Though he’s only a freshman, Emilio Zambrano has an appreciation for the traditional rivalry between Lake Central and Munster.
The forward added his name to that lore in Wednesday night’s Class 3A East Chicago Central Sectional semifinals.
Zambrano scored the go-ahead goal in the second half of overtime and drew the foul that set up the tying penalty kick as the Indians topped the Mustangs 3-1.
“It was so emotional and each individual played a hell of a game,” Zambrano said. “This is a dream come true.”
Lake Central (13-3-2), ranked No. 7 in the state coaches poll, ended the state-record streak of 15 sectional titles for No. 8 Munster (13-4-1). The Indians will try to secure their 15th straight sectional in Saturday’s final against No. 17 Morton (17-0-1), which defeated East Chicago Central (2-11-1) 2-0 in Wednesday’s second semifinal.
Lake Central coach Jereme Rainwater expressed respect for Munster coach Jim Prasopoulos and the Mustangs.
“What a program, what a coach in Jim, all the players who have traveled through,” Rainwater said. “This is a huge thing — 15 straight years of sectionals and we can’t overlook the good groups they’ve had and the success they’ve had.”
The Mustangs started nine seniors and Prasopoulos understandably became emotional when speaking about his team.
“This was a really fun group to coach,” he said. “A lot of kids who love the game, have respect for each other and their coaches, and I’m really going to miss the seniors more than you’ll ever know.”
Zambrano scored with less than six minutes left in the second half of OT. Junior forward/midfielder Carson Shrader collected the ball with three Munster players around him and sent it ahead to Zambrano, who nudged it over the line.
“I saw the space open and ran into it,” Zambrano said. “We made eye contact and as soon as he played the ball, I knew I was in. At first I was going to try to chip the keeper, but I made it easy and tapped it in.”
Sean Adams gave Munster a 1-0 lead with 30 seconds left in the first half. Laith Srour’s free kick from 25 yards deflected off a Lake Central defender to Dylan Brann, whose shot Indians goalkeeper Noah Osearo saved. But junior forward Adams pounced on the rebound.
Osearo tied the score on a penalty kick with 38:36 left in the second half. Shrader’s pass sprung Zambrano, with the Indians awarded a PK.
“We trust Noah,” Zambrano said. “A goalkeeper stepping up, you have to have lot of guts and a lot of trust. That changed the game.”
Shrader added a penalty kick with 40.1 seconds left in the second half of OT as the Indians reversed a 3-1 loss to the Mustangs from Aug. 28.
“It was a month of preparation,” Rainwater said. “We knew this was a game we were going to need in sectionals. We dedicated the second part of our season to focusing on nothing but tactical adjustments in this game and it paid off. The kids did a great job in the classroom and an amazing job on the field.”
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Munster stunned Lake Central 1-0 last season in a regional semifinal.
“Trying to beat a team three times in a row is tough,” Prasopoulos said. “They’re a quality program just like we are and they just outlasted us. It came down to execution.
“We played hard, they played hard and we knew it was going to be a close game. I wish them luck. Whoever comes out of Northwest Indiana, I hope they win the state championship.”
Morton, which beat East Chicago by a combined 13-0 in two regular-season games, got a goal from Moises Tirado with 12 minutes left in the first half and a PK from Edgar Gutierrez with 4:34 left. The Governors topped Lake Central 3-0 on Sept. 11.
“Respect to East Chicago — huge effort,” Morton coach Chris Jagadich said.
“But our defense dominated, no worries in the defensive third. We had an excellent first half, even better in the second half, the way we were passing the ball. We had our chances, we just have to take them.”
Twitter @MichaelOsipoff