BARRINGTON -- The last Tuesday of the soccer season has been one of heartbreak and disappointment for the Elgin faithful.

Three-straight supersectional appearances have all ended in defeat. The last two came at spacious Barrington Community Stadium.

Mid-Suburban League champion Hersey proved to be the latest scourge of the Maroons when it used an own-goal, and two second half scores to claim a hard-fought 3-0 victory and the school’s first appearance at the final weekend of the season.

"(Elgin) had so many technical and talented players, so we knew we had to be at our best defensively," said Hersey manager Mike Rusniak. “To be honest, I felt like it was our best overall defensive effort of the season.”

Next up for the third-seeded Huskies (17-3-5), who are ranked eighth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, is tournament seven-seed and honorable mention squad Hinsdale Central (15-8-1) at 6 p.m. Friday at Garber Stadium on the Hoffman Estates High School campus. 

"We had to weather an incredible storm in that last 20 minutes when they were throwing all sorts of numbers forward and sending some great balls into the box,” Rusniak said. “But Joey (Farrell), Nate (Mabry) and especially (GK Adrian) Smakowski were just amazing to keep them out of our net."

The frustration was evident for top-seeded and 12th-ranked Elgin side.

"Maybe we're going to put in to host a supersectional next fall," lamented Maroons manager Jimmy Romano. "Two-straight losses here to end our season one game short of making it to state … I like the people here and the extra-wide playing surface, but I just do not like this place because it's proven to be so unlucky for us."

During the Maroons (15-4-2) three-year run of Elite Eight appearances, captains Beto Gaytan, Aaron Saldana and All-Stater Roberto Salinas have been key figures for a club which has gone a combined 51-10-8.

"This is going to be a hard one for these guys to get over," began Romano, now in his third year in charge.

"We have a tremendous group of young men, which includes a great bunch of seniors, who gave it all they had for 80 minutes. But in the end, it just wasn't our night which began with that own-goal."

With the wind at its back, Elgin pressed but created little despite having much of the possession.

"We knew how well they could possess, and move the ball quickly," said Smakowski, the Huskies three-year starter between the sticks. “But, as always, our work-rate was amazing. We kept our shape, stayed organized and defended really well all over the place.”

The Elgin quartet of Atlai Gutierrez, Jayden Plancarte, Gaytan and Saldana were at the heart of the Elgin attack. They played with pace, purpose and energy but created just a handful of half-chances. The contest remained goal-less until just before the half hour.

That's when a Maroons defender played an angled ball back to keeper Brody Grosenbach, who unfortunately was wrong-footed by the strongly-paced ball. It eluded him and rolled into the back of his net in the 27th minute.

"I can sympathize with their keeper on what happened," began Smakowski. "(He) did everything correct on that play.  He came out, and was in perfect position, but that ball played back to him was way too wide for him to do anything about it."

"Obviously that was a gift that we gave to Hersey," said Romano. “We had a lot of the play at the time and were hoping that we would find the opener before them.”

Elgin tried to answer when Saldana bent consecutive corners close to the spot, but Smakowski bravely punched both out of the area.

In the closing moments of the first half, the Maroons produced another unmet corner and a free kick from Gutierrez that went over from distance.

Disaster struck once again for the Maroons two minutes into the second half.

That's when a quickly played punt from Smakowski bounded over their last man and allowed Kacper Lechowich to burst past the defender and gain a confrontation with Grosenbach, who came off his line to challenge.

The cool and composed Lechowich chipped Grosenback to bag his team leading 13th goal of the season.

"Another mistake, and now we were chasing two goals," said Romano.

"I saw Kacper basically alone up-top," recounted Smakowski. “With the wind at my back, I just hit a quick half-volley punt that they had trouble with. That allowed Kacper to work his magic.”

After the Huskies doubled their advantage, Rusniak and his staff switched to a 4-5-1 formation to help manage their lead for the next 38 minutes.

Elgin went about finding a way to pry open Hersey’s watertight backline that was now supported by a quintet of midfielders who provided an extra layer of protection.

Gutierrez tricked his way just inside the box on three occasions, but Farrell and Mabry put tackles on him to end the forays.

Smakowski made point-blank saves on Danny Perez and Salinas just after the hour.

Hersey’s bench roared its disapproval when it thought Lechowicz was hauled down by the last man in the 68th minute, but referee John Martelin thought otherwise. He issued a yellow card to Daniel Lemus and ordered a free kick just inside the midline.

Johnny Antoniou followed with a header over the bar when he ran onto Nik VanDeMark's ensuing send.

The Huskies backline and Smakowski made a series of blocks and saves on attempts from inside 12 yards to keep their rivals off the scoreboard during a frantic and frenzied final 10 minutes.

Elgin’s Lemus was booked and subsequently sent off, which forced the Maroons to play a man down for the last five minutes.

In that span, Smakowski turned away another close-range effort from Saldana. 

Then Huskies sophomore Teddy Reyes collected a poorly played ball and raced up the center channel. At the end of his 40-yard run, he beat Grosenbach, who came off his line.

The goal, just moments before time, started a huge celebration by the Huskies faithful. The volume increased when their heroes lifted the championship trophy at the far touchline.

"Adrian was just amazing back there for us. We worked so hard as a team for 80 minutes," said Farrell. “We took advantage of a couple of chances which gave us a great win to send us into our first state finals ever.

"From the start of summer camp way back on June 22, this group of guys have made a commitment to excellence and each other," said Rusniak. “Now we have guaranteed our first state trophy with the chance of playing for a state title.”

Scoring summary

First half
Hersey: Own-goal), 27'

Second half
Hersey: Lechowicz (Smakowski), 42'
Hersey:. Reyes (unassisted), 80’

Referee: John Martelin