streamwood's offense came alive, putting three shots in the back of the net for a 3-0 victory at Millennium Field.

The Sabres (16-4-3) advance to the Class 3A Hampshire sectional where they will play Dundee-Crown, a 2-0 winner over Jacobs, at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

"We talked about how we needed to get it to our wingers," senior Alex Chavez said of the halftime adjustments. "Get them on the line and attack from there.

"It's my last game on this field. I'm really confident in our guys. Every time we need something we pull it out. Today everything was clicking in the second half."

Both teams had a handful of chances in the first half but nothing that took a highlight save to stop. Larkin defender Miguel Moreno cleared one ball off the back line to prevent a goal, while Streamwood coach Matthew Polovin implored his team to be more aggressive.

"I felt we had possession of the ball the majority of the first half," Polovin said. "The only thing that was keeping us from doing anything good was getting shots on goal. We had to start taking chances."

Rolando Martinez broke through with the first goal at 50:17. After Larkin was unable to clear a corner, Martinez gathered the bouncing ball in the box and poked it high and in.

"Once we got the first one I think Larkin's shoulders started dropping a bit," Polovin said. "I told them, once we score keep going at them."

The Sabres did just that. Chavez scored the second and third goals assisted by Edwin Peralta and Jesus Limon coming at 63:19 and 71:33.

"It's been a fun season so far," Polovin said. "One piece of the puzzle sort of speak. We'll enjoy it for a few minutes and then get ready for (Dundee-Crown)."

Larkin (15-6-3) had a few chances. Hector Alfaro made 3 saves for the Sabres, one when Aleksandar Zdravkovic blasted a free kick from the 25-yard line.

Samuel Rodriguez also found an opening twice in the final 20 minutes but shot just wide right both times.

"I thought we played too passive the whole game," Larkin coach Ken Hall said. "We're young. It's not easy when you are playing a quality and experienced team like Streamwood, but that being said I thought we had three or four chances when we could have put the ball in the goal. We just didn't."

Zdravkovic led Larkin this year with 26 goals. Only three Royals had previous playoff experience.

"We have most of the guys coming back so we're really happy about that," Hall said.