Reavis, Vikings advance

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:24PM

What began as a 32-team tournament was whittled down to four Saturday in

Burbank as host Reavis and Homewood-Flossmoor moved on to Tuesday's final

four of the Windy City Ram Classic.

Reavis (3-0) posted a 1-0 shootout win over Fenwick. After 70 minutes of

regulation and two overtimes that spanned 10 minutes, the back-and-forth

battle ended with a game-winner off the foot of Luke Duda in the fifth round

of a shootout.

"It was a great feeling to put in the winner of such an intense game," Duda

said.

Reavis goalkeeper Steve Gradilla made seven saves during regulation and

overtime, and then made a huge save on Fenwick's best player, Jack Alberts,

in the first round of the shootout.

"All you can do is clear your head and go with your gut in a shootout,"

Gradilla said. "We can prove to coaches who say we aren't that good that we

can beat good teams and we are more than one player (Pawel Rychtarczyk, who

scored seven goals in the Rams' first two games and added a goal in

Saturday's shootout). We are a unit."

"I'd rather win than score goals," Rychtarczyk added.

Homewood-Flossmoor (3-0) got goals from Allan Sanchez and Adam Alfonso to

knock out Mount Carmel (2-1) with a 2-0 victory.

"A lot of people are sleeping on us, but we have very high expectations for

this team," Sanchez said.

Sanchez blasted a shot into the back of the net from 15 yards out to give

Homewood-Flossmoor a 1-0 lead midway through the first half.

The Vikings then gave themselves a cushion when Michael Hurley put on a

dribbling clinic before dishing the ball to Alfonso for a goal with 26

minutes remaining in the second half.

"There was some (Diego) Maradona on that move, and then I just had to put it

on Alfonso's foot for the goal," Hurley said.

Homewood-Flossmoor will take on St. Joseph on Tuesday. St. Joseph used a 1-0

shootout win over Stagg (2-1) to advance.

Stagg, runner-up in the tournament last year, had its opportunities, taking

18 shots in regulation and the two overtimes. After both teams scored in the

first two rounds of the shootout, Chargers goalkeeper Chris Kosior made

three straight saves, but St. Joseph goalkeeper Jovani Castanon matched

Kosior's effort. In the sixth round, both teams scored. Then, after Castanon

made his fourth save in the shootout, Alex Zuniga put in the game-winner for

St. Joseph.

"We dominated most of the game, but we are just struggling to put the ball

in the net," Stagg coach Mike Kealy said. "We've scored two goals in three

games, and you aren't going to win many games like that. You have to win

when your goalie stops three balls in a shootout."

Reavis will meet last year's Windy City Ram Classic champion, Joliet

Central, on Tuesday in the semifinals. Joliet Central defeated Bolingbrook

4-1.

The championship is set for Saturday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.

"We got our eyes on Toyota Park," H-F's Alfonso said. "When I look down and

see my feet running on the field where professional players play, I'll be

running on air."

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