Harvard overcomes 2 deficits vs. Richmond-Burton to win Kishwaukee River Conference Tournament

HARVARD – Mario Mercado kept waiting for his moment to redeem himself Monday night.

After making a mistake that he felt cost Harvard a goal in the first half of Monday’s Kishwaukee River Conference Tournament championship, Mercado was determined to step up for the Hornets.

[ Photos: Richmond-Burton vs. Harvard KRC boys soccer ]

He capitalized when he finally got his opportunity. Mercado, a junior defender, scored the go-ahead goal in the second half to lead Harvard past Richmond-Burton in a 3-2 championship win, the Hornets’ third straight title.

“I had to make something, a play,” Mercado said. “That was my goal in the second half.”

Mercado’s moment came after Harvard (14-4) earned a corner kick with momentum on its side. Senior midfielder Miguel Mercado (no relation to Mario) sailed the ball in, and that’s when Mario Mercado saw his opportunity.

Mario Mercado found an open space and ran right to it. When he got there, he met the ball perfectly and headed it in to give the Hornets a 3-2 lead with 32:14 left in the match.

“That was a great first-post ball,” Harvard coach Victor Gonzalez said. “Mario just went up and won it.”

The goal secured a match in which Harvard came back twice to win the championship. Miguel Mercado tied the match both times. He first scored an equalizer when he sailed a free kick about 35 yards that snuck into the net with 18:55 left in the first half.

Miguel Mercado played hero once again early in the second half when his free kick attempt bounced in to tie the match 2-2 with 38:57 left in the match.

“It’s all hard work,” Miguel Mercado said. “We’ve been in this position many times. We know our team has what it takes to overcome it. We don’t stop, we just keep going and going and going.”

R-B (17-3) stole the match’s momentum nearly midway through the first half when senior Joe Kyes scored on an impressive bicycle kick goal that gave the Rockets a 1-0 lead with 26:34 left. The Rockets then capitalized on a ball that bounced off Mario Mercado that sophomore Nicholas Kyes took and drove down the pitch to score to give his team a 2-1 lead with 10:54 left in the first half.

Despite the early momentum and taking a second lead, Rockets coach Casey DeCaluwe didn’t feel his team made enough plays to win the title.

“We made too many mental errors,” DeCaluwe said. “In big games like this you have to clean that stuff up. It’s got to be learning lessons for us.”

Monday’s win served as a good precursor to the playoffs for both teams. The Rockets will finish the regular season Thursday with a match against Grayslake North, while the Hornets will travel to Genoa-Kingston the same day.

“It’s all hard work. We’ve been in this position many times. We know our team has what it takes to overcome it. We don’t stop, we just keep going and going and going.”

—  Miguel Mercado, Harvard senior

Winning a third straight KRC Tournament title built momentum for the Hornets. But coming back twice to continue Harvard’s dominance is what Miguel Mercado believes will help them in the playoffs.

“It’s the type of game that we want,” Miguel Mercado said. “We want to be in that type of playoff game. I know we can compete in that game.”