Zakaria Sajjad’s goal midway through the second half allowed Naperville Central to break a tie with Oswego, lifting the Redhawks to a 2-1 victory in Saturday’s Class 3A Naperville Central Regional final.

The Redhawks (15-2-1) won their sixth consecutive regional title while the Panthers (15-8) saw their season come to an end.

“We tried to come back and it was a great game,” Oswego coach Gaspar Arias said. “I’m really proud of these guys, how they played, how we fought in the game. It was amazing. It was a good game. It could’ve gone either way and it went their way and that’s all we can say. We were expecting a good game and it was a good game.”

Sajjad’s sixth goal of the season was easily his biggest.

“I don’t remember that much, I just remember a cross coming in (from Riley Hull) and then Eli (Jerrell) was on the ball there and it flicked off their head,” Sajjad said. “It came to my chest and I looked in the goal and it was just open so I just chested down and one tapped it. And this was a goal we needed because we had a long stretch of it 1-1.”

Oswego fell behind midway through the first half when the Panthers fouled Logan Godfrey in the box after a dangerous throw-in from Ryan Gervase with 19:47 on the clock.

“Eli checked in and I got around him and it fell to my chest,” Godfrey explained. “I dropped it and tried to take a touch to the side and a guy just hit me. I didn’t see him.”

Michael White took the PK that was awarded, burying his shot to his right for the 1-0 advantage.

“I felt like we had most of the control which started with our work rate,” Godfrey said. “We worked hard and had a lot of chances. We just need to convert them more consistently.”

Alexander Nieves’ cross to Enrique Castañeda with 12:01 left in the opening half turned into the game-tying goal.

“We’ve been working on that for a couple weeks already,” Arias said. “That combination worked today so it was great to see and these guys were excited that the work they put in training sessions turned out pretty well today.”

It was the third time the teams met this season. The Panthers, whose five-game winning streak was snapped, won 3-1 on Aug. 30 but the Redhawks responded with a 6-2 win on Sept. 6.

“They expected to be more successful than to just finish with 15 wins,” Arias said. “But they do realize they are a pretty good team. Winning 15 games is not easy and winning against quality teams like Marmion and some of those teams. They’ll eventually realize at the end and will be proud of what they’ve done.”

Redhawks coach Troy Adams was extremely pleased with Sean VanBaalen’s effort in goal.

The junior played in place of Wiktor Kopecki who sustained a head injury during warmups.

“Sean has played a good amount this season and has grown consistently every week getting better,” Adams said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever had a goalie spot like that. It’s interesting. As a player, in some ways it doesn’t give you enough time to think about it.”

Everyone on the roster has a role and things can change suddenly. VanBaalen was definitely ready when the call arrived.

“Sean stepped in and played a very good game controlling his area,” Adams said. “In the playoffs you’re going to need all 22 at some point, whether it’s playing goalie, scoring a key goal or key pass or practicing hard. You’re not going to win a state championship without everyone on the team contributing in some way.”