(Sugar Grove, IL) – Waubonsee Community College's men's soccer team hosted top 25 ranked Carl Sandburg College on Saturday afternoon needing a win to qualify for the upcoming NJCAA Region 4 Tournament. The underdog Chiefs (5-7-1) gave the Chargers (9-2-3) and their roster of predominantly international players all they could handle before falling 2-1. Sandburg, which had outscored their previous four opponents by an unheard-of combined score of 47-0, was held in check for most of the match. However, a two-minute span midway through the second half turned out to be the difference in the fiercely competed battle. 

In the second minute of the match a Chargers' foul gave Waubonsee a free kick from 35 yards out on the left wing. Off the ensuing kick the Chiefs nearly scored when a header bounded just wide right of the far post. Waubonsee continued to push the tempo of play and outhustle Sandburg as the first half progressed. In the 32^nd minute the Chiefs' Jayden Patino got a shot off from the left side that Chargers' keeper Mario Gonzalez Luena knocked down. Patino then got entangled with the Spainard as the ball bounded away right to another Chiefs' player who poked it into the right side of the net. However, the goal was waved off because of the foul on Patino. In the final minute of the half a Waubonsee corner kick from the right side almost resulted in the first goal. Andrew Jimenez timed his leap perfectly from about five yards out in front of the far post, but his header struck the center of the cross bar and ricocheted straight out into a crowd in front of the net before being cleared away by the Chargers' defense. Neither team could find the back of the net as the fast paced and physical first half concluded. 

The Chargers came out to start the second half with a renewed vigor and energy. Two minutes into the period Diego Branco Martinez drilled a left-footed shot from 20 yards out on the left wing that smacked off the crossbar and land on top of the net. Sandburg finally broke through in the 61^st minute when Rodrigo De la Fuente got a pass 20 yards in front of the net and out maneuvered two Chiefs defenders. The sophomore forward from Spain ripped a left-footed shot past Chiefs' keeper Abrahm Tiburcio as he dove in vain to stop the ball. A minute later Sandburg's Jamie Martin Caballero got free and blasted a shot into the left side of the goal from 15 yards out to suddenly give the Chargers a 2-0 lead and all the momentum.

Things got interesting again in the 67^th minute when a corner kick by the Chiefs' Leo Renteria resulted in a score when the ball deflected off a Chargers defender and into the far corner of the net. The goal revitalized Waubonsee as the intensity of the match ramped up again. Sandburg got a breakaway shot in the 71^st minute that Tiburcio batted down to keep the Chiefs within one score. The fast, furious and physical action went back and forth as the clock wound down. Waubonsee tried frantically to knot the score, but an off-sides penalty on the Chiefs in the final minute negated a potential breakaway attempt for Patino. The Chiefs out shot Sandburg 17-16 overall for the match with the Chargers owning an 8-7 advantage in shots on goal. Tiburcio was credited with five saves, while Luena also recorded five saves for Sandburg.

The Chiefs are in action again on Tuesday, October 15 when they travel to the College of Lake County (4-9, 1-5). The Illinois Skyway Collegiate College match is set to begin at 4:00 p.m. ion north suburban Grayslake. Coach Brett Suhayda's crew returns home next Thursday, October 17 as they host Judson University's Junior Varsity in an exhibition match. Waubonsee is set to close out the season on October 21 when they head to Naperville to take on North Central College's Junior Varsity in a 7:30 p.m. contest.