Boys soccer: Gaby Herrera scores overtime goal to lead Dundee-Crown past Crystal Lake South

Dundee-Crown's Gaby Herrera scored the match-winning goal in overtime to lead the Chargers past Crystal Lake South on Thursday.

CARPENTERSVILLE – Gaby Herrera knew it was now or never.

Dundee-Crown overcame a second-half deficit and an apparent go-ahead goal from Crystal Lake South that was taken away on Thursday, so Herrera knew he needed to make his moment count.

When the ball dropped right in front of him after it bounced off the goal post, he knocked it in with just over two minutes left in overtime to give Dundee-Crown a dramatic 2-1 win.

“I got a lucky bounce, it hit the bar right in front of me,” Herrera said. “I had to finish it.”

Both teams had battled in a physical match and the final play was no different. Miguelangel Pena sent the ball in off a corner kick to a crowded group of players in front of the net where a D-C (6-6-3, 3-0 FVC) player shot the ball.

South goalkeeper Logan Vargas made the stop, but D-C’s rebound shot went off the top post and bounced right in front of Herrera, who knocked in the goal with 2:57 left in overtime to give his team the walk-off win.

“Every time we play, we know it’s going to be a tight game, we never expect it to be a blowout one way or another,” D-C coach Rey Vargas said. “We know each other really well and how we each play. I think we each played to our strengths and at the end of the day I’m happy we got a good bounce in to score.”

The two teams spent much of the first half creating scoring opportunities but failing to score. South broke the tie with 32:34 left in the match when Nolan Getzinger broke free from his defender on a free kick just outside the corner of the box to head in the ball for a 1-0 lead.

The Chargers added more pressure defensively on each ball and created chances offensively. Pena tried to create an opportunity when he was fouled in the box and scored off a penalty kick to tie the match with 14:22 left.

“We knew if we lost the game in conference, that was conference right there, we wouldn’t be able to win it again,” Herrera said. “We knew we had to step up and get a goal as soon as we could.”

South (6-3-1, 2-1 FVC) thought it scored the go-ahead goal off a corner kick with five minutes left in the match when Getzinger tapped in the ball at the goal line but the goal was taken away because the official blew the whistle before Vargas and an injured Charger player could get off the field.

The Gators came close to scoring on the second corner chance but couldn’t convert.

“I’m tending to an injured player and we’re trying to walk off the field,” Vargas said. “He can’t let the play restart until I’m off the field. He shouldn’t have let it restart to begin with.”

South coach Brian Allen thought the goal couldn’t be taken away since the play took place after the official blew the whistle. Allen also thought that an arm touched the ball on the match-winning goal but said that his players shouldn’t have put themselves in that position for the Chargers to score off a scramble.

“It was a fantastic game between D-C and South, as it always is, it’s just unfortunate the players weren’t able to decide it with two very questionable calls,” Allen said. “I’m proud of my guys for the way they battled until the very end and obviously just disappointed. When you have a game like that, you want the guys to decide it on the field and it was tough to swallow with how things shook out.”

South will host Taft on Saturday before returning to Fox Valley Conference play on Tuesday against Burlington Central while D-C will travel to Crystal Lake Central on Tuesday.

Vargas has been waiting for his young team to put a full match together. In the most-important test of the season, the Chargers came through.

“We knew coming into this game that this was a big rivalry between conference schools,” Vargas said. “They just stepped up to the plate and took care of business.”