With his team facing a one-goal deficit early in the first half, Dundee-Crown senior forward Hugo Arista ignited the Chargers offense, scoring back-to-back goals in the team’s Class 3A D-C Regional final against St. Charles East.

Dundee-Crown found the equalizer in the 10th minute, when defender Lupe Martinez blasted a shot on goal and midfielder Mauricio Ruiz took a shot on goal shortly after. St. Charles East goalkeeper Jason Striegel deflected the shot away, but Arista found position inside the box and evened the score.

One minute after tying the game, Arista gave Dundee-Crown the advantage, capitalizing on a well-executed touch pass from senior midfielder Sebastian Sanchez. Arista, streaking into the St. Charles East box, took the pass and bent a right-footed ball into the left corner to put the Chargers ahead 2-1.

“We play really well as a team,” Sanchez said. “Other teams depend on a few players, but we all have confidence in each other and we play the ball on the ground. That’s what makes us a good team. It’s about our confidence. We know how we can play and the best teams show up at these times.”

Arista finished with three goals, while Ruiz converted a penalty kick in the second half to lead Dundee-Crown over the fifth-seeded Saints 4-2 and clinch the team’s sixth regional championship in 10 years. The fourth-seeded Chargers (16-5-3, 6-2-1 FVC), whose last regional title came in 2022, will advance to play in the 3A sectional tournament at South Elgin.

“It takes 11,” Arista said. “It’s not just me. We just had to bring the ball down and pass. That’s our game plan. We watched their regional semifinal game and we saw what they liked to do, so we game planned for that. It feels great. I’ve been trying my whole Dundee-Crown career to win one.”

While the Chargers outshot St. Charles East (12-6-4, 3-2-2 DuKane) by a wide margin, finishing with a 12-3 advantage in shots on goal, the Saints were the team to strike first in Saturday’s regional final at Dundee-Crown. In the fifth minute, midfielder Aidan Richbell delivered an excellent through ball to forward Sam Arville, who curled a shot into the net after Dundee-Crown goalkeeper Manuel Hernandez slipped on the grass field.

“We created some chances and we scored some goals, but when you give up four goals, it’s very difficult to win at this stage of the season,” St. Charles East head coach Vince DiNuzzo said. “That’s a credit to what they did, but we have a lot to fix going forward. We had two seniors playing today and a lot of kids coming back. They have to use this as motivation for next year.”

On the attack for most of the first half, Dundee-Crown extended its lead in the 22nd minute, when midfielder Arturo Flores delivered a through ball into the box for Arista. Arista’s shot bounced high off the goalkeeper Striegel, but the ball’s forward momentum carried it into the back of the net. The Saints came up empty on two corner kicks during the 31st minute.

“They had a spell of about 15 minutes in the first half that really killed us,” DiNuzzo said. “After jumping out, I loved the way we started the game. We switched systems after that and we were much more comfortable after that. I’m proud of how we fought until the end and that’s a really good team.”

Trailing 3-1 at halftime, St. Charles East executed on a rare scoring chance in the 46th minute, bringing the Chargers within one after a miscue by the Dundee-Crown defense. A turnover at the near sideline led to a one-on-one opportunity for Richbell, who beat Hernandez from the left side of the box.

Despite closing the gap, St. Charles East was unable to slow down Dundee-Crown’s consistent offensive pressure. After defender Angel Landeros drew a foul on a drive into the box in the 56th minute, Ruiz took the ball at the penalty mark and flicked a shot into the upper right corner to extend the Charger lead. Ruiz was one of six Dundee-Crown players with shots on goal.

“We knew one more goal would bring them down,” Ruiz said. “We capitalized on that. We executed well and we knew how they were going to come out since we saw their last game against [Rockford] Jefferson... Our chemistry comes from practice and we know how to break down teams like this.”

Hernandez finished with five saves for the Chargers, while Striegel totaled nine saves for the Saints. Dundee-Crown will face St. Charles North in the sectional semifinals at South Elgin on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. The North Stars knocked off No. 1 seed Huntley 4-2 in the regional finals Friday night.