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Lions score in 2nd OT to nip North Stars
By Curt Herron
That's because the Lions were unable to find the net for over 90 minutes against a St. Charles North team that had no shot of advancing. But just as it was beginning to look more and more like the outcome of Saturday's match would be settled in a shootout, LT got its opening. And after coming up empty on a variety of good chances during the match, Horacio Sanchez made sure that the hosts would be competing on Thursday. Sanchez put in a rebound of a blocked shot by Chris Meingast with 5:14 left in the second overtime as LT claimed a 1-0 win over North in LaGrange. As a result, the Lions (7-1) advance to meet Lake Zurich while upstart Providence Catholic saw its hopes of a surprise quarterfinal trip dashed. "St. Charles North is tough and defensive-oriented with very good forwards to counter with," LT coach Paul Labbato said. "They played a very good game and were motivated to ruin our Pepsi Showdown. "Our theme for the game was not to get out-worked and we came out pretty strong in the air and went into tackles. We were trying to be physical to make sure that we didn't get the game in our face. "We finally found the weak-side at the end, which is what we've been working on. Chris got a great shot on goal and the keeper did a great job to get in front of it but the rebound came to Horacio." LT dominated in the scoring opportunities against the defensive-minded North Stars (5-4), especially during the opening half. But the hosts had nothing to show for it as they headed into the second 10-minute overtime session which followed regulation play. To further complicate matters, the Lions lost a player due to a red card, forcing them to try to earn the win while playing a man down. But within minutes, Meingast and Sanchez finally ended the drama following the last in a series of nice stops by keeper Tyler McEnery. Meingast was stopped by the North Star keeper on an initial close attempt but the ball deflected over to Sanchez, who put in the game-winner. "It was one of those games where we had a lot chances on goal and had the ball in their half all of the time so you think it's going to happen eventually, but there's always that doubt," Meingast said. "If it goes into PK's, anything can happen so we were glad to end it. Soccer is a crazy game and teams can beat anyone on any day, so we're glad to finish things since this tournament means a lot to us. "Winning like this will make us stronger as a team. We're all jelling together so well and this is the most-supportive team that I've been on in high school. And we're a solid team all the way around." In the opening 40 minutes, Lyons completely dominated the action as Elliot Borge and Sanchez led the attack with several threatening attempts. Meanwhile, the North Stars had few chances, relying on long attempts from Noah Anthony and Zach Matuszak that were stopped by keeper Sully Fox. The attack continued following the break as Sanchez had a pair of stopped tries and Borge another shot attempt within the initial six minutes. LT's pace slowed after that, however, as its next good opportunity came nearly 10 minutes later when McEnery pulled in a header by Sanchez. North finally got its first scoring chance of the second half with less than 15 minutes remaining when Anthony was stopped on a short shot. With just under 10 minutes left in regulation play, the squads put together a series of threatening shots which also failed to find the net. Brian Heimerdinger Kicked off the stretch with a liner, Anthony had a free kick knocked away and Borge saw his line drive also get deflected. Zach Pearsall nearly ended things with a minute remaining when he fired in a long free kick, which was punched over the net by Sanchez had a pair of attempts late in the first overtime before cleaning up after Meingast's blocked attempt in the match's final moment. After surviving what was arguably the toughest pool in their own tournament, the Lions face a talented Lake Zurich squad in the quarterfinals. "We could have won two games and tied this one but not made it through if we lost in PK's, so it was tough," Labbato said. "So we knew that we had to go 3-0 in the bracket in order to get it done. "In our last two Pepsi Showdown quarterfinals we dominated a team and lost in PK's two years ago and dominated a team and lost on a breakaway in overtime so we knew how it feels to lose these games. "Our team is senior-led so it's very focused and that pays off. The kids showed a lot of heart and I didn't make any subs for a long time. We felt they could do it and they just fought through it."
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Man of the match: Horacio Sanchez
By Curt Herron
But the Lyons Township junior forward was repeatedly denied thanks to a fine performance in the net by keeper Tyler McEnery. Following 80 minutes of regulation and one 10-minute overtime period, Sanchez and his LT teammates hoped to avoid heading to PK's. And with 5:14 remaining in the second overtime, Sanchez was able to assure his squad that they wouldn't need to reach that point. Sanchez put in a short rebound shot following a block by McEnery on an attempt from Chris Meingast for the match's lone goal. As a result, LT survived a tough pool by going 3-0, which assures it of a trip to Thursday's quarterfinals against Lake Zurich. The Lions dominated the scoring chances but defensive-oriented North and its keeper McEnery made life frustrating for the hosts. If the match had headed to PK's and the North Stars would have prevailed, then Providence would have advanced in the tournament. "I knew that I had to finish when I saw that loose ball since I had another chance during the game that I didn't finish," Sanchez said. " So I had to pick up the team by scoring that goal. "It was hard to beat them since they packed it in but our team tried to keep our heads up and stay as composed as we could. It feels good to move on and all of our work in practice paid off. "I like how we possess the ball more than the other team does. And we're coming together more and more as a team each day." |
Lyons Township watched in dismay as its hopes to advance to the quarterfinals of its own Pepsi Showdown became more and more in doubt.
McEnery.