Ridgewood advances past Glenbard South

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:10PM

Ridgewood and Glenbard South had both gone where they had never been before.

Ridgewood will be going a little farther. In a matchup of teams making their supersectional debuts, the Rebels stunned Glenbard South 3-1 Tuesday night to win the Class 2A Benedictine University Supersectional in Lisle.

Ridgewood (18-6-2) will take on Burlington Central, which beat Lakes 4-1, in Friday's state semifinals at North Central College in Naperville. The Rebels, all of whom are foreign-born, are assured of winning the school's first trophy in any sport.

"We were well-motivated," said Ridgewood forward Rafal Maslowski, who like 90 percent of the team is from Poland. "We just had to win. There were no other options. I think we just outran them."

Maslowski scored twice, giving him 11 goals this season. His eight-yard header off a long cross from the left wing by Irvin Grepo gave Ridgewood a 1-0 lead at the 30:27 mark of the first half and signaled that this game would be different than the first two meetings between the Metro Suburban Conference rivals.

Glenbard South (20-2-1), which had its 10-game winning streak snapped, had beaten the Rebels 1-0 in Norridge on Sept. 11 and 3-0 on Sept. 28 in Glen Ellyn.

The Raiders tied the game 1-1 on a goal by Michael Pyle midway through the opening half. Jon Miller began the play by getting around a defender in the right corner and sending a pass through the crease just out of the reach of Ridgewood goalie Veli Milanov. Pyle's first shot was blocked by a defender but his rebound effort resulted in his 21st goal of the season and ninth of the playoffs.

"My hat goes off to them," Ridgewood coach Robert St. John said of the Raiders. "They're a great team, they're well-coached. Pyle is one helluva player, their keeper [Eric Good] is unbelievable, but today was our night and these guys just played unbelievable soccer. I'm so proud of them."

The Raiders had a slight edge in play in the opening first half and narrowly missed taking the lead when David Pyle hit the crossbar, but Ridgewood seized control after intermission, outshooting the favorites 12-3.

Peter Soja set up the game-winner, passing from right to left to Andy Mazurczak, whose 15-yard shot glanced off the hands of a leaping Good and bounced into the net with 19:37 remaining.

Maslowski added an insurance goal eight minutes later, lofting a 25-yard shot from a sharp angle on the right wing over Good's head and inside the left post.

"You can see on everybody's face – everyone's crying," Maslowski said. "It's a very good moment for us."

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