Zehme Saves the Day for Sandburg Soccer

Sandburg sophomore Adam Zehme had shown enough in practice to earn the nod as the team's penalty-kick goalkeeper, but he had yet to prove himself in an actual game situation.

Tuesday night in Orland Park, Zehme got his chance and came up huge. He made two diving stops to give Sandburg a thrilling 1-0 penalty-kick win over visiting Homewood-Flossmoor, allowing the Eagles to clinch the Southwest Suburban Blue crown.

Sandburg (15-4, 5-0), which controlled play throughout regulation as well as the two 10-minute overtime periods, found itself in a 3-2 hole in the five-round PK shootout after the Vikings converted their first three shots and the Eagles misfired on their second offering.

But Zehme guessed right on back-to-back H-F shots, and his two diving saves meant that junior Danny Lojek could win the game after Jeff Grider's blast just inside the right post had tied the score at 4-4 for Sandburg. When Lojek rifled his shot past the Vikings keeper, the Eagles had a wild celebration on the field and a pair of non-seniors had keyed the big win on Senior Night.

"That was my first PK shootout, and it was really nerve-wracking,' said Zehme, who took over in goal for senior Andrew Piazza, who had blanked the Vikings for 100 minutes of soccer without facing a single shot on goal. "After the first stop I kind of got a lot more confidence. I kind of just reacted and I was able to read them a little. It's especially nice to win this for the seniors."

After starting an all-senior lineup, Sandburg spent much of the evening on H-F's side of the field, but couldn't finish off any of its scoring chances prior to the shootout. The Eagles had four shots on goal in the first half and seven prior to the OT sessions.

Taylor Zalewski, who also uses his big leg as the kicker for the Eagles football squad, created some threats on long free kicks, and Eric Maier and Grider raced all over the field with the ball deep in Vikings territory, yet the score remained 0-0 until the penalty shots finally determined a winner.

In the shootout, Mike Burns and Adam Gold converted first for the Eagles, who trailed 3-2 after three rounds. But that's when Zehme, Grider and Lojek stepped up to save the day.

"I wanted to do my best for the seniors and it felt great," said Lojek, who first found himself underneath a pile during the celebration and later was riding on the shoulders of a teammate.

Vikings coach Charlie Ward, whose team fell to 14-6-3 overall and 2-4 in Southwest Suburban Conference play, was thrilled with his team's effort against a solid Eagles team.

"I couldn't be happier, outside of the outcome of course," Ward said. "One PK was the only difference against such a great Sandburg team. I'm proud of the kids."