Lane vaults into city title game

After the sun had set and the street lights took affect Tuesday evening in Chicago, the Taft boys soccer team did everything it could in the game’s final 10 minutes to advance to the title game of the Public League Tournament.

Whether it was the dark or the Lane defense, the Eagles couldn’t find the back of the goal during a 1-0 semifinal loss at Winnemac Stadium.

The Indians (12-3-2) did, however, manage to score with 20 minutes to play. Henry Gomez’s tally enabled Lane to advance to Friday’s 7 p.m. title game against Kelly at North Park University.

“We played Kelly the first game of the season and tied them,” Gomez said. “We were still getting to know (our team) at that time, so it should be a good game.”

Despite being outplayed at times by Taft, Lane’s Emanuel Guzman created Gomez’s scoring opportunity with a great run down the left sideline and sent a perfect cross to the top of the box. Gomez then made one quick move to create some space and drilled a one-timer to the lower left corner of the goal.

“I was looking the entire time for the right opportunity to cross the ball,” Guzman said. “Once I knew I had some space between myself and the defender, I knew I had my chance. Taft was more aggressive than we were at times, but we did what we needed to win.”

Kelly, the defending Public League champions, showed why many believe it could be the first city team to advance to the state finals since 2001 with a 4-0 trouncing of Young.

Leading 1-0, Kelly landed a big dagger when Julian Zamano scored with five seconds to play in the first half. Irvin Jimenez scored early in the second half to put the game away.