Lions beat Trojans for third time to reach sectional finals

Borge scores in OT to assure LT of rematch with Morton

Photo courtesy of Ken Fox

By Curt Herron

It's kind of an unwritten rule that top-notch team are going to have great difficulty defeating another quality side three times in a season.

Lyons Township demonstrated that in 2009 when it avenged a pair of defeats to upset top-ranked Neuqua Valley enroute to winning a state title.

In Tuesday's Class 3A Argo Sectional semifinals, Downers Grove North got its chance to avenge a pair of regular season losses to the 2010 Lions.

But the third time was not the charm for the Trojans as LT won a 2-1 overtime decision in the clash of two of the state's top squads in Summit.

Elliot Borge got the game-winner 33 seconds into the first overtime when he hit a short attempt off of a throw in by Peter Kralovec-Kirchherr.

On a night where the gusty winds forced many other matches to be postponed, LT coach Paul Labbato felt that both squads performed pretty well.

"I've been saying all along that Downers Grove North is an extremely good team," Labbato said. "Considering the way wind was, it was a well-played game since both teams possessed a lot and had chances to win it. It was a great match.

"Fortunately for us, it comes down to that lucky touch in the box, but that's how soccer goes. In the overtime, I told them to get the ball into that corner and then it happened as if I had just planned it out, but I'm not that good."

LT (21-1-2) has now recorded 13 straight victories and has compiled an impressive 36-1-2 mark extending back into the middle of last season.

The victory sends the Lions into Friday's 4 p.m. sectional finals against Morton, which captured a 1-0 victory over Oak Park and River Forest.

The Mustangs (21-3-3) handed LT its only defeat this season when they rallied to claim a 2-1 overtime victory on September 18 in LaGrange.

Based on the teams' earlier meeting in the Pepsi Showdown semifinals, Friday's sectional championship figures to be another suspenseful match.

Also, this is the seventh time in 14 years that LT and Morton have met in a sectional. Each of the previous six matches was decided by a goal.

Labbato is expecting another nail-biter when the squads meet up on Tuesday to decide who will move on to the Hinsdale Central Super-Sectional.

"We love Morton, they're the best," Labbato said. "If it's not Hinsdale Central, it's Morton. It comes down to the three of us more often than not.

"They're a really good team and I felt that they were a little flat today so we're expecting to see the real deal with Morton come Friday."

The Lions get the chance to seek revenge against the Mustangs after shutting down the dangerous Trojans (17-5-2) for the third straight match.

In the earlier meetings, played two days apart in mid-September, LT won 2-0 in a West Suburban Conference Silver match and 1-0 in the Pepsi Showdown.

The one goal that LT allowed during the three matches is noteworthy since Downers North averaged over three goals per match in its other 21 outings.

Another thing that Labbato was proud of was that his defense shut down Downers North's explosive one-two punch of Paul Hogan and A.J. Jeffries.

Hogan collected 26 goals this season while Jeffries chipped in with 11 scores but neither player was able to find the net against the Lions.

Downers North's lone score tied things up with 2:06 left in the opening half when Azmi Sharif put a shot in the upper corner on a long free kick.

That was the only ball to get past LT keeper Kevin Beglen, who came up with a series of big saves early on to prevent his team from falling behind.

The Lions coach was quick to praise the efforts of Beglen in the net and also his defense of Alex Economou, Matt Thomas and Kralovec-Kirchherr.

"They got a great goal on a free kick that was maybe the best goal that I've seen all year," Labbato said. "But the fact that were able to keep Paul Hogan and A.J. Jeffries off the scoresheet for three straight games says a lot about our guys in the back.

"Alex just played lights out and saved his best game of the year for the toughest duo that we've seen so far. And Matt and Peter do such a good job with communication and giving a little bit but never giving the angles that those guys want.

"Kevin had three huge saves early that changed the game's momentum, which also let us realized that we were still in it. If one or two of those go in during the first 10 minutes and they have the wind, you never know what might have happened."

Borge had chances to wrap things up late in regulation play, beginning with a free kick that keeper matt Paprocki deflected away with about 8:30 left.

Then with just 37 seconds remaining, he got a ball on a corner kick from Kyle Kurfirst and fired off a short attempt that went right to North's keeper.

So when he spotted a loose ball that suddenly had come his way early in the overtime session, he was determined to connect to finally end the drama.

"I was looking to make up for the one I missed right at the end of regulation," Borge said. "It's not often that you'll see a ball pop out to you twice in the six yard box and you can't miss twice from there at this level.

"We have some big bodies that we like to throw in there and most of the time we can manage to get a decent flick on it and then have guys clean up after that and it worked for us in the overtime.

"Downers Grove North had a great team this year with a couple of All-State players. In a different sectional or side of the bracket, they're a team that could have potentially made it to a state final."

Beside helping to frustrate opposing offenses, Kralovec-Kirchherr has also caused plenty of teams extra headaches thanks to his dangerous throw-ins.

While most know what's coming their direction, stopping LT from executing on set pieces has been difficult, and it was no different in Tuesday's match.

The LT senior was pleased to contribute in a variety of fashions in a third-straight win over the Trojans, with the reward being a rematch with Morton.

"Coming into this game, we knew that this would easily be the hardest one of the year," Kralovec-Kirchherr said. "It's extremely difficult to beat a team three times in one season. They're a fantastic team and they gave us a great game.

"I didn't have any doubts throughout the game that we were going to be the ones who were going to come out on top because of the pressure that we put on them and the will that we have to win. We wanted this one so much.

"I knew that we had a hug wind advantage on that last play and we have big players so we're always dangerous on throw-ins. We have a lot of goals on that and I just thought that we could get something and we did."

LT had the first two good chances in the final half, with Kralovec-Kirchherr sending a long liner and a free kick to Paprocki in the initial 10 minutes.

Around the midway point of the second half there was an exchange of a liner from Jeffries and a floater rom Horacio Sanchez that were both denied.

A few minutes later, Jeffries attempted a short try but it was cleared by Alex Economou and Zack Parik followed a bit later with a liner over the net.

With about 10 minutes left in regulation, Jakob Mousel sent in a long-range line drive that Beglen hauled in for one of the Trojan's last good threats.

In the opening half, Sharif just missed giving North the early advantage about five minutes in when he sent in a long free kick that Beglen deflected.

A few minutes later, Kurfirst sent a line drive on a corner to Paprocki and his counterpart came out of the net to disrupt a short attempt by Sharif.

With 20:55 remaining before the break, LT struck first when Brett Heimerdinger got free in front of the net and was able to connect from close range.

Not too long after that, Borge sent in an attempt that was cleared by Alex Vogler before Sanchez headed a try over the net following a corner kick.

Hogan provided perhaps his best threat of the evening with just over four minutes left in the half, but his long shot was punched away by Beglen.

That set the table for the nicest-looking score of the windy evening, a liner on a long-range free kick from Sharif that found the upper corner.

With the score even again at the break, neither squad could connect over the next 40 minutes, setting the table for Borge's dramatic overtime goal.