David Guva buried a penalty kick with more than five minutes left, but it was too late to save Metea Valley's season.
The Mustangs fell 2-1 to East Aurora in the Class 3A regional championship on Friday, Oct. 23, as first reported by NCTV17. East Aurora advances to the sectional semifinals.
Guva, a sophomore forward and Metea's leading scorer with 10 goals on the season, had chances throughout the game. Early in the first half, freshman forward Andres Morris tried to set up Guva in front of the net, but East Aurora goalkeeper Carlos Fabela Jr. came out to make the stop. Early in the second half, Guva pushed upfield and fired, but his shot sailed over the crossbar.
By the time Guva converted his penalty kick, the Mustangs trailed 2-0 and were running out of time.
East Aurora's Aldahir Heredia opened the scoring with under 16 minutes left in the first half, converting a penalty kick to give the Tomcats a 1-0 lead at halftime. Denzel Martinez added a second goal with under 10 minutes remaining in regulation, finding a window between Metea defenders.
Metea goalkeeper Gabe Molyboga kept the Mustangs in it early. Kenneth Montano fired on net after a missed corner kick, and Molyboga made the save. Minutes later, William Gomez hit the top left corner of the goalpost off a pass from Emmanuel Rodriguez.
The loss ended a postseason run that started with an upset. Twelfth-seeded Metea Valley knocked off sixth-seeded West Aurora 2-1 in the regional semifinal on Tuesday, Oct. 20, as the Chicago Tribune reported. Guva scored both goals in that game, including a penalty kick he had to retake after a teammate entered the box early.
In Tribune coverage published Oct. 21, Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson praised Guva's composure. "My biggest thing for him as a sophomore is he walked right up there and said, 'I've got this,'" Robinson said.
Guva saw limited varsity time as a freshman but led the Mustangs in scoring this fall with 10 goals. East Aurora moves on to the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 3A sectional semifinal.
