Hornets right at home

Harvard's Jerry Martinez (left) fends off Chicagoland Jewish's Joshua Perry during the first half of Monday's IHSA Class 1A Harvard Regional championship in Harvard. Harvard won, 4-0. (Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com)

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HARVARD – A regional championship was among the goals Harvard boys soccer coach David Abel and his team made before the start of the season.

After their 4-0 victory against Chicagoland Jewish in the IHSA Class 1A Harvard Regional, the Hornets can cross that one off their list.

“Your goals are always to play your best,” Abel said. “We knew if we played our best we’d have a chance to win the regional, but we’re excited for the next step.”

With the win, the Hornets advance to the sectional tournament, which they also host. They will face Stillman Valley at 6 p.m. Wednesday in a Harvard Sectional semifinal.

After a scoreless first half that was controlled mostly by the Hornets, Harvard scored almost immediately in the second. Senior Nathan Baldwin took an excellent cross from Eduardo Juarez and buried a shot past Tigers goalkeeper Michael Jacobson 44 seconds into the half to turn the tide in Harvard’s favor.

“Everyone was getting pumped on the sideline and Isaih (Solis) passed it to Eduardo Juarez and he sent a great ball in that I two-touched into the net,” Baldwin said. “We just kept pushing, and our defensive-mids did a good job of keeping the ball in their half.”

The Hornets added on from there as Baldwin scored his second with 13:05 to play on a scramble in front of the goal. Christian Carrillo scored the third on a ball that was bounced into the penalty area and misplayed over the head of Jacobson with 10:57 left.

The Hornets’ final goal came as Eliseo Elizarraraz was taken down in the area and awarded a penalty kick, which Humberto Martinez took and buried with 7:13 to play.

“It feels great,” Juarez said. “We’re going out for sectionals and hopefully we can take it home also and hopefully go on from there.”

The other side of the sectional features Christian Liberty Academy from Arlington Heights and Rockford’s Keith Country Day, which will play at Harvard today.

“I think we have a pretty good chance to win sectionals if we play our game and do all the little things,” Solis said. “We like each other and we all want to keep playing together and try to make it as far as we can.”