Panthers one win away from history

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ROCHELLE -- All season long, Oswego's boys soccer team knew it had a chance for a special season after being dropped from Class 3A to Class 2A.

After Tuesday's 5-1 win over Rock Island Alleman in the Class 2A Rochelle Sectional semifinal, the Panthers have a chance to make history.

Saturday, the Panthers will play for the first sectional title in school history against the winner of today's other semifinal between Freeport and Wheaton Academy. The winner of that game heads to the Class 2A Morton Super-Sectional outside of Peoria next Tuesday.

"It's something that we talked about all year," Oswego coach Travis Carlisle said. "We knew that being in 2A this year would give us a special opportunity, and I think these guys have really embraced that."

Oswego (14-8-1 overall) wasted no time in taking care of upstart Alleman (5-14-2), who had only three regular-season wins before upsetting its way to a regional crown. Only 1:40 into the game, Oswego junior Sean Totsch set the tone by giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

"They were trying to pull off that offside trap that they used all day, that got us many times," Totsch said. "They just weren't together, and it cost them. They had one guy off and one guy still back there and it will cost you. I was fortunate that they weren't all together."

Five minutes later, junior Joey Charielle scored for Oswego, making it 2-0, and the rout was on.

"We knew if we came out strong that we could have some positive results, and that paid dividends very quickly," Carlisle said.

The Panthers pushed the lead to 4-0 by halftime after Totsch scored again and sophomore Fernando Chavez followed his own miss into the goal with 3:00 left in the half.

Oswego then had three shots hit the post before senior Ryan Stransky scored a goal, once again against the offside trap, at the 30:40 mark of the second half to cap the scoring.

But Carlisle used the final two minutes of the game to make his postgame point to the team. With 1:44 left, off a corner kick, Alleman freshman Eddie Ramirez fed senior John Westbrooks for Alleman's lone goal.

"Those are the kind of things that cost you games," Carlisle said. "When you're up 5-0, they don't. Games like these, sometimes you find yourself in bad habits. You can't drop your mental focus. If you're on this pitch, you better be ready to play."

The Panthers will be ready Saturday, and they will face arguably their stiffest challenge of the postseason after rolling past Aurora Central Catholic, Kaneland and Alleman.

"I'm sure it doesn't mean as much to me as some of these guys that have been here for their whole high school career," said Totsch, who is in his first season at Oswego. "It's a great experience."

Boys Soccer: Class 2A Rochelle Sectional