Larkin run ends in sectional finals

Larkin's Erik Rodriquez (left) consoles teammate Julio Martinez after losing to Lake Zurich 5-0 Friday night in Class 3A Barrington Sectional title match.

(Michael Smart/Staff Photographer)

BARRINGTON -- Considering where the Larkin soccer team was at the beginning of the season, it's no wonder the Royals weren't too disappointed when their Cinderella run through the Class 3A state tournament came to an end on Friday night with a 5-0 loss to Lake Zurich in the title match of the Barrington Class 3A Sectional.

"Not disappointed in the least," said Larkin coach Ken Hall. "I've been thinking about this all day because they're just a superior team. We've played them twice and we played Neuqua Valley. For my money, I think they can beat Neuqua. I think we just lost to the state champs."

Last year, Larkin set a school record for wins and won its first Upstate Eight Conference title, but bowed out in the regional finals to end the season at 22-2. This season, a whole new cast of players consisting of mostly underclassmen entered the postseason with just six wins, but came through with a regional title as the No. 4 seed, before beating a then-three-loss Crystal Lake South team in the sectional semifinals.

"I told the guys: Life's funny, I had nine players from last year's team call me last week asking how this happened this year with what happened to our team last year,'" Hall said. "Sometimes it's just luck. We got fortunate and won two games in overtime."

Senior Billy Weber was a reserve on last year's team and figured he would be a leader for a young and rebuilding team once this season came around.

"I didn't expect any of this," Weber said. "It was a blessing. I was on the team last year and those guys were awesome. This year, I knew we had some talent but I didn't think we could do this."

On Friday, the Royals (9-16-3) started four freshmen, three sophomores, three juniors and a senior against the Bears (19-4), who featured nine senior starters. Larkin stayed competitive with the North Suburban Conference champions throughout the first half, taking a 1-0 deficit into halftime.

However, Lake Zurich poured it on in the second half and scored four goals in 6:01 spanning from 34:59-28:58 left in the match. Senior forward Nick Jonus scored a hat trick during the run.

"I look at it this way: six months from now they'll have four guys going to Division I schools," Hall said. "Six months ago we had four guys in junior high soccer."

Larkin's best scoring chances came in the first half. Junior Josue Medina had a shot go wide left with 21:50 left in the half. Freshman Erik Rodriguez, who scored two goals in the win over South, had a shot deflect off a defender and later had a header go just over the crossbar.

Larkin didn't have any shots on goal. Goalkeeper Santiago Guerrero had seven saves in net for the Royals.

"Their defense is pretty tough. All of their guys are big and strong. Us freshmen aren't big or strong," Rodriguez said. "It's a good experience though. Looking at next year – we still have a lot going for us."

Added Hall: "We won a regional and once we started winning during the season that was our goal. We know the group of freshmen coming in next year is real good also. We're looking to really build on this."