East Aurora too much for Bolingbrook

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:18PM

When East Aurora saw who its opening round opponent was in the Bolingbrook Regional the Tomcats couldn't wait to get on the field.

The No. 5 seed East Aurora Tomcats drew the No. 12 seed Bolingbrook Raiders on Wednesday night and avenged one of their two losses of the regular season with a 2-0 win in Bolingbrook.

East Aurora (16-2-4) fell to the Raiders 1-0 on Sept. 11 in dramatic fashion. Bolingbrook scored with just under three minutes left in the game to steal the victory. The Tomcats didn't let history repeat itself as just 6:36 into the game they found the back of the net.

Juan Bustamante made a cut move around one Raider defender then drilled a low shot that beat the Bolingbrook goalie to the left side. It was the first shot that the Tomcats took in the match.

"This win feels good because all of my teammates really wanted this. We wanted to play and we wanted to take this (game)," Bustamante said. "We are a very deep team and we are good at every position. We all have been playing together for awhile and the new guys that came into the program just mixed right in."

Bolingbrook had its chance to tie it midway through the second half on a beautiful cross by Alex Cruz, however the ball was shot over the bar from six yards away by the Raider forward. That play would come back to haunt the Raiders as with 7:43 left to go in the game the Tomcats added an insurance goal.

Juan Luis Perez laid a corner kick just outside the six-yard box and Eddie Llamas came in and headed the ball down into the corner of the net for the goal.

"Obviously there was a little revenge tonight but going into the playoffs we knew that we needed to play every game tough. We played with heart and really got after them (Bolingbrook) tonight," East Aurora coach Jason Rollins said. "We have only allowed 10 goals all season so when we get a goal we are pretty confident that we can keep the ball out of our own net."

"We just didn't get it done today. East Aurora put the ball away when they had their chances. They didn't have many, but when they did they put them away," Raiders coach Jamie Clemmons said. "We had our chances but we just couldn't find the net. That has been our problem this year and it hurt us."

Bolingbrook (13-9) had the first back-to-back double digit winning seasons in Clemmons' tenure as coach and this was the first time in over 10 years that the Raiders did not finish the season with double digits losses.

East Aurora will go for its second regional title in school history when the Tomcats play the No. 13 seed Oswego Saturday in Bolingbrook at 2 p.m. The last regional title for the Tomcats came in 1996.

Oswego upset the top seed in the region No. 4 Plainfield Central in the early game 1-0.

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