Huntley boys soccer falls to Elgin in Class 3A sectional championship

STREAMWOOD – Huntley huddled one last time on one side of the field while Elgin players ran to the other side to take photos and celebrate a 4-0 win with fans in the Class 3A Streamwood Sectional final on Friday.

The No. 1-seeded Maroons (15-3-2) – winners of three straight sectional titles – advance to face the winner of Saturday’s Stevenson Sectional final between Glenbrook North and Hersey at the Barrington Supersectional at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

The No. 3-seeded Red Raiders (14-7-4), meanwhile, were hoping to raise a sectional championship plaque for the first time since 2021.

“It’s starting to feel like a dynasty,” Elgin coach James Romano said. “It feels great. In a humbling way, it is the expectation for all of these guys and myself. We want and expect to be in this next game – the supersectional.

“These guys have been phenomenal, dominating the last couple of games. We feel great about it. We’re exactly where we want to be right now.”

Senior midfielder Roberto Salinas got the scoring started for Elgin, which dominated possession in the first half with 10 shots on goal to Huntley’s one. With 12:15 to go in the first half, Salinas fired a perfect shot on a free kick from 25 yards out, lifting the ball over Huntley’s wall of defenders and past senior goalkeeper Jeremiah Reynolds.

Salinas, who scored his team’s first two goals in Elgin’s 6-2 win over Rockford East in Wednesday’s semifinal, kept a simple approach on the free kick.

“Honestly, there wasn’t a lot on my mind,” he said. “It was just choosing one spot, and luckily I had the precision to score. My main thing was just trying to get it over the wall, and it dipped on them. I think it’s hard to get these [sectional] titles consecutively, especially with the level of talent all these teams have. It feels great.”

Friday’s outcome was a big difference from Huntley’s sectional semifinal – a 2-0 win against Hampshire – in which Reynolds only had to make two stops in goal.

Elgin ended Friday with 18 shots on goal.

“We were expecting that from them,” said Reynolds, who made 13 saves in his final high school game. “The last game they scored three goals in the first [14] minutes, so we were expecting them to come out hot. We wanted to match that energy.

“But I’m proud of [my teammates]. We weren’t expected to make it this far. Everybody said we were worse than last year.”

Elgin senior Ian Diaz, who didn’t start, had the final three goals for Elgin to finish with a hat trick. He scored with 3:20 left in the first half for a 2-0 lead.

Reynolds made a great diving stop on a corner kick by Aaron Saldana. The Maroons finished with 11 corner kicks in the game.

“They have that weird corner kick lineup to cause chaos,” Reynolds said. “They kind of stack on top of each other, and I think they just run wherever they want. You’ve just got to drop back and hope you get to it with just your reaction.”

Romano said it’s a nice luxury to have a player of Diaz’s caliber come off the bench.

“He’s been a guy that gets his minutes here and there,” Romano said. “Today he made the most of it. He came in and did exactly what we wanted him to do – he did even more. We’re super proud of him, and happy for him. We know this is going to be a big confidence boost.”

Huntley was runner-up in the Fox Valley Conference after winning the title last year. The Raiders won their third regional title in four years and will graduate 12 seniors.

“I guess the big message at the end there was where we were when we started and where we are now are two completely different teams,” Huntley coach Matt Lewandowski said. “There is going to be growing pains when you have 15 new guys every season. I’m real proud of the way they worked.”

Huntley was led in scoring this year by senior Mason Leslie and junior Aktai Mametjanov with seven goals each. Senior Anthony Frelas scored six goals and senior Tylar Caddick had five. Leslie and junior Aiden Felz both had five assists.

Reynolds said his final season was full of good times.

“This [team] is full of a bunch of goofy guys,” Reynolds said. “Every practice was fun, but we still worked for each other and we pushed each other.”

https://www.shawlocal.com/northwest-herald/2024/11/02/huntley-boys-soccer-falls-to-elgin-in-class-3a-sectional-championship/