NEW LENOX -- Less than 2 minutes into the second half of Minooka's 2-0 high school soccer victory over Andrew, Indians senior defender William Harvey was kicked in the left shin.
He fell to the turf in pain. Play was stopped.
Harvey eventually picked himself up and walked off the field. He took a seat on Minooka's bench and was checked by a trainer.
When he returned to the game 3 minutes later, he dished out his own brand of agony.
Harvey, the Superman of throw-ins, fired a ball into the goalmouth on a restart that sent the Indians on their way to the supersectional level of the IHSA state playoffs for the first time in the history of their soccer program. Andrew keeper Tom Serratore tipped Harvey's long throw from the West sideline, but he could not grasp it in his hands.
Minooka's Jim Kelly went airborne in a battle with an Andrew's Jay Dreier to get a piece of the rebound. Kelly was credited with the goal that put the Indians ahead with 34:19 remaining in Thursday night's game at Lashmet Field.
He smiled and admitted later he never touched the ball.
Rather, it deflected off Dreier's head and into the net to break a scoreless deadlock in the championship game of the Lincoln-Way Central Sectional.
Kelly, a senior striker, later chased down a through ball from Kory Seddon near midfield and raced to the other end on a breakaway. Serratore, nicknamed "Lifesaver" because of his knack for bailing the Thunderbolts out of jams, charged 20 yards out of the goal in a bid to cut off Kelly.
Instead of risking a move that would have created a more difficult shooting angle, he made like a golfer playing a lob shot up and over a sand bunker and safely onto the green. Kelly chipped the ball over Serratore's head and then watched it sail in a slow motion-like state into the back of the net with 11:11 left.
He turned a raced toward the Indians' bench with his two index fingers raised as if to signify what Minooka's loyal fans were thinking as they celebrated in the stands across the way Minooka's first sectional championship. The Indians are No. 1 in their hearts. They are also 1 of 16 teams remaining in the hunt for the Class AA state championship.
Next up for Minooka (16-4-2) is a date in the Bridgeview Supersectional. The Indians will face former conference rival Lemont at 7 p.m. Monday at Toyota Park, home of the Chicago Fire, in the second game of a doubleheader.
Lemont beat Sandburg 1-0.
"No, I didn't really get the first one," Kelly said. "(Drier) sort of headed that one in. He was going to head that ball out, but I gave him a little nudge to make sure that it went in. On the second goal, I was just trying to take off. I have a knee injury. I tore my PCL.
"So, I was like, 'Oh, my God, if this kid catches me -- so, I just took off. I was like, 'All right, the last time I had a breakaway was against East Aurora and I chipped him. So, I'm like, 'This is the perfect opportunity to chip again.' Because I knew that goalie was good. He has good reactions."
Harvey has good timing.
"I came in after getting railed in the leg," he said. "I've got a nice bruise. It didn't hurt that bad. I guess it was just the whole shock of getting hit. Then, it was like, 'Owww.' But I wanted to get back in. I wanted to win. I wanted to be a part of it.
"I just had a huge throw. I guess it went to the back post. And Jim (Kelly) put it in -- or I think he did. I wasn't sure if he touched it. I might as well call it my own. But no, it was beautiful. He's up for those headers. He's got a bunch all year."
Kelly's two goals boosted his season total to a team-high 27.
Minooka outshot Andrew 12-5 and gained a 2-2 stalemate in corner kicks. The Thunderbolts (15-8) were coming off a 2-1 upset victory over the sectional's No. 1 seed, Lincoln-Way Central, and possessed the ball in the Indians' end for much of the first 25 minutes.
Minooka keeper Jordan Cabrera stepped in front of a rocket shot early on, bobbled the ball for an instant and then covered it up. He went on to make three saves in recording his fifth shutout. Harvey, Steve Michaels, Ryan Zarley and Mike Ornelas were instrumental in preventing Andrew from turning the corner on its runs in the offensive end. The T-Bolts were credited with three shots on goal.
Zarley nearly broke the scoreless tie in the first half. He rifled a shot on a direct kick over the T-Bolts' defensive wall that Serratore tipped and deflected off the crossbar. Serratore later made a spectacular diving save of a header by the Indians' Mark Phillips.
"I've never had this much adrenalin after a game before," Cabrera said. "I've got a headache. Honestly, I wasn't expecting a shutout. I was expecting to have to make a lot more saves than I did. I had maybe one good save in the first half. Our defense did a great job of shutting them down in the second half.
"And Harvey's throws -- they're basically the equivalent of a corner kick. Him getting the ball in the box from about anywhere halfway down the field, it's a huge advantage. And that's how we get a lot of our goals. I think we have a 19-2 goals-against ratio in playoffs now. And most of those are on restarts, more than three-fourths, I'd bet."
Cabrera watched a supersectional game last year at Toyota Park from a seat in the stands.
"It was my dream last year to play on that field, even to step on it for a second," he said. "Now, to get a chance to play on it for 80-plus minutes, I don't even know what to say. It's going to be a huge adrenalin rush, looking up there in the stands, big field. It's going to be huge."
"It's the greatest feeling in the world to watch your guys be rewarded for all the hard work they've done this year," Minooka coach Jason Boe said. "I get to sit and enjoy the ride. They're the ones who are putting in all the time. They're the ones putting in all the effort. It's a credit to them. I get to just sit back and watch and say, 'OK, guys, this is what you've earned.'
"We've been talking all year about it. You guys are the best team that our school ever has had walk through the halls. And what are you going to leave as your legacy? Is it going to be, 'You should have?' Or, 'We did?' And tonight, 'We did.' We came out and we did exactly what we wanted to do. They're going to leave a legacy behind of being one of the greatest ever to walk through."
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