Genoa-Kingston’s season ends at home to Aurora Central Catholic in regional final

GENOA – The host Cogs successfully fended off Aurora Central Catholic’s attacks in the first half of Wednesday’s Class 1A Genoa-Kingston Regional final. Charger shots on goal that were not cleared by a Genoa-Kingston backliner were stopped by freshman goalkeeper Adrian Leon.

Aurora Central finally broke through during the last 40 minutes to beat Genoa-Kingston 2-1 for the Chargers’ third soccer regional crown in school history and a berth in the Hinkley-Big Rock Sectional.

Aurora Central (16-3-2), the top seed in Sub-Sectional A, faces Marengo, the second seed in Sub-Sectional B in the first sectional semifinal on Friday.

Genoa-Kingston, ranked third in Sub Sectional A, finished the season with an 8-10-4 record.

“We showed a lot of determination. We stuck to a good game plan. I think they had a little bit extra at the end and that’s how they came back,” Genoa-Kingston coach Thomas Moore said.

Leon, who had been sidelined with a hand injury, made 13 saves.

“He came back just in time and played a fantastic game,” Moore said.

The Cogs broke the scoreless deadlock in the 51st minute with a successful penalty kick by Adrian Delgado. The junior’s well-placed spot kick went between the outstretched hand of Aurora Central’s leaping keeper, Elias Perez and the bottom of the crossbar for his tenth goal of the season.

Genoa-Kingston lead held for five minutes. Dribbling up to the left corner of the goal box, Aurora Central’s Christopher Incandela drew Leon to the left side of the net. Instead of taking a shot, the sophomore tapped the ball to teammate Matt VanDeman at the right post for the uncontested equalizer.

VanDeman scored Aurora Central’s go-ahead goal at the 17:47 mark of the second half. Leon deflected a close-in shot by Charger Diego Perez. VanDeman corralled the rebound and returned it to the net for his 29th goal of the season.

Aurora Central controlled run of play throughout the match, limiting Genoa-Kingston’s scoring opportunities.

Aurora Central defenders turned away the Cogs’ two best first-half scoring chances. Josue Leon’s 20-yard free kick from the near side touchline was cleared by Charger defender Nathan Diedrich. A Delgado shot on goal, a blast from the right corner of the penalty box, bounced off Connor Dineen.

Diedrich and Dineen also denied two Cog corner kicks late in the match. Diedrich headed away Leon’s left corner boot in the 74th minute. Dineen cleared another Leon attempt from the right side with 2:16 left to play.

Thomas praised the effort of his three senior captains: Christian Rangel, Fernando Flores and Brandon Wolcott.

“They stayed in the whole time and played fantastic,” the Cogs coach said. “They led us all year and I am really proud of them.”