Aurora Central Catholic beats Richmond-Burton in overtime to win 1st sectional championship

HINCKLEY – Aurora Central Catholic sophomore forward Chris Incandela took a big swing with his right foot and watched as the ball took a slight turn off a Richmond-Burton defender.

That deflection was just enough to fool Rockets senior goalkeeper Piotr Chmielowski, who made a last-second diving attempt on Incandela’s shot from 25 yards out, and the Chargers broke a 1-1 tie with 4:05 left in the second overtime of Tuesday’s Class 1A Hinckley-Big Rock Sectional final.

Aurora Central Catholic made that goal stand and held on to beat Richmond-Burton 2-1 to win the first sectional championship in team history. R-B (20-4-1), which won its second straight regional title, was trying to win its first sectional crown since 2019.

“One of my best moments in soccer ever,” Incandela said of his game-winner, assisted by junior midfielder Neil Mayer. “That was crazy. It was a great team play by us, a great find by [Mayer]. It kind of ricocheted off someone there, but as long as it went in, I don’t care. I tried to shoot it as hard as I could.”

Incandela’s goal gave the Chargers (18-3-2) their first lead of the game. R-B opened the scoring in the first half on a shot from just outside the 18-yard box from senior midfielder Dalton Youngs, assisted by senior midfielder Jack Meyer.

That goal stood until Aurora Central Catholic freshman forward Ian Piceno scored with 26:52 left in the second half, tying the game 1-1. The Chargers’ initial shot on goal was saved by Chmielowski.

The Rockets had some of the game’s better scoring chances in overtime, but couldn’t find the back of the net.

“We were certainly the better side for a lot of it,” R-B coach Casey DeCaluwe said. “Their keeper makes a save, we don’t follow up, and they bang one in the back of the net. I think possession we were the better side, but that’s not always what it takes to win. These games are ugly.

“We talked about that at half. We started stabbing in the midfield. On the goal that they scored [by Piceno] we didn’t contain well, and I felt like we played slow on one play – and that play cost us.”

The Rockets end the season with a program-record 20 wins, one more than the 19 they had in 2019.

“I’m just so proud of this team – the parents, the coaches, everybody,” Meyer said. “This wouldn’t have been possible without everyone. The parents showing up for every home and away game and cheering for us. The coaches putting more time in to help us practice than seeing their own families, the players giving everything they had.”

“I hope I left a legacy for the young guys. This team means everything to me. I love these guys, I love playing with them.”

Aurora Central Catholic coach Nazareth Jean-Marie said Tuesday was a complete-team win. It took a big defensive effort from everyone to slow down a Rockets’ team that had a plus-102 goal differential going into Tuesday.

“You see our bench, we don’t have a big team or anything, but everyone that went in, they played a big part,” Jean-Marie said. “We played together as a team, tried to be compact and tried to go forward whenever we had a chance. We tried to create chances. When it got to the final third, our decisions were not correct in the beginning.

“But as the game went on, we started picking it up.”

Chmielowski, who was a part of 16 shutouts, said the Rockets were hoping to go to state for the first time.

“I’m just really proud of this program. Sixteen shutouts is crazy,” he said. “We had big hopes, but I’m proud of the boys for everything we did. Skill-wise and physically, we were the better side. I guess they outplayed us mentally, but I’m still proud of this team.”

DeCaluwe said this is a group he’ll always remember.

“To get to this point is something to be proud of. I told them don’t hang your heads,” DeCaluwe said. “We did amazing things throughout the year.”