South Elgin wins Hampshire tournament

Time of possession was the key for the South Elgin Storm boys soccer team.

The Storm (7-4-4) defeated the Hampshire Whip-Purs 4-2 to win the Hampshire tournament on Saturday. The Storm had the ball in its possession almost the entire game, but still trailed by a goal at halftime. The Storm would eventually adjust to the intense defensive scheme of the Whip-Purs and get the victory.

“We’re moving the ball around really well,” Storm head coach John Uveges said. “Our offense made the adjustments we needed to make here against Hampshire. They bunkered down on their defense, so we were shooting from the outside and coming from the corners. Those were the things we needed to do and the kids adjusted very well, they followed directions.”

The Storm would open the game with an early goal by Danny Fry just 4 minutes in. The Whips (8-8) countered with 2 goals of their own within 4 minutes of each other; one by Joe Vietinghoff, and another on a penalty kick by Ismael Morales. The Whip-Purs would take their 2-1 lead to halftime.

“We started the game with a system,” said Whip-Purs head coach John Gosling. “And that system was a defensive system, and we would work on the counter attack. The first goal was Joe being in the right place at the right time, putting his big head on it. He surprised us all. The second goal was a PK, and that was just great work by Ismael. He did well to get himself in the box and put us up 2-1. The system of play that we were playing was beautiful, you just can’t play it with hurt bodies for too long. “

In the second half, the Storm continued to dominate in possession time; and would tie the game at 2 with a goal from Spencer Scott with 21 minutes left in the game. Mike Kozielek would give the Storm the lead with a goal with about 18 minutes left to play, and Scott sealed the deal with 8 minutes to go to give the Storm the 4-2 victory.

Even with the tournament win, Uveges knows there are some tough games ahead as the playoffs draw near.

“We have a huge (Upstate Eight) conference game against Neuqua Valley on Monday,” he said. “To beat them is going to be huge for us, and we’re ready. We’re going to play well at home.”