JOLIET – There’s no doubting Plainfield South’s fortitude.

Facing a team with 15 victories on a nine-match unbeaten streak (6-0-3)  would be a tough task for anyone.

The Cougars were not only very competitive but played on even terms until the very end.

Some would argue that the team that hung with Romeoville should have gotten the fairytale ending on Senior Day. Instead, the team got the same old script Tuesday with a 1-0 loss on an 80th-minute penalty kick.

It was par for the course for a home team that is stuck in the doldrums of a one-win season, an 0-11-1 winless streak and seven-match losing string.

The Southwest Prairie Conference finale for both teams saw Plainfield South weather a flurry of excellent scoring chances from Romeoville in the opening half. The hosts then turned the tables and had all kinds of great opportunities of their own in the final half.

Then came the controversial foul call in the box in the 80th minute that resulted in a penalty that was the lone score in their 1-0 defeat.

Plainfield South (1-16-1, 0-10-1) was called for a foul in the box with 49 seconds remaining to create the penalty scenario. Sophomore Juan Camacho put in the subsequent attempt to give Romeoville (16-4-4, 6-1-4) its eighth one-goal victory of the season.

"It was really great to watch," Plainfield South coach Josh Finn said. "I told the boys that they played very hard, and they just put everything that they had into it. Their record doesn't reflect the boys' hearts and passion and what we put in our training. 

“The biggest thing is how great they've been with everything going through the tough season. They come out every day ready to work, ready to get better and ready to train. I'm blessed that they're so bought-in 24/7, and that comes from the senior class.

"The seniors have been great examples. The three captains, Ethan Lio, Luke Dietel and Tony Flores, have been fantastic when it comes to setting the tone and just being the leaders for us. And these seniors set the great foundation and great example for me being a first-year varsity coach, something for these younger boys to look after and to know that no matter what is happening within the season, that we always have a chance to win.

"The boys were just working through the formation and through our tactics and just trusting their teammates and having confidence. They were really starting to see the fruit of those labors by all of those chances that we were creating. Now we just have to put those away, and it's a different ballgame."

Romeoville, which had scored multiple goals in 18 of their 24 matches, dominated play in the opening half and put heavy pressure on Cougars senior goalkeeper Leonardo Esparza, who came up with one big save after another to help the hosts remain on level terms. 

With senior Kameron McShaw, the lone returnee from coach Nick Cirrincione's 2022 IHSA Class 3A runnerup team leading the way on the attack, Romeoville also received good chances in the first half from senior Angel Bracho, juniors Diego Garcia, Sebastian Cervantes and Rodrigo Gonzalez and sophomore Santago Beleno, but all of those threatening efforts were thwarted by Esparza. 

Plainfield South, which wanted to break a four-game scoreless streak, didn't have many good chances in the first 40 minutes. One of the best attempts was a long try from senior captain Lio.

"We showed heart throughout every game this season, no matter what the score was," Lio said. "Our coach gets us fired up for every game, and he has kept us going throughout this entire season. We gained momentum at halftime with our coach talking to the captains and getting us all together and feeling like a real team. 

"We all know as seniors that this was the last time that we were playing on this field, so we tried to give everything that we've got. We understand that we have to play defense a lot, so we use that to build quick counters. 

"It's been great going up with all of these boys. We had a few changes here and there and a tough year last year and a tough year this year again. But there were no heads down, and we're still the same team that we were four years ago. No matter what our scoreline is or our record, we still all show up every single day, and we're here to get better every single day." 

Romeoville was back on the attack to start the second half as senior Pedro Escareno, Bracho and Garcia all threatened in the early going, but Plainfield South senior defender Jaimeson Power stymied each of those chances. A short time later, the Cougars responded with a pair of attempts from junior Xavier Martinez and a shot by Lio. Both were cleared by defenders.

Not long after deflecting a good try by McShaw, senior captain Luke Dietel sent in a long free kick that was pulled in by Romeoville keeper Saul Garcia. The opening 10 minutes of the final half also featured a pair of good corner kicks from Cougars junior Ben Ramirez as well as a good connection between junior Grady Joy and senior Mauro Munoz, with the latter getting off an attempt that was halted with a diving save.

"I was just really proud of the way that the guys competed tonight," Dietel said. "I think that every single player on that field can say that they gave 100 percent of their effort and left it all on the field. It's kind of a sucky way to end the game, but I think there's a lot of positives to take from it to lead us into our playoff game on Saturday. Hopefully we can get a win.

