Boys soccer: Jacobs notches key FVC win over Dundee-Crown

For three years Liam Armstrong had never enjoyed the excitement of a win over District 300 rival Dundee-Crown.

That changed Tuesday night.

With Armstrong scoring the first goal of the night with 6:37 remaining, Jacobs was able to nip the rival Chargers 2-0 in Fox Valley Conference action at Jacobs.

"Wow, this is an exciting and unbelievable win," said Armstrong. "Beating Dundee-Crown was certainly on my bucket list. It was frustrating not scoring until later in the game, but we kept pushing. It was chaotic in front of the net. I just kicked it and got a little lucky and went crazy. D-C is a very talented team so we had to play well."

Brian Ramos scored an insurance goal for the Golden Eagles (10-3-2, 6-0) with 1:52 remaining.

"This was a huge win for us," said Jacobs coach Colin Brice. "We have a great District 300 rivalry with Dundee-Crown. This win puts us in the driver's seat in the conference. The match went back and forth. Hats off to our kids they stayed with it and we scored late."

Brice received a great effort in goal from senior Preston Krahl, who is also the kicker on the Golden Eagles football team.

Krahl pushed away all 6 shots the Chargers (10-6-1, 4-2-1) put on goal.

The Eagles goalkeeper made 2 spectacular saves in the game. With 27:03 remaining in the first half, D-C's Roland Dearborn broke through the Jacobs defense and blasted a breakaway shot on goal but Krahl dove and made the save.

The Chargers' Jason Miller attempted to give the visitors a 1-0 lead with 7:05 left in the contest but Krahl leapt and pushed the ball over the net to preserve the shutout,

"I was focused two hours before the game and the two hours during the game," said Krahl. "I knew this was a huge game. It was a crazy game. There was traffic in front of the net all night. D-C is a very aggressive team who plays hard. I was glad Liam scored. I was thinking this was going to be a double overtime game with a shootout. It was nice to finally beat D-C after four years."

D-C coach Rey Vargas utilized 2 goalies in the game with Venancio Mejia (1 save) playing in the first half and Nathan Becker (9 saves) the final 40 minutes.

"We have used the two goalie system all season long," said Vargas. "Sometimes it has worked out. Tonight it didn't. We weren't there offensively and weren't aggressive. We played well and played with great intensity on defense until the final six minutes. Turnovers really hurt us. We have to regroup and finish the regular season strong and get ready for the regionals."