In looking at the Lyons Township boys soccer team’s record this season, one could expect the Lions to be the team to beat in the Class 3A Hinsdale Central sectional.
After all, LT, which is the No. 2 seed in the sectional behind Morton, has been ranked in the top five in the state all season, and is 3-0 against the other top four seeds. But the Lions, who have lost to Hinsdale Central in sectionals each of the last two years, know that regular season records mean nothing once the postseason begins.
“If you look at history, it’s Hinsdale Central (that is the favorite),” LT coach Paul Labbato said. “If you look at the No. 1 seed, it’s Morton. Some people will look and say we beat them both this year, but until we do it in the playoffs, we’re not the team to beat.”
LT (21-3) beat Hinsdale Central, the No. 4 seed in the sectional, 3-0 on Sept. 29 and defeated Morton 1-0 on Oct. 3. But before the Lions worry about either the Red Devils or the Mustangs, they have to focus on Fenwick, which upset third-seeded Oak Park-River Forest 1-0 in double overtime Saturday. The two teams will face off at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Hinsdale Central sectional semifinal.
“The easy thing would be to think we’ll handle them, but this is the playoffs,” Labbato said. “They’re big and fast and look pretty physical. Those are things that scare you.”
Nobody was able to break up what LT wanted to do at the Lyons regional, where the Lions outscored their opponents 14-2 in two victories. LT beat Lincoln Park 7-0 in the regional semifinal and withstood a comeback effort by Juarez to win 7-2 in the regional championship.
LT jumped out to a 3-0 first half lead in the final, but Juarez responded with two goals in the first 20 minutes of the second half. The Lions did not buckle though, instead scoring four goals in the final 20 minutes to seal the win. “You start getting complacent and a team scores really quickly,” Labbato explained. “It showed a lot of character of our team to not panic and put them away.”
The Lions have gotten strong play all over the field as of late, but Elliot Borge and Danny Paice had particularly stand-out performances at the regional. Borge had what Labbato called two of the sophomore’s strongest games of the season and Paice, who played center midfield in place of Brian Heimerdinger, scored twice in Saturday’s win. Borge added two goals in the victory, and the Lions also got goals from Chris Meingast, Andrew Aviles and Zach Pearsall. Horacio Sanchez had three assists Saturday.
Heimerdinger sat out both regional games after rolling his ankle Oct. 17 against Benet Academy, but is scheduled to return Wednesday.
