Royals edge out Earlville-Leland in OT

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:28PM

Emotions ran high throughout Wednesday's semifinal of the Little Ten Conference tournament and continued even after Hinckley-Big Rock's 2-1 overtime victory over Earlville-Leland.

As the four-time defending tourney champion, E-L's Red Raiders came out firing and had the two best first-half chances as Chris Collins put a 30-yard blast off the top of the crossbar and J.J. Clason's header required a tip save from Royals' goalie Justin Salazar.

With 2:08 left before halftime, Earlville-Leland's Tyler Becker exited via a red card for language and the No. 3 seed would play short-handed for the rest of the match that included five more yellow cards, three more red cards, a 1-1 draw at the end of regulation, warnings to both benches, and after an additional 15:53 of sudden death overtime play, a penalty kick that decided things in favor of No. 2 seed H-BR.

H-BR (17-2-1) had a great opportunity in the 61st minute when Jarred Madden's breakaway run was stopped by E-L keeper Cory Buhler. But with 15:33 remaining, the Red Raiders had a critical mistake as an attempted header back to Buhler sailed over him and into the net for an E-L own goal.

The yellow cards became a staple starting with 12:30 remaining and with 7:10 still to play, Hinckley-Big Rock's Avery Rifiorgiate and Earlville-Leland's Collins were both red-carded. Now playing 9-on-10, the Red Raiders managed the contest's only undisputable goal as Colton Hall blasted a seven-yard strike from the left wing with 6:21.

"I saw the opportunity, just aimed it and thought ‘go for it.' But it wasn't enough today," Hall said of his first goal this season.

The second of two 10-minute extra sessions was 21 seconds old when the Red Raiders' Javier Hernandez was shown the red card after his second yellow. With 4:07 left, E-L was whistled for a trip inside the penalty box and Hinckley-Big Rock senior Tim Engel stepped up and converted the penalty kick - giving him a team-high 16 goals and his ninth match-winner of the year.

"I was just trying to go left and hit it hard enough that the keeper couldn't stop it. We wanted to keep them from winning the tourney for a fifth straight time and I'm glad to have gotten us into the final," said Engel, who will miss Saturday's 2 p.m. championship due to IHSA rules requiring players to sit after accumulating five yellows.

H-BR also serves as host Saturday when Earlville-Leland (11-6-1) plays the noon third-place match against top-seed Somonauk (14-3-1), which was upset Wednesday 3-2 by No. 4 seed Indian Creek (12-8-0).

"All our matches with (E-L) are always very intense, physical contests," Royals coach Paul Taeuber said. "They thought they were a more skilled team and they definitely have skills, but I believe it's about quality shots and I thought we had more of them. And with Justin in goal, he makes a big difference."

The Royals defeated Indian Creek 2-0 during the year, while Somonauk hopes to avenge its lone regular-season league loss (3-1) to Earlville-Leland.

"Playing short-handed - 10-on-11 or 9-on-10 - I think says a lot about our heart and that we're capable of stretching ourselves," E-L coach Mike Corvo said. "I'll never blame referees for a loss. I'm not the least bit disappointed in our intensity; again I thought we played very well even with nine on the field. To lose because of an own goal and a late PK is just unfortunate."

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