Boys soccer: Cary-Grove, Crystal Lake South prevail at DeKalb
Cary-Grove coach Mark Olson preached to his team that any shot on goal in the postseason is better than no shot at all.
That advice paid huge dividends in Wednesday night's Class 3A DeKalb boys soccer regional semifinal against South Elgin.
Trojans junior midfielder Luis Lemus found himself unmarked from 25 yards out and ripped a wicked shot into the left corner to give his team a 2-1 advantage in the 25th minute. Senior Michael Arenberg extended Cary-Grove's lead to 3-1 at halftime with another bullet off the crossbar five minutes later and the Trojans played solid defense throughout the second half to earn a 4-1 decision that matched the final score from a month ago.
Cary-Grove (8-8-2) will face top-seeded Crystal Lake South (11-8-4) in Saturday's 3 p.m. regional championship. The Gators survived host DeKalb, winning 4-2 in penalty kicks after trailing 2-0 in the first half.
"We told them when you're just outside the 18, let it rip," Olson said. "Often times we're inside the PK area and we're looking to pass. His shot dipped near at the end and it was right near the post, so it was a tough shot to handle."
Cary-Grove got off to a strong start when Patrick Kingdon corralled a deflection in the box and found the back of the net less than four minutes into the contest.
"Patrick came in and gave us some great energy," Olson "His shear hustle and work set himself up for that goal,"
South Elgin (7-7-1) equalized midway through the half on a well-played give and go between Isaac Perez and Ignacio Acevedo, with Perez scoring from 15 yards out.
"Isaac is one of our senior captains and he's been making plays for us like that all year," said Storm coach Collin Hayes. "He just took the weight on his shoulders there to get the game level."
"We had a defensive lapse and they capitalized on it, but I was happy with the way we responded," Olson said.
Cary-Grove pushed the pace after that and had an opportunity to seize a 4-1 lead with three minutes left in the half, but Arenberg missed a penalty kick wide after being taken down in the box.
The Trojans found that fourth goal nine minutes into the second half off a corner kick when senior Christopher Klawitter hit a long roller off the turf that found its way through traffic into the right corner of the net.
Cary-Grove stayed organized in the back and the Storm struggled to mount a second half attack. Their best chance came when Acevedo took a Javier Lujan pass and launched a shot that Trojans keeper Sergio Lemus thwarted with an excellent diving save.
"We played them earlier in the season and their defense was even better tonight," Hayes said. "They stayed marked tight defensively and they were aggressive. Everything we tried they had an answer for it."
Crystal Lake South got more than it bargained for against No. 8 seed DeKalb as the Barbs seized a 2-0 lead with goals in the 4th and 24th minutes from Mike Leopardo and Tristan Bujarski. The Gators were able to slice the lead to 2-1 as junior Ben Kassel scored with 7 minutes left in the opening half. Kassel nearly tied the score minutes later on another excellent individual effort, but DeKalb keeper Jack Fellabaum came up with a key save.
The Gators maintained possession for the majority of the second half, then finally found the game-tying goal with 8:44 remaining in regulation when Brad Grabowski tapped in a rebound off Nickolas Getzinger's initial shot on goal.
After DeKalb missed wide on a glorious chance for a game-winning goal late in the second overtime, Gators reserve keeper Brandon Gorka came up big after taking over for starter Spencer Traub in the second half.
Gorka stopped DeKalb's opening penalty kick, then watched as Getzinger, Jake Canfield, Zach Schmidt and Jeff Kirshenbaum converted for the Gators, Gorka made a brilliant stop on the Barbs' fourth attempt to seal the victory.
"I knew the guys believed in me and I just wanted to do my best for the team," Gorka said. "I knew he was going to go that way on the last penalty kick, and once I made that save I saw everyone running at me. It was amazing."
"In the postseason, it's quality over quantity and give DeKalb credit for converting on their two chances to put us in a hole," Gators coach Brian Allen said. "I was proud of our guys for keeping their composure and getting it to a shootout. Gorka rose to the challenge there and I'm so proud and happy for him."