With a Class 3A regional soccer title on the line, Lyons Township senior midfielder Luke Gough wasn’t about to quit on the ball Saturday.

Trapping a sidelines cross from Victor Sklaryk, Gough scored in the first half on his second attempt during the Lions’ hard-fought 1-0 victory over Downers Grove North in the 3A Downers North Regional final.

“(The goal was) a little lucky, a little bit of persistence and kind of just wanting it. I’m glad we got the win,” said Gough, fourth on the Lions with six goals.

“It’s not the prettiest (goal) but in terms of importance, this is definitely my most important goal this season so I’m really proud of that.”

The Lions (17-4-2), the No. 2 seed in the Hinsdale Central Sectional, advanced to Tuesday’s sectional semifinals against No. 3 St. Laurence (20-2-4).

While this is the Lions’ 12th consecutive regional title, they understood the challenges in again beating the No. 6 Trojans (12-13-1).

In their West Suburban Conference Silver meeting Sept. 23, LT won 2-1 on an overtime goal by Nick Reilly.

Gough scored with 8:02 left in the first half Saturday. LT led 18-9 in shots (9-1 on goal) and 9-2 in corner kicks but had few quality chances.

“They’re tough. They’re organized,” LT coach Paul Labbato said of the Trojans.

“I thought we did a nice job with our spacing, a nice job moving the ball, but their goalkeeper (senior Jack Quinn) and defense were really good and it was hard to score. Luckily we got one in the first half and held it out.”

Gough’s focus paid off. His first scoring attempt was unsuccessful, but the ball remained free in the crease.

“It was kind of one of those moments where you just kind of blank out. All of a sudden I see the ball rolling,” Gough said.

“Victor played a great ball off the throw. I could hear people saying (I was) offsides and it distracted me a little bit. I missed the first shot and all of a sudden I’m kind of bewildered. I look, the ball is right up front. I just toed it in. The key was just to stay with it, work hard.”

Defensively, the Lions continued their stinginess with starting goalie Joe Ratcliffe and the back line of Gavin Sullivan, Ari Chen and Harrison Kittridge with help from midfielder Ryan Keenan.

This was the Lions’ 16th shutout overall and ninth in their 10 games since the first DGN meeting. The only goal allowed came in the 1-0 loss Oct. 14 at Oak Park-River Forest, which ultimately cost them a share of the Silver championship with the Huskies.

“I think we’re very organized in the back. We communicate a lot. We just dominate non-stop game after game,” said Sullivan, whose brother Collin played on the Lions’ 2023 state runners-up.

“We’re hoping to do what he couldn’t. We’re hoping to win the state championship.”

Downers North lost to LT in the regional final for the third straight year and second straight time 1-0.

The Trojans’ Braeden Page had their distant shot on goal in the 48th minute. But they played several dangerous balls, including senior Alexander Douglas’ throw-in at the crease in the final minute.

“I’m very, very happy with how we performed in that second half and how we answered after they were up 1-0,” Downers North coach Rafal Slomba said.

“I think we gave it our best effort. LT’s a great team. We had a great group of leaders, great group of seniors. They really wanted to get this program going with a step forward in the right direction.”

Behind 12 seniors and five key returnees, the Trojans improved from 4-19-1 in 2024. They nearly doubled their goals from 27 to 52 (19 by senior Oliver Davies) and were only shut out three times.

“The fact that we’ve turned this program around is the best part,” Quinn said.

“Now we’ve made this program a lot more enjoyable. I think our expectations are a lot higher now. I think we went out there every game knowing we could win, even if it was against an LT (or strong opponent). Our (improved) mentality, that’s what the seniors brought.”