Harvest Christian hoping for Class 1A hardware
Each of the four Elgin schools in this year's Class 1A Westminster Christian boys soccer regional share similar outcomes from last year's postseason in that none went home with postseason hardware.
Split between two regionals, Harvest Christian lost in last year's Genoa-Kingston regional semifinal to Cristo Rey St. Martin 3-0. St. Edward hosted its first soccer regional at Greg True Field and lost in the regional final to Aurora Central Catholic 1-0. Westminster Christian, this year's host, lost to Genoa-Kingston in the semis, as the Cogs turned in a fourth-place finish at state thereafter. Elgin Academy lost 5-1 to ACC last year.
The good news about this year's postseason is that an Elgin soccer program will be guaranteed a championship after Friday's 4 p.m. match and a spot in the Byron sectional on October 21. The question is, who's warming up a bus for the trip out west?
Top-seeded Harvest is in the driver's seat with wins over No. 2 St. Edward, No. 3 Westminster and No. 4 Elgin Academy. That's never occurred for the Lions in a single season and it boasts huge dividends for a team that can set a new mark in wins and win a regional for the first time. Harvest enters the postseason 10-3-3.
"I think looking back, winning games like that really brought us together," Lions' coach Jason Acres said. "It showed us that we do have the ability this year not only talent-wise (to compete), but compete with those teams which we haven't been able to do the last couple years."
Tuesday's 4 p.m. game features a rematch of a September 25 tilt between Harvest and Elgin Academy, where Harvest came back for a 5-2 win after the Lions made some defensive mistakes and fell behind 2-0 in the early going. Midfielder Raphael DeSouza scored twice and forward Austin White added a goal in the win. White leads Harvest with 13 goals (3 assists) while DeSouza isn't far behind with 10 goals and 3 assists. Forward Cesar Velazquez has 9 goals and 5 assists and senior keeper Noah Fox has been solid, allowing just 15 goals on 112 shots in 16 games (1.06 goals allowed average).
Regardless of the scoring load, teamwork and the desire to work together factor greatly. According to Acres, mentally and physically the Lions are ready.
"They're going to be coming harder possibly at us," Acres said. "So we've got to be strong and play not only with our ability but we've got to really work hard as a team and I think if we do that we'll have a chance to hopefully lift that regional championship at the end of the week."
Elgin Academy sports a 6-9 record with losses to Westminster (6-4) and St. Edward (6-0). Forward Julian Romano leads the Hilltoppers with 17 goals and 5 assists on the season while midfielders Drew Wilmington (10 goals, 9 assists) and Karl Rauschenberger (8 goals, 9 assists) round out the Hilltoppers' possession-style attack.
Wednesday's 4 p.m. matchup has St. Edward pinned against Westminster Christian. The Green Wave's move to the Metro Suburban Conference displayed a more formidable schedule that's kept the Wave away from teams in Class 1A. Besides a 7-0 loss to 2A powerhouse Wheaton Academy, St. Edward has won 6 of 7, with wins against Riverside-Brookfield, Aurora Central Catholic and Guerin but did not play Westminster this season.
"We really think we're tested. We played all 2 and 3As," Wave coach Tim Brieger said. "The freshmen have grown up. The upperclassmen (have) a lot of trust in them and we're just kind of clicking right now."
Besides a few lineup changes Joe French, a senior forward who also kicks for the undefeated St. Edward football team, has 26 goals and 6 assists, his last goal the 61st in his career. French needs 4 goals to break the all-time boys record at St. Edward held by Chris Holze. Westminster (10-8-1) may want to prevent that, as the Warriors ride in on a 3-game win streak and are winners of 6 of their last 7. Robbie Kleczynski, Will DeHaan and Noah Gannon provide the pop and Westminster possesses a strong 6-foot-4 goalie in Sam Carani, who Brieger claims has "the arms the size of a condor."