HUNTLEY -- Players and coaches on both the Elgin and Larkin soccer teams admitted they hadn't been involved in a game quite like the one on Friday night.

A constant 20 mph wind out of the southwest combined with a muddy field and steady rain made it a matter of playing to the field conditions when the crosstown rivals met in the title match of the Huntley Class 3A Regional.

A full 80 minutes of regulation couldn't decide the winner and neither could three 10-minute overtimes. It wasn't until Larkin freshman Tony Hernandez scooted one by Elgin goalkeeper Osiel Ravadan with 3:51 remaining in the fourth overtime that the Royals eked out a 4-3 win for their third regional title in four years.

Considering fourth-seeded Larkin (8-15-3) is still well below .500 and has four freshmen and five sophomores on this year's team, coach Ken Hall admitted he didn't think his team would be holding up a regional plaque this year.

"Absolutely not," Hall said. "Here's the thing: we've gotten better as the season has gone on. We set a goal once we started winning some games and said 'Let's try and win a regional.' The hilarious thing is the best team we had was last year and we didn't win (a regional)."

Each team figured its best chance to score was when it was with the wind considering kicks with any kind of force took off to the north goal. However, Larkin scored two of its goals playing against the wind, including its game-winner.

"The elements, the weather was terrible," said Larkin's Alex Sanchez. "Especially with the wind in your face, it's not what you want to play on, but you do your best to win the game."

With the wind at its back, Larkin had plenty of chances in the third overtime, but failed to convert on three straight corner kicks. Ravadan was a big part of that as he had one diving save after another en route to a game-high 17 stops.

"They have a very good keeper and he did a great job there," Hall said. "He kept us out. There were a couple times I though we scored and he stopped us."

By the time the fourth overtime came, it was almost completely dark and it was uncertain whether there would be a shootout. But none of that mattered after Hernandez's game-winner on a ball that third-seeded Elgin failed to clear after a corner kick.

"I can't believe it," Hernandez said. "I thought the ref called a foul to someone. I hesitated a little bit and tried my best not to miss it. I had a couple opportunities on a corner and thank God I got another chance."

Elgin (5-11-4) took a 1-0 lead on an Oswaldo Betancourt goal off a direct free kick. Larkin tied it on a goal from Sanchez and went ahead 2-1 with 2:38 left in the half after a goal from Geovanni Gonzalez.

Less than three minutes into the second half, the Royals made it three unanswered goals after Hernandez scored on a penalty kick.

Elgin took advantage of the wind and tied the game at 3 with 20:17 left when Jose Quevedo scored on a rebound. Carlos Moreno also scored in the half.

"It was probably the most amazing soccer game I've ever been around," said Elgin coach Dave Borg. "Somebody was gonna lose and the later it got the tougher it was out there and we played our hearts out."

Larkin advances to the Barrington Sectional on Tuesday where it will play the winner of McHenry and Crystal Lake South.