ELGIN -- Underdogs Larkin and South Elgin found their tasks much too overwhelming on Wednesday.
Both teams ran into potent offenses during Wednesday's Class 2A Larkin Regional semifinals and saw their seasons come to a close.
Seventh-seeded Schaumburg shut out 11th-seeded Larkin 4-0 and 15th seed South Elgin was pounded 8-1 by the No. 2 seed Conant.
Larkin (6-13-3) only trailed 1-0 early in the second half, thanks in part to two Schaumburg goals being taken off the score sheet. A handball and a foul in the box erased the Saxons' goals.
However, Larkin's offense was never able to get much going. The Royals rarely were able to move the ball cleanly up to their forwards and saw most of their chances bogged down in the midfield.
Inside the 52nd minute, the Saxons struck for their second goal of the game on a Rachel Kahan shot into the top left of the goal.
Moments later, Larkin's Morgan Smith countered with what was probably the Royals' best chance of the game, but saw her shot to the goal's top-right corner ricochet off the top crossbar.
Another Kahan goal in the 61st and a lengthy shot from outside the box from Melissa Hernandez in the 66th capped Schaumburg's scoring.
Larkin came back with a few chances late but finished with only five shots on target in the match.
"I thought if I put Jacqulin Goodlove and Alyssa Burns up top we might get something, but nothing materialized," Larkin coach Ken Hall said. "They outplayed us in the midfield and we couldn't get balls up top. You're not going to score if you don't take shots on goal and you're not going to win unless you get (goals)."
For Burns, the loss marked the senior's final match with the Royals.
"I'm going to take away the leadership (skills I learned)," Burns said. "We have a lot of girls on the team that never played before so it was difficult at first. It's hard to walk away but I'll miss everybody."
Anna Goodlove had 10 saves in goal.
South Elgin (4-15-1) finished its season with some growing pains against the Cougars.
Conant bashed 38 shots at the South Elgin goal, consistently breaking through the Storm's defense to put pressure on freshman goalie Danielle Wagner.
To her credit, Wagner never gave in, producing some impressive saves in one-on-one situations and finishing with 16 saves.
"She's been pretty solid throughout the season," South Elgin coach Tiffany Disher said. "With more time and with the first-year jitters out of the way, she'll be someone to be afraid of in the future."
A hat trick by Conant's Brittany Bodziak in the first 31 minutes quickly had the Storm on its heels, but a brilliant effort by South Elgin's Jessica DeSimon in the 33rd minute got the Storm on the board.
DeSimon stole the ball away from a Conant defender on the top-left side of the box and rifled home a shot into the low-right corner. The strike was the Storm's lone shot on goal in the first half.
Another Bodziak tally in the 37th minute made it 4-1 at halftime. The Cougars would continue to tack on goals in the second half, pumping in four more before it was all over.
After having lost to such a strong opponent, Disher looked at the positives from the season.
"I think the girls' effort is outstanding," Disher said. "All through the year they've been improving and impressing me every single day. Our team is relatively young with freshmen and sophomores and they are the stars of the team. We have a good future ahead of us."
Conant and Schaumburg will meet in the regional title game at 6 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Field.
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Photos: Royals, Storm exit