Visiting Kendall took less than 14 second half minutes to come back from a 3-0 deficit, but Byron-Bergen senior Chase Felton scored the game-winner with only six seconds remaining in regulation to give the Bees a hard-fought 4-3 boys’ soccer win.
The Bees jumped out to an early 1-0 lead at 4:31 as Jordan Miller found the back of the net after a pass from Ryan Richardson.
In the 33rd minute Miller tallied again as a Richardson cross hit a leg and deflected to Miller who got enough on his shot to get the ball across the goal line for a 2-0 Byron-Bergen lead at the half.
The lead became 3-0 in the 45th minute as Brandon Burke knocked in a cross from Miller.
That’s when the Kendall offense awoke. Senior Jake Adams sent a perfect lead pass to Michael Gardner for the first goal in the 60th minute.
At 67:03 Nathan Warters charged down the right wing and sent a high-arching shot that found the upper left corner of the net to cut the Bees lead to 3-2.
Then, with less than seven minutes remaining in regulation, Adams found Warters for the tying goal from 20-yards out.
Felton then provided the heroics. With the game clock clicking down the final seconds and the Bees earning a corner kick, Burke sent his cross to the far side of the net where Felton headed it into the net with six seconds left.
“He (Burke) is not usually the one taking corners, but we practice them all the time,” Felton said. “I love headers; I was just running in trying to find the ball.”
“It was a fun game to watch,” Kendall head coach Chris Proukou said. “This is the proudest I’ve been all season; our kids can walk off the field with their heads held high.”
Byron-Bergen has out-scored their opponents 50-16 and improved to 11-1-1 with three games remaining in the regular season.
