High School Soccer: Harvard falls to Timothy Christian in 10-round shootout in state semifinal

NORMAL – As the final buzzer sounded of the second overtime period at the Class 1A state semifinal between Harvard and Timothy Christian, the score was all knotted at 1. Penalty kicks would decide which team would move on to play for the state championship on Saturday afternoon.

After nine rounds of both teams scoring every goal, Harvard's Alonzo Carrillo was stopped by Trojans goalkeeper Ben Lodewyk, as the Hornets' hopes of a state championship ended Friday night in a 2-1 (10-9) loss.

"It's unfortunate that it has to end that way," Harvard coach David Abel said. "We were playing really well and it's tough to lose that way, but I couldn't be more proud of how the guys fought."

Harvard (22-5) trailed with less than seven minutes remaining when Diego Hernandez's shot deflected off of a Timothy Christian defender and into the back of the net to tie the game at one.

The game went to two overtime periods, with each team getting a chance to battle to rough winds at Normal's Corn Crib.

"There was a clear advantage going one way," Trojans coach Joe Grit said. "It was tough to play in, and I credit both teams for fighting through the way they did, and it's a great feeling to come out on top the way it ended."

Timothy Christian (19-5-1) opened the scoring when forward Tyler Vlasak got behind the Hornets defense and chipped it over then goalkeeper Humberto Hernandez.

The game was played a large part in the end of the team going with the wind, although Harvard was able to control a lot of the possession.

"I thought we did a great job responding," Abel said of his team. "These guys never want to give up and we maintained our composure well, and were able to get the tying goal there at the end."

Although the Hornets cannot win a state title, they will get the chance to be one of two teams in each class to end its season with a win. Harvard will battle Herscher (28-3) at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon in the third-place game.

"I feel for the guys, I really do," Abel said. "I'll tell you one thing: we have a bunch of the toughest kids I've ever seen. They ill fight until they physically cannot fight anymore and we will be ready to go to end this season on a positive note."

The Harvard goal scorers in the penalty shootout were Daniel Escobar, Fernando Mercado, Daniel Mercado, Martinez, Ismael Albarran, Pedro Guzman, Hernandez, Benito Mendoza, and Mauricio Mercado.

As happy as Grit was that his team pulled off the victory, he had nothing but high praise about his opponent Friday night.

"Harvard is an extremely talented team," Grit said. "They battled and battled with us and I kind of wanted to get to [penalty kicks] because of the pressure they put on us towards the end. They really are a very, very good team."

Timothy Christian will take on Columbia in Saturday's Class 1A state championship game following the Hornets and Herscher.

Game Ball

Jerry Martinez, sr., MF, Harvard

Martinez was a huge part of the Harvard attack all night, and scored his penalty kick in the shootout as Harvard lost to Timothy Christian 1-1 (10-9).

The Number

10 – rounds the penalty kick shootout went

The Big Play

Harvard put midfielder Alonzo Carrillo in as goalkeeper for the penalty shootout. Carrillo took the last kick offensively for Harvard in the shoot out and was saved by Trojans keeper Ben Lodewyk to end the game.

Timothy Christian 1, Harvard 1

(Timothy Christian wins 10-9 in penalties)

Harvard 0 1 0 0 (9) – 1

Timothy Christian 1 0 0 0 (10) – 1

First half

TC– Tyler Vlasak

Second half

H– Diego Hernandez

Penalty shootout

H– Daniel Escobar

TC– Andrew Wieringa

H– Fernando Mercado

TC– Tyler Vlasak

H– Daniel Mercado

TC– Mitch Evenhouse

H– Jerry Martinez

TC– Josh Anderson

H– Ismael Albarran

TC– Ben Lodewyk

TC– Jimmy Allen

H– Pedro Guzman

TC– Alex Markewycz

H– Diego Hernandez

TC– Michael Martens

H– Benito Mendoza

TC– Jon Barrera

H– Mauricio Mercado

TC– Logan DeVries

Goalkeeper saves: Humberto Hernandez (H) 4. Alonzo Carrillo (H) 0; Ben Lodewyk (TC) 6.