Boys soccer: Martinez, West Chicago hear sound of victory

Jahir Martinez didn't see the ball land in the back of the net, but he'll never forget hearing the West Chicago fans share the news.

Martinez's shot with 6:24 remaining will go down as an own goal because it caromed off a York defender, but it will be remembered as the shot that sent the Wildcats home with the program's first sectional title since 1997.

West Chicago defeated York, 1-0, in Saturday's Class 3A St. Charles East sectional championship game. The Wildcats advance to Tuesday's Conant supersectional where they will face Jacobs at 6:30 p.m.

"Both teams played their hearts out," West Chicago coach Jose Villa said. "York was tough, they were aggressive, they battled for every ball. I preached at halftime that it doesn't have to be pretty, just a poke or getting off a shot that forces the goalkeeper to make a save, and in this case, obviously, Jahir's shot wasn't the prettiest, but it doesn't matter. It was effective."

Jessie Hernandez dribbled down the sideline before firing in the cross, hopeful that Martinez could get on the other end of it.

"I took on a player and saw Jahir going in and then crossed the ball to him and he reached for it," Hernandez said. "It was in my head that the goal was going to be in the last minute. I could just feel it and it was."

Martinez said he intercepted the ball, disallowing the Dukes from clearing it out of such a dangerous spot.

"I saw the player behind me and he beat me to the ball, but I knew he was going to take that extra touch and I took the ball away," he said. "I just shot it. I didn't even see the goal, but I heard the crowd."

York (16-7-1) narrowly netted the equalizer about a minute later, but Paolo Favuzzi's attempt sailed just a few feet too high, banking off the football crossbar with 5:30 remaining.

"We definitely had our chances," York coach Lukasz Majewski said. "Unfortunately, when the ball goes into your net that close to the end of the game, a team hunkers down and tries to hold on and the other team is going to throw everything forward and that's what we did."

The Dukes, like the Wildcats, were aiming to break a lengthy sectional title drought. They last won one in 2000.

"It's a tough way to go, but you have to give credit to West Chicago," Majewski said. "They played the way they wanted and did the things they wanted to do. I thought we had our opportunities and created our own chances, but unfortunately the ball didn't bounce our way today."

The Wildcats (21-2-3) are just one game away from a trip to state.

"I'm super proud of our boys for pushing through all the way until the end," Villa said. "York is very similar to us in a lot of ways. They're a very good team, big senior class, a good record coming in and having a lot of leadership. And I think the fact that neither team had won a sectional many years made both teams really want it."

Conant better be prepared for a big crowd Tuesday. The Wildcats travel well.

"It feels amazing to do this for our fans and our city," Wildcats senior defender Ben Suddeth said. "This means a lot to us. We put West Chicago on the map."

Now they'll try to put West Chicago in the state semifinals.