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newlenoxpatriot.com Sports
the New Lenox Patriot | October 12, 2017 | 41
Boys Soccer
Krohe returns from injury, scores two goals to beat Central
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
Brock Krohe picked a
good time to get reactivated.
The Lincoln-Way West
senior forward didn’t even
know if he’d play when the
Warriors met their crosstown
rivals on the soccer field last
week. But he did and ended
up scoring both his teams
goals — including the game
winner in overtime — as
Lincoln-Way West outlasted
Lincoln-Way Central 2-1 in
OT in a SouthWest Suburban
Conference Red Division
tussle on Thursday, Oct.
5, at West.
While both teams are a
longshot in the SWSC Red
race, that aspect mattered little.
But it was still a matchup
of neighboring schools.
West (9-5-2, 2-2) is now 7-1-
1 in its last nine games. The
Warriors, who defeated Central
3-0 last year, kept their
slight hopes alive for a tie
in the conference race. The
Knights (8-6-1, 1-3) were
coming off a 1-0 win over
Andrew on Tuesday, Oct. 3.
But they are 1-4-1 in their
last six games.
It was made even more extra
special for Krohe, as he
played on the Central varsity
as a junior. He transferred to
West last season when the
District 210 boundaries were
relined.
“I sprained my right
ankle against Andrew in
warmups,” Krohe said of
the injury he suffered before
a 3-2 loss at home on Sept.
26. “I was out since then,
but they cleared me to play
about 30 minutes before the
game. I was pretty happy.”
He sure was, especially
in the extra session which
was played in sudden death
format. Earlier in overtime
Central suffered an injury as
sophomore midfielder Nick
Willner went out with a left
ankle injury at almost exactly
the midway point of the
first 10 minute OT. Just over
a minute later West senior
defender Luke James had a
throw-in from the right side.
The ball sailed directly into
the mass of players in front of
the net. There it found Krohe,
who put it in with 3:50 to
play for the game winner.
“I just ran through and
we practice that everyday,”
Krohe said of the game winning
play. “Luke threw in a
perfect pass and I touched it
off my knee for the goal.
“Going into overtime, we
knew we had to play smart,
keep our heads up and get
it done. It’s pretty amazing.
I played sophomore year [at
Central] and now I’m here.
So it was exciting and special,
and can’t get better.”
The timing surely couldn’t
get better.
“It was literally 30 minutes
before the game when
he was cleared,” West first
year coach Matt Laude said
of Krohe’s clearance. “It was
pretty opportune.”
Krohe also scored the
games first goal in the 23rd
minute. Well, he at least
started it as he took a corner
kick from junior midfielder
David Flores and got a shot
off. The ball actually deflected
off a Knight player
and went past junior keeper
Adam Kedzior for a score.
Krohe was given credit for
the goal.
Central tied it up late in
the first half. Sophomore
midfielder Jake Camaioni
creamed an initial shot, but it
was turned back by Connor
O’Shaughnessy. The junior
keeper gave up a rebound
which went back to Camaioni
and he was able to convert
the second attempt to tie the
game at 1-1 with three minutes
left in the half.
“There was no scoring for
Dylan Leonard looks
downfield for a throw-in.
nearly the next 50 minutes,
but not for a lack of opportunities.
The Knights had
possession for nearly four
straight minutes between the
67th and 71st minutes. In
that time they had a couple
of corner kicks and a throwin.
Toward the end of the
half, they also had some
nice long strikes from senior
midfielder Luke Baumgartner
and senior defender Ben
Zuraitis that were turned
back by O’Shaughnessy.
“We had a lot of thowins
and corner kicks, but
we couldn’t finish,” Central
coach Sean Fahey said. “We
create opportunities, we’re
right there. We just miss fire
on them.
“Anytime a Lincoln-
Way school plays another
Lincoln-Way school it’s
emotional and high energy.
Credit West, they came out
on top.”
The Warriors had a great
opportunity to come out on
top near the end of regulation.
Flores sent in a corner
kick from the right side. Senior
forward Kyle Seymour
Lincoln-Way West’s David Flores (left) and Lincoln-Way Central’s Breandan Brannigan
battle for the ball Thursday, Oct. 5, during a SWSC Red crosstown matchup between the
two teams in New Lenox. Photos by James Sanchez/22nd Century Media
got a well-timed head on
it, but the ball hit the upper
right corner of the goalpost
and crossbar and rolled up
and off with four minutes to
play in regulation.
“I’ll take it,” said Laude
of getting the victory in his
first matchup as head coach
against the crosstown rivals.
“We have a good conference
top to bottom and it was
great to coach against Sean
[Fahey]. We’re both Millikin
University guys, but he went
there before me. All the stories
I heard when I was at
Millikin were about how
good Sean was. So it was an
honor to coach against him.”
Both teams open the postseason
next week. West is
the No. 6 seed in the Reavis
Sectional. The Warriors
host a familiar foe, No. 11
seeded Andrew, at 5:30 p.m.
on Wednesday, Oct. 18. The
winner advances to the regional
title game match at
10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21.
The Knights are the No. 7
seed in the Reavis Sectional
and also host their own regional.
There they face No.
10 seeded Marist at 7 p.m.
on Tuesday, Oct. 17. The
winner will play for the regional
championship at 5
p.m. on Friday, Oct. 20.
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