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Red Devils top Morton in overtime By Eddie Burns October27, 2009
“We said before we came out for overtime that it would come down to the first 5 minutes because something was going to happen,” Wiggins said. It turns out he was right. Not even 2 minutes into the golden-goal session Hinsdale Central cashed in on the overtime’s first real scoring chance when the Red Devils were awarded a corner kick. Taylor Cole took the attempt and knocked the ball to Mitch Reavis, who drew the attention of the Morton defenders inside the Mustangs’ penalty area, before taking a shot on the Morton net. After an initial stop, Robbie LaRocque alertly pounced on the rebound and sent home the winning goal in the 82nd minute to give Hinsdale Central a 1-0 victory against Morton in a Class 3A sectional semifinal match played at Centennial Park in Hinsdale. “I saw the ball bounce off their goalie and I just tapped it in,” said LaRocque, who was mobbed by his teammates. “It was wonderful feeling. I tipped it in and I got piled on, but it was a good time. I can’t complain.” Wiggins said he was happy to see his team seize the first scoring opportunity of the overtime period. “We made it happen,” Wiggins said. “We played the ball into Mitch and that is what he’s capable of doing. He created that himself. It was a solid individual play. We talked about guys being first to the ball and creating separation they got on the end of it and got it, so it is just great for our kids.” The match was played on an extremely saturated field, which caused all sorts of footing issues for both teams. However, the field conditions could not dampen the spirit each team displayed. There were plenty of fouls called and the match featured its share of physical play. “This is one of those games you have to survive and where you have to deal with crisis and we had crisis all game long,” Wiggins said. “From the field causing difficulty and us having to react, but our guys handled it well, but it was not going to be a pretty game. The field has been through a lot here and we’re just going to recognize that it was a tough game to gut out.” Neither team really created many scoring opportunities in the opening half, but the second half featured a lot more action. Hinsdale Central’s Eric Loebig had the Red Devils’ best chance in regulation, but his rebound attempt hit the post in the 56th minute. Morton, which also lost to Hinsdale Central in last season’s sectional semifinal round, also had plenty chances of its own, but the Mustangs failed on multiple occasions. “It was a great game both ways,” Mustangs’ coach Mike Caruso said. “We had a pretty good stretch that last 20 minutes of the second half where we were on them pretty good and had a few golden opportunities, but we didn’t put them in. When you can’t put in golden opportunities in a 0-0 game you are asking for trouble and that is what happened to us today.” When the Mustangs weren’t missing the net entirely, they had issues solving Red Devils’ goalie Jack O’Donnell, who helped Hinsdale Central (16-6-2) register its 11th shutout of the season. “We’ve talked about that and it is through the efforts they gave today that has helped turn this thing around,” Wiggins said. “We went through a rough spot in the middle of the year and we’ve done well since.” O’Donnell said the squad changed its attitude. “In the beginning of the year, we were focusing on individual play and now it seems mentally everyone is doing their part while working together,” O’Donnell said. “We’re taking care of our own assignments and working together and it shows because we’re playing more like a team.” The Red Devils advance to Saturday’s sectional championship where they will play either Fenwick or Lyons.
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2009 Schedule
Postseason play
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When Hinsdale Central and Morton headed into overtime during their sectional semifinal match on Tuesday afternoon Red Devils’ coach Mike Wiggins had a feeling.