Junior goalkeeper Luis Garcia isn’t a big-name player on the roster for West Aurora.
A rookie on the varsity, Garcia wasn’t even supposed to be the Blackhawks’ starter this season.
“He was a JV goalie last year,” West Aurora coach Joe Sustersic said. “He wasn’t even our No. 1 going into this season — he was our No. 2. If it wasn’t for any injury to Lupe (Gonzalez), he might never have had that chance.
“But like when Wally Pipp says, ‘I can’t play,’ you’ve got to have somebody ready to go in his place.”
Garcia took full advantage of his unexpected playing time Tuesday night as the fourth-seeded Blackhawks took out top-seeded Naperville North on its home field in a Class 3A sectional semifinal in Naperville.
Senior forward Pedro Delgado scored on a wind-aided corner kick with 15:01 remaining in the second half and Garcia made eight saves for a shocking 1-0 upset of a longtime nemesis and this year’s state championship favorite in the Huskies.
Garcia became the first Illinois goalkeeper — Gonzalez also contributed one save in four minutes of action when Garcia was shaken up — to shut out the Huskies (20-2-1) this season.
On the highlight reel, Garcia made diving saves on Belmont-bound Jaxon Stokes in the first half and Andre Miarkulau in the second half, tipping the latter shot into the right post.
“That’s how he’s been playing most of the year,” Sustersic said.
Delgado wasn’t surprised, either.
“To be honest, that’s the reason he’s in, stopping all those shots,” Delgado said. “I have a lot of faith in him.”
Garcia was still bristling with excitement after the game.
“It was crazy,” Garcia said. “I’ve never felt this type of energy from our bench, from our fans.
“It was up to me and my defense to step up and clear everything from the back and keep going forward.”
The Blackhawks (19-4), who will play third-seeded Naperville Central (15-4-4) in the sectional final at 5 p.m. Friday, didn’t have many chances to go forward as they were outshot 22-5.
But Delgado manufactured the only offense West Aurora needed when he bent in a corner kick from the right side, which the wind blew inside the right post.
“I pay attention to the wind,” Delgado said. “I knew I had the wind in my favor.
“I just wanted to put my team on top. When I saw the ball go in, I was like, ‘That’s me.’ I do it consistently, and that’s something that people think that I’m not trying to do, but I do it.”
The Blackhawks, who have never won a sectional championship, have tried and failed to beat the Huskies on numerous occasions. Naperville North beat West Aurora in the sectional finals in 2018 and 2019 and a regional final in 2016.
Not this time.
“We were confident we were going to stick to them,” Garcia said. “We just needed an extra fight inside of us to come out and score that goal.
“We were all in this together. Nobody was lone. We were all playing as a team, and that’s how we play.”
And that’s how the Blackhawks earned a victory that Sustersic said ranks with the 2002 sectional semifinal win over unbeaten Rockford Boylan as the biggest win in program history.
“It’s like, holy cow, they’re the 800-pound gorilla that we just keep trying to get by and here we did it,” Sustersic said. “We got them all jacked up to play the right way and play as a team, not like we haven’t, but today was a day where everything worked well.
“They all supported each other. They did all the right things.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
