Oak Park topples Kelly, claims regional

The Kelly boys soccer team lost battles on and off the field Friday.

Not only did the Trojans (15-7-4) lose an appeal of two suspended players before their Class 3A regional final against Oak Park, but their season ended in a 1-0 loss to the Huskies (12-9-2).

Jordan Golz scored in the first half, and sophomore goalie Sam Euler’s outstanding second-half performance helped Oak Park claim its first regional crown under coach Paul Wright.

‘‘Kelly had me worried a couple times, especially at the end,’’ Euler said.

Kelly’s failure to have a correct roster in Tuesday’s regional win over Argo led to seniors Eduardo Avilez and Julian Zamano being suspended for Friday’s game. Despite a referee’s misinterpretation of whether the roster issue was a cardable offense, the IHSA did not reverse the suspensions.

The two players, who received yellow cards during the game and also for not being listed on the roster, watched from the stands Friday. Kelly coach Raul Magdaleno joined them on his own.

‘‘The roster was my fault,’’ Magdaleno said. ‘‘But I sat because the IHSA didn’t put the kids first.’’

Kelly had a number of opportunities to tie the score in the second half. But the Trojans’ frontline, led by senior Jhonathan Fuentes, was unable to slip anything past Euler. The Huskies’ backline of Rory Landis, Sam Fodor and Ryan Huettel came up big when needed.

‘‘We didn’t come out strong,’’ Fuentes said. ‘‘We had a couple real good chances, so it’s frustrating right now."

Wright was happy his team advanced to next week’s St. Ignatius Sectional but admitted it felt weird with all the controversy.

‘‘It just doesn’t feel right to be celebrating, because of the suspensions of the two Kelly players,’’ Wright said.