Boys soccer: Dixon edges Genoa-Kingston in BNC tournament semifinal

DIXON – With 16 minutes left in a scoreless game against Genoa-Kingston, Dixon boys soccer coach Josh Brigl gazed out at the field and said, ‘Let’s go, Purple. Let’s find a way. Let’s do this.’

About 15 minutes later, his wish was granted.

Bradyn Langloss and Logan Etheridge found a rare crack in the G-K defense and combined for a late goal, and it was enough to get the Dukes past the Cogs 1-0 in a Big Northern Conference Tournament semifinal Wednesday afternoon at Sauk Valley Community College.

Next up for Dixon is the championship game at 4:15 p.m. Friday against Rockford Christian at A.C. Bowers Field. The Royal Lions edged Mendota 2-1 in their semifinal.

Dixon (11-3) had defeated Genoa-Kingston 4-2 in the regular season, and got pushed to the limit in the rematch.

“We were expecting a good game, a well-fought game, but I don’t know,” Dixon goalie Ryan Pitzer said. “They definitely played better this time around than they did last time. It’s fun to always have a challenge and both teams competing very well.”

Dixon had precious few opportunities against the Cogs (6-6-1). Luis Xique had a shot ricochet off the crossbar 7 minutes into the game, while Langloss and Griffey Rodriguez had shot attempts from long distance that were reasonably close, but nothing that truly threatened to break a scoreless tie.

That changed in the final 3 minutes. Langloss was able to center a pass that split two G-K defenders, and it found Etheridge’s foot before Cogs goalie Rony Vasquez could get to it. The ball trickled into the net with 2:42 remaining, setting off a wild Dixon celebration – part joy and part relief.

“They played really good defense,” Langloss said. “They made sure to not leave any openings, and to finally get an opening, I was able to play the ball through, and Logan had a beautiful finish. It just felt amazing.”

For Etheridge, it was his seventh goal of the season, and likely his biggest.

“I was just excited that we finally found one past their defense,” Etheridge said. “I just had to focus and put it away.”

The Dixon defense had its hands full with G-K forward Jorge Leon, a cat-quick and speedy sophomore who provided the Cogs with their best chances to score.

With 15 minutes left in the first half, Leon unleashed a shot that resulted in a hand ball infraction on the Dukes in the box. Teammate Eagan Reams was chosen to take the penalty kick.

There was an injury timeout at that time, however, and Pitzer, the Dixon goalie, had a quick chat with head coach Josh Brigl to discuss strategy.

“I’m always told to be big, try and scare them to make them miss, and make them go too far to a corner,” Pitzer said. “Right before they kicked the PK, one of my players went down, and I went over to my coach. I said, ‘I’m thinking I should go right.’ He goes, ‘Nope, you should probably go left.’

“I went left and I stopped it. Shout out to coach, and I’m happy we got the win.”

Pitzer also deflected a rocket of a shot by Leon just before halftime to preserve the 0-0 tie at the time.

The best chance for either team to score in the second half, prior to Dixon actually scoring, came with 3:41 to go. Leon raced up the right sideline with the ball and got off a shot from about 30 yards that crossed perilously close to the goal before missing it just left.

It was G-K’s last good chance to score.

“Overall, we played it tough,” Genoa-Kingston coach Randy Tate said. “We knew it was going to come down to whoever makes one little mistake or whoever gets the one shot that can break it open. We had our chance down here, but it just went wide. They were able to slip one through here on the breakaway. That’s kind of how it goes with these close, tough games.”

For Brigl, it was a matter of his team taking advantage of whatever rare opportunities presented themselves.

“Their back line played well today,” Brigl said. “They congested the middle, which really closed down a lot of shooting lanes. We just had to be patient. We’re a possession-based team, and we grinded it out and got that goal at the end.”

Boys soccer

Big Northern Conference tournament semifinal

Dixon 1, Genoa-Kingston 0

Star of the game: Logan Etheridge, Dixon, goal

Key performers: Bradyn Langloss, Dixon, assist; Ryan Pitzer, Dixon, multiple saves

Up next: BNC championship game, Mendota at Dixon, 4:15 p.m. Friday