FREEPORT —­ Sterling hadn’t allowed a goal in 10 games. Alexis Sierra changed that for Belvidere North in the first half of Tuesday’s sectional semifinal game.
That just made the best season in Sterling history that much better for coach Chris Interone.
Interone smiled even wider after Sterling edged North 2-1 with a late goal by Jose Lopez for the Golden Warriors’ 20th consecutive win. Sterling (a school-record 23-2) will now play Aurora Marmion (17-6-3) in Friday’s 6 p.m. Class 2A sectional final at the Pretzel Bowl.
Sterling dominated North early. Salomon Ocampo deked out a North defender and slipped a shot into the lower left corner of the goal from five yards out for a 1-0 lead 4:43 into the game. The Golden Warriors nearly scored again when Josh Chromek did a flip throw from the corner to Bryan Gutierrez, but North goalie Diego Garcia made a leaping save.
North (14-6-4) then took over and began to control the ball and keep Sterling from using its speed. Sterling goalie Efren Diaz made several leaping saves, starting with deflecting Javier Ramos’ bicycle kick over the crossbar. Diaz also got a piece of Sierra’s goal, but it caromed off the bottom of the crossbar and into the net to tie the game with 13:44 to left in the half.
Sterling began to assert itself again in the final 10 minutes. Bryan Gutierrez fed Lopez with a header in the box and Lopez scored from five yards out with 3:07 remaining for his third goal of the postseason.
“We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities,” said Norton, who coached the Blue Thunder to their first regional title. “We worked so hard, but then we had some indecision. If we can’t eliminate that indecision, then we can’t score and move on like we should have.