Barbs claim crown
By TY REYNOLDS
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Shaw Newspapers
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| Members of the DeKalb boys soccer team celebrate the Barbs' Class 2A Sterling Regional title victory on Saturday. (Phil Maruffo – Shaw Newspapers) |
STERLING – The DeKalb Barbs were getting a bit nervous Saturday as they entered their halftime huddle during the Class 2A Sterling Soccer Regional final.
After playing with a one-man advantage nearly the entire first half, the Barbs had been unable to get a shot past Sterling goalie Efren Diaz.
"Every single thing we sent at him, if it was close he got it," DeKalb's Sammy Lake said of Diaz. "He was tremendous back there."
One little adjustment was all it took to remedy that.
Lake's corner kick was redirected into the net by Jake Johnsen 14 minutes into the second half and DeKalb went on for a 3-0 victory to claim the regional crown.
It was the fourth corner kick of the match where the Barbs (14-6-4) had a chance to punch into the net, but the first they managed to turn into a goal.
"On earlier corner kicks, we had been putting guys in the box to mark the goalie," DeKalb's Pat Rourke explained. "That time, we took them out and got rid of some of the clutter and Jake found the net."
"There wasn't much I could do," said Diaz, who had eight saves and faced 17 shots. "I didn't know who had the ball; the first time I saw it was when it was already in the net. I wish I could've done a better job on that one."
The first score was the straw that broke the Warriors' backs. After losing senior Eddie Chavez to a red card 10 minutes into the game, Sterling saw freshman Danny Navarro sent off three minutes after DeKalb took the 1-0 lead.
The two-man disadvantage was too much for the Warriors (14-10) to overcome. Lake set up Thomas Ogundipe with 17:31 left to play, dribbling up the far sideline before punching a pass into the middle to the waiting foot of Ogundipe.
The Barbs put the icing on the cake inside the final minute of the match. Niko Tsiagalis took Lake's crossing pass and put it past Diaz with 40 seconds to play.
"The second half, we just calmed down and tried to possess the ball more and keep it at their end," Tsiagalis said. "We knew they were a scrappy team and that we had to keep pushing."
"It was all about the right positioning and timing," Lake added. "We pushed the ball up the lines and were able to turn it back inside."
It's the Barbs' second regional title in three seasons, and set off a celebration that included two different sprints across the field to share it with friends and family.
"This title means everything – at least for tonight," Rourke said with a smile. "I'm on Cloud Nine right now, but we've got at least one more game to get ready for."
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