Boys Soccer: Waubonsie tops Oswego in regional
Oswego appeared to be heading into the second half of Wednesday’s Class 3A Naperville regional semifinal within striking distance of Waubonsie Valley.
The Panthers only trailed 1-0, but Waubonsie Valley’s Benjamin Zoet secured a through ball in the waning seconds and sent a shot into the back of the net to increase the lead to 2-0 with only 3 seconds left on the clock before intermission.
Waubonsie Valley carried that last second momentum into the second half in a 3-1 victory. The Warriors will return to Naperville Central on Saturday at 3 p.m. to face the host Redhawks in a regional championship game.
“It’s always big when you move ahead by more than one,” Zoet said. “I just was able to get into the right space at the right time and finish.”
The Warriors jumped to a 1-0 lead with 22:49 left in the first half when junior Casey Bucz’s cross found Frankie Saiz.
Timmy Miller made sure that the Panthers had no chance to battle back, blasting a shot from 24-yards out with 16:32 left in the second half.
Oswego (9-10-1) avoided the shutout with 5:20 left when senior Jeremy Wine scored on a header, but it was a little too late for the Panthers.
Naperville Central was also victorious on Wednesday with a 7-0 rout of Geneva.
Senior midfielder Mike West put the Redhawks ahead almost 10 minutes in on a 25-yard shot with 30:34 left, but the hosts were unable to increase the lead until late in the half when David Murphy connected with 8:37 remaining and Devin Ammo-Mensah turned a similar trick with 1:19 left.
“I thought we came out well but just couldn’t put it into the net until the end of the half,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “Finally it seemed like we got one and then another.”
Naperville Central (18-1-0) didn’t slow in the second half, getting goals from Jordi Heeneman, Sam Reskala, Pat Flynn and J.J. Gustaitis. Murphy finished the contest with a pair of assists.