Determined to help the Riverside Brookfield boys soccer team in its Class 2A playoff opener, Oct. 21, starting junior midfielder Luis Alvarez went down with an injury in the first five minutes. He returned within minutes.
“I got it looked at, a sprained ankle, but I came back in the first half,” Alvarez said.
The Bulldogs lost to Timothy Christian 4-0 in the semifinals of the Timothy Regional but never wavered during a challenging season. RBHS (5-13-2), the De La Salle Sectional’s No. 14 seed, lost three games on penalty kicks to decide tie games and two others in regulation by one goal.
“We had a lot of close games that I think should have gone our way but didn’t,” Alvarez said. “That’s how the game of soccer goes. It just doesn’t go your way sometimes.”
“It’s a special group of guys. Just unfortunate to see it end,” RBHS coach Ivek Halic said. “We had our ups and downs but I’m proud of these guys. They gave it their all throughout the season.”
No. 3 Timothy (15-6-1) scored two early goals and went on to win the regional. RBHS won its previous two games both by shutout.
“We kind of hit our stride toward the end,” Halic said. “[Timothy] was a tough game, a tough loss, but that’s part of soccer.”
The Bulldogs graduate co-captains Austin Castilla, Pablo Ponce and Logan Wilson and varsity veterans such as goalie Eros Valadez and Liam Wallace. Ponce has been out with a knee injury since Sept. 30.
“I think I had some pretty good progression this season and I’m looking forward to my senior year,” Alvarez said. “[Our seniors] motivated us all season to be the best of ourselves. We could have put out a better effort [against Timothy] but we did our best.”
LTHS soccer
Lyons Township continued many impressive streaks Saturday in beating Downers Grove North 1-0 for the 3A Downers North Regional title. Seeded No. 2 in the Hinsdale Central Sectional, the Lions (17-4-2) captured their 12th straight regional title going into Tuesday’s sectional semifinal against No. 3 St. Laurence. The winner plays No. 1 Morton or No. 12 Downers Grove South for the sectional title at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 1.
Behind goalie Joe Ratcliffe, the starting defensive line of Gavin Sullivan, Ari Chen and Harrison Kittridge and defensive center midfielder Ryan Keenan, LTHS also recorded its 16th shutout of the season, third in a row and ninth in its last 10 games.
This also was the third straight victory over No. 6 Downers North (12-13-1) in the regional final. The Lions led 18-9 in shots (9-1 on goal) and 9-2 in corner kicks.
“People are going to look at clean sheets and a lot of that is a goalkeeper’s stat but I attribute it 100 percent to the defense because they were phenomenal this game,” Ratcliffe said. “I did nothing. I had one or two good plays, whatever, but for most of the season they’ve been stellar and the reason we’ve been keeping so many shutouts.”
Senior Luke Gough scored with 8:02 left in the first half by pursuing his first shot following a left-wing cross from Victor Sklaryk.
“A little lucky (scoring), a little bit of persistence and kind of just wanting it. I’m glad we got the win,” said Gough who has six goals.
“It’s not the prettiest but in terms of importance, this one is my most important goal this season so I’m really proud of that.”
LTHS, RBHS volleyball
Junior Julia Ahrens nearly served the Lyons Township volleyball team to a dramatic comeback at Glenbard West Oct. 21.
Trailing late in the third set, the Lions came within two points behind Ahrens’ four-point streak, but the Hilltoppers got a sideout and scored the next point to prevail 25-21, 15-25, 25-21 and cost LTHS a share of the West Suburban Conference Silver Division title.
“I was nervous but I was trying to embrace that pressure and just keep my serve in but also keep them out of system,” Ahrens said. “[Despite losing] we have a lot more momentum and confidence going into regionals this year, especially with our record being a lot better.”
The Lions (22-12) finished third the Silver at 4-2 behind co-champions Oak Park and River Forest and Downers Grove North at 5-1. The Lions lost their Silver opener to Downers North in three sets, Sept. 9, but then had dramatic wins over OPRF and fourth-place York with respective third-set scores of 29-27 and 25-23.
“The fact that we made it this far and we knew we could have won [the Silver] definitely helps our team chemistry,” senior middle Kate Potter said. “Throughout the season, we’ve built that consistency so we know that we can continue to find success postseason.”
The No. 4 seed in the Lyons Township Sectional, the Lions began Class 3A York Regional play Tuesday against No. 13 Argo.
The winner plays No. 10 Riverside Brookfield (20-14) or No. 6 York (23-12) for the regional title at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30. The sectional semifinal is at 6 p.m., Nov. 4 at LTHS north campus.
“We’ve been talking about how October is our month and we’re continuing to try and finish strong,” LTHS coach Jill Bober said. “This season we have seen more competitive matches, but we’ve been on the winning side of those [often].”
LTHS tennis
In a season of many doubles victories, LTHS senior Rhia Nagale and sophomore Elise Novey won’t soon forget their last one.
The pair finished with a 3-2 overall record at the girls tennis state tournament, Thursday and Friday.
Six Lions made their state debuts. The program qualified both singles and doubles entries for the first time since 2015.
In the double-elimination format, Nagale and Novey (18-10) lost their first match but followed with three consolation-bracket victories. Their last was 6-2, 6-3, their fewest games lost among the state victories.
“I will remember the feeling of accomplishment following our third win,” Nagale said. “My experience at state was both exciting and stressful. On Thursday, we played great during our second and third matches. Our goal was to make it to Friday, which was exciting and went beyond my expectations.”
Junior Abby Sullivan (16-12) was 2-2 in singles. Sullivan won her first two matches before losing 6-1, 6-0 to New Trier’s Julia Ludwig, who finished third.
The LTHS doubles team of senior Erin Hanzlik and junior Sophia Dalgety (15-10) and freshman Anna Turnispeed (7-14) both went 0-2.
In 1A, Nazareth Academy junior Elaine McNamara was a top-16 singles finisher with a 4-2 state record and three consolation-bracket victories. Her second loss was to Lake Forest senior Phoebe Silver, who tied for seventh. McNamara (22-10) improved from 1-2 state records the past two seasons.
