Pekin 5, Rock Island 4 - PJStar and QC Times

Pekin advances dramatically
BY JOURNAL STAR STAFF
MOLINE - Pekin won a Class AA postseason girls soccer match for the first time Saturday, and it was a thriller.
Aimee St. Andre's header into the net with 31 seconds left, off a Sam Grimes corner kick, gave Pekin a 5-4 victory over Rock Island in the Moline Regional.
St. Andre's dramatic goal capped a comeback from a 4-3 deficit in the final five minutes.
"This was an amazing finish,'' said Pekin coach Edgar Sandoval, whose team plays Tuesday against Normal West in the semifinals.
Pekin (11-6-1) allowed a penalty-kick goal at 74:39 to fall behind 4-3, but Grimes' PK at 78:46 tied the score again.

From the Quad Cities Times
Pekin rallies in final minutes to eliminate Rocks
By Mike Westemeier
Date posted: May, 21st, 2005
For the first 70 minutes of Saturday’s Illinois AA Moline Regional quarterfinal, Rock Island and Pekin played a slow-down style.
However, the game picked up in the final nine minutes.
Each team scored two goals, including the final two by Pekin, which sealed the 5-4 victory.
“Last year we had some letdown problems, where we lost or tied a couple close games, and we just weren’t able to come back, but these girls have worked so hard this year,” Pekin coach Edgar Sandoval said, “I’m speechless. I can’t believe we came back.”
Pekin advances to play Normal West at 5 p.m. Tuesday in a regional semifinal. Moline and United Township will follow at 7. The two winners will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Pekin’s chances for a comeback looked slim after Rock Island sophomore Erika Jakobson scored on a penalty kick to give the Rocks a 4-3 lead. That goal came four minutes after the Rocks’ Camille McFarland tied the game at 3-3 with a shot that deflected in off the crossbar.“We were knocking on the door for about 15 straight minutes in the second half and we finally put one in the back of the net, then we were able to get the penalty kick, and we kind of got satisfied a little bit,” Rock Island coach Cory Crandall said. “But there’s no excuse for being up 4-3 with six minutes left and not being able to hold on.”
After Jakobson’s goal, Pekin was playing against the clock.“When they got the lead, my heart just sunk. It just looked like that was it,” Sandoval said, “For us to get a chance to come back was just unbelievable.”
With just over two minutes left, Pekin scored on a penalty kick by Sam Grimes to tie the game. Then with 31 seconds remaining, Grimes’ corner-kick pass went to teammate Aimee St. Andre, who put in a header to seal the victory.“
They had seven shots on goal and scored five times. You’re not going to beat a team when you allow them that kind of shooting percentage.” Crandall said.Goals for both teams could have gone either way, with many scored on deflected shots and passes. “We’ve had some unlucky times this season, when we’ve had some goals scored on us where we’re just like, ‘How the heck does that go in?’ But we’ve got to have the resiliency and confidence to withstand their pressure after getting the lead late in the game,” Crandall said.