Lyons takes down Downers North in OT

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:14PM

Given a second chance, Elliot Borge didn't miss.

Borge scuffed a shot from just inside the penalty box in the waning seconds of regulation that could have won the game only to score on a nearly identical play 33 seconds into overtime to give No. 1 Lyons a 2-1 victory Tuesday over No. 5 Downers North in a Class 3A sectional semifinal at Argo to preserve the Lions' bid to repeat as state champions.

Peter Kralovec-Kirchherr set up the game-winner with a long throw-in into the box that Trojans goalie Matt Paprocki (six saves) was able to punch clear, but only as far as Borge.

"I knew I had to make up for the one I missed at the end of regulation," Borge said. "I'm happy to do it for the boys. They worked hard all game."

Lyons (21-1-2) will play No. 7 Morton in the Argo Sectional Final at 4 p.m. on Friday. The Mustangs were the only team to beat the Lions this season – a 2-1 overtime defeat.

Brett Heimerdinger gave Lyons a 1-0 lead when he headed in a cross from Horacio Sanchez 19:05 into the game.

Azmi Sharif scored on a blistering 34-yard free-kick into the upper right corner with 2:06 remaining in the first half to tie the score at 1 for Downers North (17-5-2) and end a 197-minute goal drought against Lyons.

"That was just an unbelievable shot," said Lyons goalie Kevin Beglen. "It was upper-90, hit both the post and the crossbar. Couldn't do anything about that."

Beglen (six saves) made sprawling stops in both halfs, including several in opening 20 minutes, to help Lyons defeat the Trojans for the third time this season.

"It's disappointing when you look at it," Paprocki said. "We kept making baby steps against them. The first game we lose 2-0, then we lose 1-0, this time we take them to overtime but we lose in the first 30 seconds. … We made baby steps. Unfortunately, we didn't make enough steps to get there and get them."

Lyons' players had been repeatedly asked in the run up to the game about their ability to beat a highly-ranked opponent three times in one season, especially since the Lions had reversed two regular-season losses to Neuqua Valley last year before beating the Wildcats during their state-championship run.

But for Borge, there wasn't any doubt.

"A lot of people had been saying [it would be difficult to beat Downers North three times]," Borge said. "But my feeling is if you beat a team twice, that means you can beat them a third time."

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