CHICAGO HEIGHTS — The most successful season in Carl Sandburg College men’s soccer history ended in heartbreaking fashion Tuesday as fourth-ranked Prairie State scored with 5 minutes left in double overtime to defeat the No. 12 Chargers 1-0 in the semifinals of the Region IV Division II tournament.
The top-seeded Pioneers (17-2) tallied the match’s lone goal in the 105th minute on a service by Henrik Markhoff that was headed in by El Kati Taoufik.
Second-seeded Sandburg (15-4) tallied nine shots on goal and four corner kicks in the contest but was unable to convert. Guylberson Camille (Key West, Fla./Key West) had a team-leading three shots for the Chargers.
Sandburg keeper Ben Hilton (West Sussex, England/Crawley Town Academy) made five saves before the Pioneers connected on the game-winner.
Prairie State advances to Saturday’s championship, where it will face the winner of Tuesday’s other semifinal between No. 6 Morton and No. 12 Triton. Two of the Chargers’ four losses this season came on the road in overtime at the hands of the Pioneers. Prairie State defeated Sandburg 3-2 in OT on Oct. 7.
The Chargers finished the season with a school-record 15 victories and were ranked in all 11 top-20 polls this season, including No. 12 this week. Sandburg was as high as No. 7 on a pair of occasions, the best ranking in program history.
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