Big second half propels East Aurora to Lemont Cup win

Tuesday’s Lemont Cup match between Minooka and host East Aurora began a half hour later than scheduled and the Tomcats’ offense didn’t get rolling until the second half in order to produce a 4-2 victory. The visiting Indians (1-3), claimed a 2-1 halftime lead to surprise an East Aurora squad that is ranked 20th in the Sun-Times preseason poll. Mason Messina’s forward pass became a race to the ball and Minooka’s Matt Klugoposki took the brunt of a collision with Tomcat starting keeper Oscar Calzada, but only have slipping the ball into the net 17:15 into the match. East (3-0) tied the contest when Jesus Chavez’s direct kick slipped through Indian keeper Alex Singletary’s hands for a Carlos Gonzalez tap-in. Minooka regained the lead 2:42 prior to intermission when Kyle Sparks fed Giacomo Raimondi for a nine-yarder from the left side. “We knew we had to get the lead back and once I saw their keeper I just went for the far post”, Raimondi said in regard to his fourth goal of the year. “Unfortunately for us it was a tale of two halves,” Minooka coach Chris Brolley admitted. “They made some adjustments and got momentum on their side. I’m still pleased with how our defense played tonight.” East boss Jaiver Hernandez obviously wasn’t as happy at halftime. “I was disappointed because I thought we were overconfident in the first half. Thankfully we played as a team in the second half, won 50-50 balls, and did a better job passing,” Hernandez said. Just 5:33 into the second half Gonzalez found Julian Chavez in the clear for a 12-yarder inside the right post. Danny Miranda used his speed for a carry that began at midfield and ended his being tripped in the box. The senior notched his third goal by converting the penalty kick with 27:32 still to play for a 3-2 lead. “Coach told us we needed to focus more and use our abilities, and we didn’t want to let down our home fans, plus we want to win the Lemont Cup again,” Miranda added. The Tomcats put the match out of reach less than a minute later when Gonzalez teamed up with Julian Chavez for a second time as the East junior did a cut back to the middle for a 12-yard rocket inside the right post that upped his team-leading goal tally to five. “On my first goal I saw the goalie staying on the line so I just aimed for the right side. On the second one, I tried to be patient enough and with the cut I found another opening,” Chavez said.