"Our goalkeeper made a lot of good saves and kept us in it, and I think that our defense has only improved throughout the season. We've stayed compact and organized, and we talk. If we can continue to play like that, we can get a win in the playoffs. At the end of the day, it's just not the defense that defends, all of our mids drop back, and our strikers stop the first line. We defended well as a team today. I'm very proud of the way that we defended. 

"We couldn't get a goal, but I'm very proud of the way that we attacked, as well. We had a lot of chances. We got a lot of corners and had a lot of dangerous threats. I think that we controlled most of that game. I think this shows how much heart we all have. And it shows that even though the season hasn't gone the way that we wanted it to, we've all still bought into the team and the program. 

“We're all still competing, and no one has given up on the season. They have a lot better record than us, but we showed that we can compete with those type of guys. And I think that's just a testimony to our character."

Plainfield South was back at it following the midpoint of the final half as junior Juan Romero sent in a long grounder. Ramirez had a corner kick cleared by a defender. Martinez had one attempt deflected away and another one that just went over the top of the net.

Romeoville had one of its best second half flurries shortly after. Esparza came out of the net to deny McShaw, then deflected a corner kick from Bracho and hauled in a long liner from Escareno. 

Plainfield South responded with several good threats: Martinez was denied on two shots; and Munoz had a try that was deflected.

Shortly after McShaw sent one just over the net, the hosts threatened again as senior Sebastian Huerta created a corner kick, which Ramirez lined to the keeper. 

As time wound down, Martinez was turned away on a liner, and Power cleared a corner kick from senior Leonardo Soto-Diaz. Less than a minute after that, the foul was called in the box and Camacho connected while Esparza was off the field as a result of a yellow card.

Thanks to their strong performances throughout the match, Cougars seniors Dietel, Esparza and Lio shared the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor.

The Cougars other senior captain, Tony Flores, was able to step on the field for a final time and started the match before being replaced. He has helped to lead his team from the bench during the past three weeks while recuperating from an injury. 

"Definitely when I was on the bench, it's sad that I wasn't able to play in our last home game," Flores said. "But when I was watching my boys play, I liked what I saw out there. Seeing the effort and seeing everybody play how they should be, everyone left it on the field. That's what I liked about it. When we were in the huddle, I let them know that while I wouldn't be able to play, to play hard for me. I believe that everyone did that on the field.

"I feel like our group of boys that we have just tries hard in every single game, no matter the record. Because when they see that we fought hard and had a 1-0 loss to Romeoville, which is a really good team, they'll see that we were in there and were fighting. The loss definitely wasn't something that we wanted to see, but I liked the way we played. It's definitely something that we can bring over to our Saturday game for playoffs.

"I've been here since my freshman year and grew up with everyone. In club, I went to play with some of the same boys, so I consider them as family at this point. They're no longer just friends or teammates, we're family. And seeing different coaches every year, I do like what we have this year." 

Seniors Brandon Youngren and Brock Mieher have also put in solid efforts for Plainfield South this season.

It was a disappointing setback for the Cougars, who have only been able to score 13 goals, with eight of those coming in its lone victory, an 8-0 triumph over Montini on Sept. 16. The team has scored one goal in five other matches, including a 1-1 draw with Plainfield North for its lone point in conference competition.

The Cougars hope that they can follow up on this hard-fought match by claiming their second victory when they meet the host of the Class 3A East Aurora Regional at 10 a.m. Saturday. The winner plays Naperville North at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 22. 

Romeoville will also compete in the Naperville North Sectional but in the Naperville Central Regional. The Spartans play Waubonsie Valley on Oct. 22 with the winner meeting either the hosts or Neuqua Valley for the regional title.

Starting lineups

Romeoville
GK: Saul Garcia
D: Pedro Escareno
D: Juan Camacho
D: Leonardo Soto-Diaz
D: Gabriel Camacho
MF: Fabian Rodriguez
MF: Sebastian Cervantes
MF: Angel Bracho
MF: Alex Olague
F: Diego Garcia
F: Kameron McShaw

Plainfield South
GK: Leonardo Esparza
D: Juan Romero
D: Jaimeson Power
D: Luke Dietel
D: Brandon Youngren
MF: Sebastian Huerta
MF: Grady Joy
MF: Ethan Lio
MF: Ben Ramirez
F: Mauro Munoz
F: Tony Flores

Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Leonardo Esparza, sr., GK, Plainfield South; Luke Dietel, sr., D, Plainfield South; Ethan Lio, sr., MF, Plainfield South

Scoring summary

First half
No scoring

Second half
Romeoville: Juan Camacho (PK), 80'