Wolfpack ousts Young; Kelly advances

Font Size

Email

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

Some may think the toughest time of the year for boys soccer coaches is in August for final cuts.

But according to St. Ignatius coach Jim Luzzi, August was nothing compared to the torture of having to cut six players from his regular-season roster in time for Tuesday’s 2-0 victory over Young in Class 3A regional semifinal action in Chicago.

“My juniors can play,” Luzzi said. “It was tough having to cut six players that had been with me all year. I don’t agree with the 22 players for the postseason, and we’ve talked as coaches about pushing (the IHSA) to expand that number to at least 25.”

Kevin Daley and Ben Medina scored for St. Ignatius (11-6-2), which will now face Morton (22-2-2) for the regional crown on Saturday. A year ago, the Wolfpack knocked off Young (13-10-2) to capture the regional title.

“We’re going to play who we’re supposed to play,” said Luzzi, who recorded his 400th career win earlier this season against Young. “We didn’t play our best game today, but I’m confident that we’re going to play with Morton.”

* Irvin Jimenez’s second goal of the game with two minutes to play in overtime propelled Kelly to a 2-1 win over Argo in the Class 3A Oak Park Regional. The Huskies will host Kelly on Friday for the regional title.

“I’m very happy we advanced, but I’m not happy with the two soft red cards we received near the end,” Kelly coach Raul Magdaleno said. “The officials were saying some of our kids didn’t have the correct jersey numbers, but these were the jerseys they have worn all year because of uniforms never came in.”