Indian Creek boys soccer tops Somonauk-Leland-Newark in penalty kicks to win 1st LTC Tourney title

HINCKLEY – As the first half of Thursday’s championship match of the 43rd Little Ten Conference Tournament came to a close, No. 3-seeded Indian Creek was in both a good and tough spot against top-seeded and defending champion Somonauk-Leland-Newark.

The good was the Timberwolves held a one-goal lead; the tough was they would have to play the Bobcats the rest of the way a man down because of a red card.

S-L-N was able to score the equalizer with just over 15 minutes remaining, but after the teams ended regulation and two 10-minute overtimes still deadlocked, Indian Creek outscored the Bobcats 2-0 in penalty kicks to secure a 3-2 win at Larry “Doc” Peppers Field for the first LTC Tournament title in program history.

“We did some things that put us in a tough spot, but the guys just kept playing hard and never gave up,” Indian Creek coach Nic Gaston. “Somonauk has a very good team, and whenever you have to play them, you know it’s going to be a battle. It was sure a battle tonight.

“This one may have taken a couple of years off my life, but I couldn’t be happier to see these guys holding that championship trophy.”

S-L-N had defeated IC 2-0 in LTC regular-season play Sept 11.

“We had to go more defensive in the second half,” Gaston said. “We were only playing one forward and hoping maybe to get a breakthrough at some point. Then when they tied it up, while we wanted to look for offensive opportunities, I was really hoping we could push the match to PKs. I feel we have a little more experience with Jacob in net over their kid, who is a little younger. I guess it worked out.”

After having a goal disallowed on a foul three minutes into the match, the Bobcats (13-6-2) took the lead in the 12th minute when Austin Todd picked up an errant pass on the right wing and blasted a shot past IC senior keeper Jacob Coulter (eight saves) from 15 yards out.

Two minutes after S-L-N had a goal waved off because of an offside call, the Timberwolves (10-6-2) tied the match in the 28th minute on Tyler Bogle’s header off a perfect crossing pass from Cooper Rissman that deflected off the crossbar and the body of S-L-N sophomore keeper Tristan Reed (three saves) and into the net. IC took the lead with two minutes remaining in the half on Jason Brewer’s corner kick that found its way in the net between the post and Reed. However, the celebration after the score resulted in a red card.

“First, congratulations to Indian Creek, they played a very solid match,” S-L-N coach Jonathan Liechty said. I thought we played well at times as well, and I was happy to see the guys bounce back in the first half after having that early goal waved off. But after the second one that was taken off the scoreboard we struggled to get back on track. We knew going into the second half being down a player that Indian Creek was going to play very defensive-minded, and while we created some chances in the first 25 minutes or so, we just couldn’t find the net.

“This is a tough one for sure, but the guys will bounce back, and we’ll work on getting better heading into the postseason next week.”

The Bobcats retied the match with 15:34 remaining on a rebound goal by Benson Gudmunson off an initial shot by Todd that was saved Coulter.

The match, despite each team having a few good chances, stayed deadlocked the final 15 minutes of regulation and overtime to send the decision to penalty kicks.

The first PK by S-L-N was stopped on a dive by Coulter, and IC’s Sean Acker’s shot found the back of the net. The Bobcats’ next two chances sailed over the net, and the T-Wolves’ Parker Murry scored to leave S-L-N with one last shot, which Coulter deflected away to start the celebration.

“Our defense played crazy tonight, and I knew they would,” Coulter said. “Isaac Willis and Cesar Gomez were my MVPs tonight. ... They played their butts off in front of me.

“On PKs I think the main thing is to not get too much into your own head. You just have to relax and trust yourself. You have to commit to going one way and stick to it. The only thing after that is to try and read the shot of the guys foot and then do whatever you can to get your hands on the ball. Normally guys that kick with their right foot I’m guessing diving to my right and lefties the other way around. Having a couple of (S-L-N’s) shots go over the net was a big relief.

“This was fun.”