Woodstock and Woodstock North had been on a collision course for the Kishwaukee River Conference title all season long. On Wednesday, fans of both boys soccer programs packed the near sideline from corner to corner as the Blue Streaks and Thunder battled for the conference championship.

A scoreless first half gave way to a physical and action-packed second half, where Woodstock struck for the game’s first goal before a quick answer by Woodstock North evened the match with roughly 30 minutes remaining. Needing a victory to claim their first conference title in school history, the Thunder scored twice in the final 10 minutes to shock the Blue Streaks 3-1.

“I always tell the boys to move one step at a time,” Woodstock North head coach Silmar Martinez said. “This has been a good run for us. It’s historic and I told them that they need to leave their footprint at this school. I have a really good group of kids here and they fought in every conference game.”

It was the first regular season conference loss for the Blue Streaks (7-6, 6-1 KRC), who had outscored KRC opponents 28-2 over their first six conference matches. Despite a scoreless first half, both sides had quality chances on goal. In the fourth minute, Woodstock’s Giovanni Hernandez aimed to give the Blue Streaks their first lead, but a diving save from Woodstock North goalkeeper Alex Carbajal kept the match scoreless.

“I’m really proud because I haven’t seen this many people at a soccer game in this city,” Woodstock head coach Santiago Rubio said. “Today, we wrote our names in the history of soccer for this city because we played a really tough and competitive game. I’m really proud of where things are going.”

Thunder sophomore Zachary Niese took off on a breakaway opportunity in the 14th minute, putting a shot on goal that Woodstock goalkeeper Luis Camacho hauled in for one of his two first-half saves. In the 24th minute, Hernandez played senior teammate Eric Jacinto inside the Woodstock North box. Jacinto blasted a right-footed shot that went just wide left of the goal.

Woodstock’s best chance at a first-half goal came in the 30th minute, when a foul on Hernandez inside the box created a penalty-kick opportunity. In perhaps the game’s biggest moment, Carbajal dove to his right, deflecting the shot away and drawing a roar of applause. The sophomore goalkeeper compiled six saves for Woodstock North (9-9, 6-1 KRC) in the victory.

“Our defense has been solid all year long,” Martinez said. “We were able to stop their counterattacks, which were what they used a lot... This win is a great momentum builder for the boys and they’re hungry for more. We’re going to focus on the KRC tournament next and then regionals.”

Physical play toward the end of the first half led to a series of yellow cards for members of both teams. Nine yellow cards were assessed in the match, with six going on the Blue Streaks and three for the Thunder. Woodstock, which owned a 5-3 shot-on-goal advantage in the first half, finally broke through in the 45th minute, when Jacinto blasted a ball from outside the box that carried through the wind and into the upper right corner of the net.

“I believe in my players and the players believe in themselves,” Rubio said. “We were about 13 minutes away from winning the conference. We moved the ball and we had five promising attacks in the first half... I’m proud of my boys. We kept the ball longer than they did and we attacked more. They weren’t reacting, they were proposing. We’ll keep proposing and working harder to develop a variety of possessions so we can be more dangerous.”

Just when it seemed that the Blue Streaks had an edge, Woodstock North countered with an equalizer in the 48th minute. After a free kick by senior center back Cole Morrison, junior teammate Luke Bigler crashed the net and cashed in off a deflection to even the score. In the 72nd minute, Bigler played sophomore striker Angel Ochoa inside the box for the go-ahead goal.

“When we went down 1-0, our captains kept us in the game because they told us to keep our heads up and we had a lot of time left on the clock,” Bigler said. “I saw the ball was bouncing in the middle and I had an opportunity, so I took it. I put the ball right on frame and it went in. This gives us a lot of momentum going into the KRC tournament. It’s our first conference title in school history, so everyone’s spirits are really high.”

Morrison effectively clinched the win for the Thunder, tapping the ball into the net after a free kick by teammate Saul Santana in the 74th minute. Santana’s kick hit the crossbar and bounced in front of the net, enabling Morrison to sprint toward the goal and convert to seal the Thunder victory.

“We started using our wings a lot more,” Martinez said. “The wings are usually our main focus and our strong suit, so once we started the wings more, we were able to create more of those scoring chances.”