Escalera doesn't need much room to get off a shot, and he didn't have much at the 7:37 mark of the first half. He gave himself a little room to work with by faking out one defender and then unleashed a laser from 25 yards straight on to put North Side up for good.
"I shot it with my left foot because I feel more comfortable that way," Escalera said. "I saw the guy slide to the ground and I just took the shot."
North Side (16-2-5) will play the Arlington Seguin-Joshua winner in the area round either Monday or Tuesday. The Steers upped their lead to 2-0 at the 33:27 mark of the second half when Luis Navarro tipped in a free kick just a few feet in front of the left post.
Arlington Heights (10-7-2) didn't have many chances in the first half, but Luis Macias, who is nifty with his feet as well, supplied the ones it did have. He finally broke through with a goal at the 27:13 mark of the second half when he headed in the Yellow Jackets' second corner kick to make it 2-1. Macias almost tied the game a few minutes later but was denied by North Side goalkeeper Martin Vargas.